'Santacon' – An Immersive Documentary Exploring the Origins of the Infamous Annual Christmas Event

Santacon is an immersive documentary film about the creative origins behind the world’s most infamous annual Christmas event. Santacon originated as an idea by Rob Schmitt that was brought to life by the San Francisco Cacophony Society in 1994. As it caught on, Santacon evolved and became so massive that Laughing Squid’s very own Scott Beale coined the term “Santarchy” and Rob Schmitt (Santa Rob) told everyone to go do something else.

A dreaded day in which tens of thousands of drunk idiots dress like Santa and invade countless cities around the world to live out their drunkest and most violent instincts. But it began as something else entirely: A piece of Dada street theater designed to shock people out of their everyday existence by creating a sense of awe and confusion.

The documentary, which was was directed by Seth Porges of Class Action Park and How To Rob a Bank, takes the audience back the early days of Santacon with footage by Scott Beale (Portland 1996, Los Angeles 1997 and New York City 1998), Chuck Cirino (San Francisco 1995 and Los Angeles 1997), Harrod Blank (New York City 1998), Doug Wellman, and others who were there from the very beginning.

The documentary also features interviews with the event’s founder Rob Schmitt, Laughing Squid partner John Law, Marci MacFarlane, Chuck Palahniuk, and the late, greatly missed Chris Radcliffe, as well as many others involved with organizing the original Santacon events.

Santacon will have its world premiere at the DOC NYC documentary film festival, with screenings on November 13th and 15th, 2025, followed by a Q&A after each screening. Tickets are now available for purchase.

The first and second screenings will be followed by a Q&A with director/producer Seth Porges and film participants John Law, Rob Schmitt, Marci Macfarlane.

More information about Santacon can be found on the film’s website, Instagram, and TikTok.