Mitch Davis

Since ‘96, when folks were still using dial-up and Tarantino was rocking those iconic suits, Mitch has been deep in the trenches of genre cinema. We’re talking about Fantasia International Film Festival—the massive movie madhouse in Montreal that’s basically Comic Con for film nerds. Tarantino himself called it “the most important and prestigious genre film festival on this planet.” And honestly, he’s not wrong. If you’re into horror, sci-fi, anime, or basically anything that doesn’t fit inside the stale mainstream box, Fantasia is your jam. Mitch? He’s the guy behind the international selection—handpicking wild stories and hidden gems from every corner of the globe. Plus, he’s co-director, which means he’s up to his eyeballs in movie mayhem every summer when Fantasia takes over Montreal. Imagine 100,000 people, all geeking out over movies that push boundaries and mess with your head. Directors, actors, and fans from everywhere show up. You could be sitting in a theater next to a cult filmmaker or the next big thing in animation and not even know it. The lineup? It’s all over the place, in the best way possible. Feature films, shorts, documentaries, animated weirdness, stuff you can’t see anywhere else—if it’s got style or guts, it’s probably hit the Fantasia screen. The festival doesn’t just show movies, it’s like a big, sweaty, creative family reunion where everyone’s obsessed with storytelling. If you haven’t experienced it, well, you’re seriously missing out.