Chandler Riggs is headed to downtown Tampa this week, and he is not just doing a quick autograph signing. The former Walking Dead star wrote, directed and starred in a 19-minute Resident Evil fan film called BIOHAZARD, and Tampa Theatre is giving it a proper big-screen premiere on Thursday, October 29.
Tampa Theatre and Film Tampa Bay are teaming up for what they are billing as An Evening with Chandler Riggs, according to Tampa Theatre. The night opens with a meet-and-greet in the theater lobby from 6 to 7 p.m., giving fans a chance to meet Riggs in person before the lights go down for the screening.
BIOHAZARD is described by the venue as a short live-action fan-film adaptation of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, with Riggs serving as writer, director and star. As Tampa Bay 28 notes, attendees at Tampa Theatre will be among the first live audiences to experience the short film on the big screen. Tampa Bay 28 lists a 7:15 p.m. start time for the film.
A Cigar Factory Becomes the Baker Estate
Riggs plays Ethan Winters in the short, and the production leaned heavily into practical craft over computer effects. The team used practical sets, effects and stunts while keeping CGI to a minimum, according to VGTimes.
Part of that practical approach involved repurposing a piece of Tampa Bay history. The production built part of the Baker estate — the eerie plantation setting from Resident Evil 7 — inside Arturo Fuente’s former cigar factory in Tampa Bay, with support from Film Tampa Bay, per iHorror's reporting on the film's release. Film Tampa Bay offered production incentives for the short as a way to show the region off as a home for film and television work, the outlet's earlier coverage of the shoot adds.
BIOHAZARD was produced alongside Tampa-based Spooky Feet Films, helmed by filmmakers Shane Brady and Emily Zercher, according to IGN. Riggs posted the full short to his own YouTube channel on October 14, and has said he would expand BIOHAZARD into a feature if given the chance, per the same iHorror report.
Q&A and Franklin Street Scares
After the film, Film Tampa Bay’s Tyler Martinolich will host a conversation with Riggs onstage, with time for audience questions, according to Tampa Theatre. The screening will be held in the venue’s Historic Duncan Auditorium, which is using open seating for the event. General admission tickets for the evening are priced at $13, iHorror reports.
The event is listed as part of Tampa Theatre’s 2026 A Nightmare on Franklin Street series, its annual lineup of horror-themed programming. For fans who can’t make the Tampa stop, Riggs has posted the full short to his own YouTube channel.
