Kurt St. Thomas | Magnet Brain | GeekFest/Comic Crusaders Special 2026

WEPAAAA! Death used to mean peace, eternal rest, and finally escaping those Monday morning meetings that should have been emails. Magnet Brain looks at that sacred arrangement and asks one deeply disturbing question: What if a billionaire found a way to put the dead back on the payroll?

Comic Crusaders joined forces with GeekFest Film Fests for a conversation with award-winning filmmaker Kurt St. Thomas, the co-writer, producer, and director behind one of the most wonderfully twisted short films traveling the festival circuit.

Created for the Baltimore 48 Hour Film Project, Magnet Brain follows billionaire George Romero and his company, TMS, as they use magnets to resurrect the dead and solve a national workforce shortage. The science may be suspicious, the labor practices are definitely criminal, and the company’s post-life benefits package probably needs another pass from Legal.

The film’s ridiculous premise comes wrapped around satire with real teeth. Corporate culture has always possessed a special talent for turning human beings into resources, numbers, and replaceable parts. Magnet Brain simply carries that philosophy to its logical nightmare. If employees can be replaced, recycled, and reactivated, why should a minor inconvenience like death interrupt productivity?

St. Thomas and his team created the film under the merciless clock of a 48-hour filmmaking competition, where every creative decision had to happen at a sprint. The finished short did much more than survive the deadline. It won nine awards at the Baltimore competition, including Best Film, and was selected to represent the city at Filmapalooza 2026.

Kurt’s road to Magnet Brain did not begin inside a laboratory filled with zombies and suspiciously powerful refrigerator magnets. His career has moved through alternative radio, the record industry, music videos, publishing, and independent cinema. During his years at WFNX, he became the first radio personality to play Nirvana’s Nevermind, later interviewing the band and producing Nevermind: It’s an Interview. He has also directed award-winning independent features including Captive Audience, The Last, and the black-and-white noir thriller D.O.A.

That musical background remains an important part of his filmmaking instincts. Radio teaches timing, atmosphere, economy, and the ability to hold an audience without a visual safety net. Music videos demand rhythm and immediate visual communication. Independent features require patience and resourcefulness. A 48-hour short asks a filmmaker to throw every one of those lessons into a blender, hit maximum speed, and pray the lid stays attached.

Our conversation digs into the origin of Magnet Brain, the pressure of creating under a brutal deadline, the challenge of directing mockumentary performances, and the fine line between comedy and social horror. Kurt also discusses how limitations can sharpen an idea, why actors must believe completely in an absurd world, and how festival audiences reveal jokes and meanings that filmmakers may not recognize while buried in production.

We also travel through the larger creative journey, from the unpredictable energy of alternative radio to the deliberate shadows of black-and-white filmmaking. Kurt has refused to spend his career inside one creative lane, and every stop along the way has strengthened a different part of his storytelling engine.

Watch the complete Comic Crusaders x GeekFest Film Fests interview and discover how Kurt St. Thomas and his team turned magnets, zombies, billionaire ego, and workplace anxiety into an award-winning mockumentary.

Support independent film, follow Magnet Brain through its festival journey, and remember: if your boss starts installing an industrial magnet beside the break room, update your résumé immediately.

Follow Kurt St. Thomas and Houndstooth Films on Instagram:
@kurtstthomas | @houndstooth_films

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Follow Kurt St. Thomas and Houndstooth Films on Instagram: @kurtstthomas | @houndstooth_films

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