Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie Has a Side Gig You Might Not Know About

Heated Rivalry took the world by storm last fall with its delectable mix of hockey and queer love story; so whether you’ve seen the show or not, you’re probably aware of its breakout stars, like Connor Storrie.

Storrie, who played Ilya Rozanov, one of two hockey players who become secretly entangled in romance, went from relatively unknown to viral sensation over the course of the show.

Despite his newfound fame and legions of fans, though, what some might not know is that Storrie isn’t only making waves as an actor. The 26-year-old also has a side gig writing and directing short horror films on YouTube.

YouTube Horror Directors Are Having a Moment

You might have noticed that some of this spring and summer’s hottest horror directors all got their start on YouTube — and they’re having great success after moving on to the big screen.

Markiplier’s Iron Lung, based on a video game about a convict stranded in a submarine in a blood ocean, was made with an estimated $3 million budget, yet it went on to net over $50 million worldwide.

Kane Parsons took his original YouTube series The Backrooms, based on a 4chan thread, and expanded it into the feature-length Backrooms, which garnered over $265 million worldwide, making it A24’s highest-grossing release.

Perhaps the most talked-about horror film of the year thus far is Curry Barker’s Obsession. While Barker started out doing comedy on YouTube, he and his partner, Cooper Tomlinson, decided to go in a different direction with their found-footage film Milk & Serial, which drew a positive response from critics and fans alike. Now, with Obsession, Barker has not only created a film that people can’t stop talking, debating, and writing essays about, but also one that grossed over $300 million worldwide.

What About Connor Storrie’s Films?

Storrie has dropped two short films on YouTube over the past couple of months with little fanfare.

Going under the YouTube handle Sin Monger, he first shared the short film Jerry the Ginger Eater, which follows a cannibal who eats only redheads after he accidentally acquires a girl whose ginger hair came from a box. The horror-comedy is drenched in saturated colors and leads to a conclusion that’s both tragic and amusing.

More recently, he dropped Coax, a dreamy black-and-white short film giving off major German Expressionist vibes (think The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) that tells the story of a girl being stalked by an entity — and fish — in her home.

Storrie did briefly share a link to Coax on his Instagram with the caption, “Old to me, new to you.” (The film was actually made in 2024.)

The two films are both incredibly abstract — and, dare we say, a bit weird (in a really good way). However, those elements tend to be a winning combination as more fans are currently embracing original horror. It actually won’t be long until we see how Storrie’s unique writing and directing styles translate on the big screen, as he wrapped production on Transaction Planet, his feature directorial debut, at the end of 2025.

What Is Connor Storrie’s Transaction Planet About?

While the details of Transaction Planet are still mostly under wraps, we do know it’s a sci-fi film made on a micro-budget about an alien spirit who inhabits a human body and experiences the world.

Gabe Kessler and Bailey Tait, frequent collaborators of Storrie’s who starred in his two short films, are listed among the cast members.

The release date is yet unknown.

However, while fans wait for the release of Transaction Planet, they can still get their Connor Storrie fix as he’s currently attached to the upcoming films Peaked, Turpentine, Please, and, of course, the recently confirmed second season of Heated Rivalry. Maybe Storrie will even drop a few more short films along the way.

(featured image: HBO)

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]