The Stream

Written & DIRECTED BY Sam Dubin
Produced by Santiago Bukovsky, Lauren Guido, Maggie Shea & Sam Dubin

When a first generation American son learns of his Russian immigrant father’s financial catastrophe, he reluctantly agrees to one last tumultuous trip to their beloved family lake house before it’s sold.

What follows is the journey of a father and son on the road, bound towards selling a home they love. Trapped with one another they must confront their opposing views of America and ultimately their views of each other.

ABOUT THE FILM

The Stream premiered at the Fayetteville Film Festival and was release online by Omeleto. It was a Semi-Finalists at Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, screened at the Cobb International Film Fest's Indie Night, and was featured by Film Shortage.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Sam Dubin is an actor, writer, and filmmaker from Atlanta, Georgia, and a proud graduate of The University of Michigan's BFA Acting Program. He also got a minor in creative writing! The Stream is his directorial debut, but he's been acting all his life in many different plays and films, some of which include Angels in America, Grapes of Wrath, and Proud to Present..., plus a handful of student films. He's also had the opportunity to study at the Atlantic Theatre Company and the Moscow Art Theatre! He is so, so excited to bring this film to you!!

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH SAM

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

Hi! Thank you for including The Stream in your series! We are honored to be featured by Kino! My name is Sam Dubin. I wrote, directed, and acted in The Stream. I'm from Atlanta, Georgia, but I recently relocated to New York City. I studied acting and creative writing at the University of Michigan, but I've been a film lover my whole life. The Stream is my directorial debut and it was born during the pandemic. Most of my experience comes from being in front of the camera, but everything I know about making films I've learned from watching them. I didn't go to film school or have any kind of formal training. I had always wanted to write and direct my own work, but it wasn't until I was inspired to write this story that I was ready to commit to the challenge of making my first short. I had an amazing crew on this project and this film would not exist without them! 

The Stream is a very personal project for you. Can you tell us about the film's genesis?

The Stream was born from a deep curiosity about the relationship between my immigrant father and myself. Throughout most of my childhood, my family owned a lake house. Owning this house was one of the prouder moments of our family’s life. But a few years ago my father fell into a deep financial crisis and we had no choice but to part ways with it. After passing this house again for the first time in a few years, the feelings and memories of selling it came flooding back. And out of that was born The Stream. I wrote and rewrote and rewrote and eventually showed the script to a University of Michigan cinematographer friend. From there I brought on producers -- also Michigan alumni. Eventually, I had to show the script to my dad. I couldn't make the film without his blessing. At first, he was hesitant for this story to be told. Honestly, there was a moment when I thought I would have to scrap the film altogether. And I understand completely. It's nearly autobiographical and this moment in our family's life was a constant source of shame for my father. But I believed that this was an important story tell. My dad slept on it and the next morning he gave me his blessing. From there we crowdfunded the project, pulled together the rest of our team, and shot the film in four days. We've had a short festival run, premiered to sold-out crowds in NYC and Atlanta, and recently premiered online on the YouTube channel Omeleto. The most meaningful part of this whole project has been having people come up and tell me that the film reminded them of their father, or their old house, or a time in their lives when they struggled financially. Those comments will keep me going for a lifetime. And what was once a source of shame for my father has become something that he can stand to be proud of. 

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of The Stream and how did you overcome them?

We experienced obstacles every single day while making The Stream. During pre-production, production, post -- even now problems will still arise! I learned so much about directing and producing by throwing myself into the process of making a film and one thing I can say is that much of a director/producer's job is just constant problem solving. A problem arises you figure out a solution and before you know it there will be another issue. Our picture car broke down on us, we were rained out on certain days, we had to change locations, we worked late into the night, and we worked against the sun. Camera issues, cast issues, food issues, money issues. The list goes on and on! And no one will ever know! The biggest lesson I learned as a director is to rely on your team. I often thought I had to solve every problem. But there's a reason why you have a team. You owe it to them to focus on the story, the actors, and the film itself. So on a personal level, one of my biggest obstacles was learning that not every obstacle was my responsibility. Other than that I can say that time was our biggest enemy. I took a big bite with this project. The script was originally nearly thirty pages and there were two driving scenes (which I learned after the fact are much more complicated to film than you realize) and the film takes place in two time periods. It was a lot to squeeze into four days. We were constantly working against time and constantly having to reevaluate what were the most important shots to get. It was like editing the film while we were shooting it.  

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences. Festival Circuit vs Online Release, the highs and lows of both.

I think the release portion was one of the most difficult parts of the process of making this film. We did do a small festival run. We premiered at the Fayetteville Film Festival. With film fests, there are just so many factors that are out of your control. The length of the film, the subject, the style -- what the festivals are programming and how your film fits in alongside it. We had a nice audience built up from our crowdfunding work so we put together sold-out screenings in Atlanta and New York City. Besides being an amazing experience to view the film with such large and enthusiastic crowds putting together those screenings on our own turned out to be a great look online. So I would recommend that to other filmmakers. Host your own screenings! Once our film fest run was over I applied to online platforms and we were lucky to be accepted by Omeleto -- and now Kino's Short of the Week! In my experience, with shorts, there's a lot to be gained by pushing an online release. Film fests are cool and there are so many positives to be gained by attending them, but you never know who's going to see your work online. And it's available to everyone, everywhere! 

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

If you want to learn how to do crowdfunding well then check out "The Kickstarter Guy". Everything I learned about crowdfunding I learned from their program. Watch a ton of other shorts. Write every single day. Write another draft. Definitely listen to people when they say you should cut pages. Don't get married to anything cause you'll end up cutting it in the edit anyway. Always keep your cool on set. The director sets the temperature of the room. Don't be afraid to reach out to your friends for help. They want to help you. Whatever you're thinking about making definitely definitely make it. Don't think about doing it just do it. Cause you'll think about it forever. 

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

I think the biggest challenge most short filmmakers face is that they have to do it all themselves and for very cheap. There's no real market for short films so there's no return on investment when you make one. You do it for passion, experience, and for your own portfolio. So it's hard to secure money to make the thing. In my experience pre-production, financing, all the way to post and release was almost entirely my responsibility and the truth is that can get a bit exhausting. You have to be willing to put your entire heart and soul into the thing. And that can take a lot out of you. Short filmmakers can't afford the luxury of time and a big team. I'm really proud of what I made, but there's a lot you have to sacrifice to make it happen. I wish it could be different, but I think that's just the way it goes. 

What are you working on next?

I'm working on a feature right now and a play as well! I'd love to make another short early next year before I commit to a feature. And I'd like to use the work I have to help me leverage making a feature. Part of the fascination in making The Stream was this idea of a home and what it can mean to humans so it's possible I may continue to explore that idea. I'm also clearly inspired by my own family and culture and I've been thinking about a short documentary about my Russian grandparents! I'm grateful to be full of ideas and I'm working on them everyday! 

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

So many! But I'll just mention the films that were guiding lights for The Stream which I happen to love. Paris, Texas / Wim Wenders. Taste of Cherry / Abbas Kiarostami. Old Joy / Kelly Reichardt. Nomadland / Chloe Zhao. Salesman / Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin. 

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VISIT sam’S WEBSITE

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

RoButler

Written, directed, edited & starring James Button Director of Photography & visual effects Paul Marke

Overworked in the email department at the a local Welsh council, Cwnt Jones purchases a personalised AI assistant  in order to help make his life better- the RoButler.

ABOUT THE FILM

RoButler was created for the London Sci Fi 48 Hour Film Challenge. It was nominated for Best Micro-Budget Short, Best Performance in a Comedy, and Best Editing at the 2023 edition of our Kino London Short Film Festival. It also played at the BAFTA qualifying Carmarthen Bay Film Festival and the BIFA qualifying Short Com and The Shortest Nights.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Welsh filmmaker from Wales who loves making weird, wacky and silly comedy- James Button has made films about aliens, dinosaurs, time travelling in traffic, adorable goats and dog poo! Double BAFTA Cymru-nominated writer/director of 23 short films, all gaining official selections and screenings. Mostly comedies, they've nabbed 57 awards at international film festivals and competitions. James had fun making fun films for fun for the past 10 years alongside working full-time in commercial work. In 2023 James is now focussing on longer-form projects with two (dream) comedy feature scripts he is very excited to get made.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH JAMES

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

Ever since getting my hands on a camcorder at age twelve I’ve been making all kinds of nonsense. I simply love it and can’t imagine doing anything else, so have somehow managed to get away with basing my life about making stuff.

My favourite things in life are traveling, sleepovers, friends and films- and filmmaking kinda blends all of them.

Brilliant. So yeah basically, I just haven’t stopped making my own projects my way about fun things that we have fun with which hopefully people have fun watching! Never having had big budgets, my small band of filmmaker friends have had to get super creative with DIY indie filmmaking to make a lot with a little.

Tell us about the genesis of RoBulter - how the project came about and where you found your inspiration?

Well, this one never really should have happened.

Paul Marke and myself had previously done the London Sci Fi 48 Hour Film Challenge twice before- not taking it too seriously with me playing an angry Welshman shouting at aliens once (Flying Visit) and an AI house the other (Melting Point). So when Paul messaged me the day before the Challenge in 2022 and was like, “you up for it?”, I was like “oh alright then”. However, I had a migraine, we had ZERO budget, ZERO crew, ZERO cast but any excuse for a sleepover, even one with ZERO sleep.

What is the most challenging and/or exciting aspect of creating a film in 48 hours?

Subconsciously, I think we really wanted to test (or punish) ourselves by defaulting back to barebones DIY filmmaking to see what we could get away with.

I grabbed a few costume bits (including a tux and coloured contact lenses) from my dressing up box and just the two of us...went for. We ended up roping in Paul’s statistician wife Helen, his cat Narla (also a keen statistician) and then our composer (James Morris) popped around to see what we were up to...which resulted in him getting recruited on his first ever film set as boom operator, body double and prop maker. He even had to make a circuit board that would fit up my bum.

I think the most exciting thing about making a film in 48 hours is just getting to make something- no excuses. There is no time to overthink, self-doubt, delay- you just have to commit and dive in headfirst and really push yourselves. It’s mad.

Did any pre-existing creative ideas happen to fit the brief for RoButler or did you make the film 100% from scratch?

I knew I’d probably have to play multiple characters as we didn’t have any (actual) actors lined up so on the way over in the car I cycled through some weird voices to try see who I could invite to the party. Then I basically went off to a bedroom and wrote way too many silly scenes based on a quickly brainstormed concept with Paul, of someone stressed (based on our clients) who tries to get help, but only makes things worse.

In terms of scripting it was relatively simple as I knew I’d be improvising around it anyway (I can’t help myself) and having played multiple characters before I kinda knew what could and wouldn’t work.

Also Paul is a VFX genius and the real brains behind getting this actually made. Although whilst writing, I completely accepted we probably wouldn't get it done in time...but it would be fun. Turns out...we got it done in time and despite it being a whirlwind without sleep, oh it was fun.

Would you ever continue working on the film after 48 hours for your own personal satisfaction, or once the deadline is complete do you walk away from making any tweaks?

The version of RoButler selected at Kino (and other festivals) is a polished version where basically Paul revamped some of the VFX, James Morris did a new sound mix (he was sleep mixing the first time) and I attempted to do a re-edit. However, I soon found the frantic pace, lack of sleep and rushing really gave the film the energy so barely made any tweaks as part of the magic of a 48 hour film is the harnessed fun and ticking clock vibes. So just because we loved it, it seemed to go down well (and because we thought it would be really funny for it to get into festivals!) we did a visual polish and an audio tidy- and sent it out!

If you had more time to work on this project, what is the main thing you would like to change/develop further?

I think I’d make something better to be honest!

It’s a love/hate thing with me and RoButler- like I love that we bashed something out in a couple of days and that we’re still screening it all over. Buuuut I’m also painfully aware every time I watch it that we can do so much more!

If we had more time, any money, and probably even a bit of planning we could make something more reflective of where we are in our filmmaking adventure. I think RoButler is what it is, a very silly film- too fast and and something that shouldn’t be taken seriously- which is kinda our style but would really love now to get one of the backlog of comedy short scripts produced to have some fun for a little longer!

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

I originally popped RoButler straight on YouTube after we finished but I think seeing the laughs it got, I was tempted to see if we could get it seen on a bigger screen with a live audience. I feel I really learn a lot by screening our comedies live as although my heart goes way too fast, I like how you can hear and feel the reaction it gets to learn from it about pacing, gags etc. for next time. But really didn’t expect it to go to like five BIFA and BAFTA qualifying film festivals and I’m not just saying that! It’s shot in Paul’s kitchen, with a tiny crew, with a script I rushed out to just make Paul laugh and it feels as rushed as it was- however, it is short and fun so I’m more than happy to have it be an ice-breaker laugh, or palette cleanser after a proper heavy drama or just something to wake people up literally going “what the hell is this?” (which I’ve witnessed happening!).

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Oh just go and make some stuff. I know it sounds too simple and has been said a billion times. Obviously you’ll be capped to an extent without a budget and all that- but if you can find filmmaker friends (just one apparently!) who loves doing it as much as you, even if it’s just a weekend go have some fun and practice.

I’ve made films for so long now but it's only really when I’m running around doing a bit of everything, solving silly practical problems (“how do we make the lights move when the drone flies in?” “Fishing wire!”) or laughing on set that I feel I’m really living it and learning from it.

Paul Marke is one of the best filmmakers I’ve ever met- a truly amazing person, dedicated and reliable friend but a damn good filmmaker. He inspires me by making a thirty minute comedy sketch show just to get out of doing a speech at his own wedding, which ended up being better than a lot of commissioned broadcast TV comedy- and just the quality of the work he can create on a whim with a laptop is insane. He can do that because he just does that- as in, he just goes and does it and if he hadn’t messaged me asking “you up for the 48 sci fi challenge tomorrow?”, I wouldn’t be here now. Writing this I mean, not dead.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

Argh! This was the only question that scared me because it’s so much pressure with so many better filmmakers reading this who have already seen them all!

I think I’m going to have to do a cheat answer...(sorry) and say, go to a film festival. Go in blind. No recommendations, no hit list, no hype, no expectations. A whole block of short films..no wait, multiple BLOCKS of short films.

Some of the best learning and some of the best constructive conversations I have is coming out of a screening with some trusted friends, going and hiding in a coffee shop (or on a sleepover) and just go through them ALL. What did you think? What did you feel or did you even? Why didn’t they work? What would you do differently? I’ve found you can really bond with collaborators over this and find your tribe, because your director to DP relationship or with your composer or any collaborator really can really be proven when you find yourself in agreement on this. Once you watch films and talk films with people, you soon find yourself making better films and the films that you all want to make.

Obviously you always try work with people that are better that you (I do) but also with ones who’d do things the same way or wouldn’t do that or would do this instead? Sorry I don’t know if any of this makes sense but basically watch SHORT FILMS. Watch good inspiring films and just as importantly watch yummy BAD films. You can literally watch like 300 in a weekend (I did earlier this year!. So I’d say go to Kino 2024 ;)

That was a flirt. Sorry what was the question?!

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VISIT JAMES’ WEBSITE

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

Road Trip

Written & DIRECTED BY Natalie A. Evans
Produced by Luiza Herdy, Verity Wislocki, Morgan Tovey Frost & Ronnie Mukwaya

A mother and daughter connect during a road trip, but their destination isn’t what you’d expect.

ABOUT THE FILM

Road Trip received several awards, nominations and official selections at BAFTA and BIFA qualifying film festivals while on the circuit. Awards include winning Best of the Fest at the BIFA qualifying North East International Film Festival and the Nottingham International Film Festival, Best British Film at the Soho London Independent Film Festival and LA1 Shorts, Best Editor at Toronto International Women Film Festival and Kate Robbins won Best Actress at the Birmingham Film Festival. The film was also nominated for the XX Award at the BAFTA qualifying Underwire and Best Comedy at the Crystal Palace International Film Festival.

ABOUT THE FILMmakers

Natalie A. Evans' 2018 debut short - TODAY IS A GOOD DAY - and 2019 follow up short - #BRUNCH - are award-winning films. Born and bred in the North West of England, Natalie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Film Production and now lives and works in London. She has worked for many reputable studios including Warner Bros, Amazon Studios and most recently, Marvel Studios. Her ambition is to write and direct feature films; to create raw and honest stories that resonate with audiences all around the world.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH THE FILMMAKER

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

Hey, it's good to be here and thanks for selecting our film! I'm Natalie - the writer/director of Road Trip. I'm a northerner and moved down to London to work in Film. I didn't know anyone here (or in the industry, for that matter), so it was pretty difficult to find a way in and land my first entry level job. It took about 2 years of working for several smaller companies, getting my foot in the door, then an opportunity came up at De Lane Lea (now owned by Warner Bros.) for an Office Coordinator, so I went for it and got it! I soon realised this role was more front-of-house, as I was the first person who the clients would see when they came in to edit and mix their films - and I immediately loved it! This really helped me gain confidence and meet industry people, so even though I was still far from doing my dream role of writing/directing, I knew this role was helping me on my way. It opened my eyes to the world of post production and being surrounded by such talented people, I learned so much with what you can achieve in this part of the film process. So, it was during my time here that I started making my own short films. Over the past 6 years, I've been making shorts while working my way up to a Post Production Supervisor role in my 'day job', which I feel has massively broadened my filmmaking abilities with understanding what exactly is needed to be captured on set to make sure we have a film in the edit.

Tell us about the genesis of Road Trip, how you came about the idea and decided to put it into production?

Two things. The first was my Mum having cancer and how we dealt with it as a family - choosing tears of joy, over tears of sadness to get us through it - laughter is magic, so any opportunity to crack a joke, we took it! Seeing that twinkle in a loved ones eyes when they laugh is priceless, especially when it could be for the last time... The second was my friend's mum who drove her friend to Switzerland to end her life with dignity. I was fascinated with the actual journey itself in the car - I presumed it would have been sombre and heavy hearted the whole way, but she said it was the complete opposite. By that point, her friend was so far beyond doubting her decision, that the journey was like any other day - they laughed, sang along with each other, and shared memories. There was so much love, respect and admiration for one another. So I wanted to combine both of these experiences and have it be a mother-daughter relationship - not only focussing on the strength of the mother making this decision, but also highlighting the strength of the daughter who was able to honour her mum's dying wish - all of this, along with a strong message to never underestimate laughter!

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Road Trip and how did you overcome them?

Bad weather! There's always the risk of bad weather when shooting exteriors in the UK, and we got it really bad! What made it worse, was one minute it would be cracking the pavements with sunshine, then 10 minutes later, the heavens would open, and repeat... In between takes we'd need to constantly cover and uncover all of the kit and dry down the car which wasted so much shooting time.

You guys shot quite a bit in the car. Can you tell us about the logistics of that and the variety of rigs used? Did you mount to the hood or was the car being towed? 

Yeah, we shot this film over a weekend. On Day 1 we shot the moving car scenes, then on Day 2 from when they pull up at their destination. As the actress didn't drive, we hired a private proving ground track and used a low loader on day one, but the suspension on it broke at some point early on in the day, so our camera rigs (that were attached to the car) were making the car panels dent inwards/outwards constantly with the vigorous shaking when we were moving, so we had to strap our DOP (Damian) to some scaffolding at the side of the low loader to get the close up 3/4 shots of them inside the car... I'd planned for the whole sing-a-long sequence to be one take to help stay in the moment with the characters, so to avoid having that shot all bumpy and naff-looking for the audience, we decided to change the (countryside) road that we were shooting, to a 1-mile straight which was like a tarmac'd motorway which eliminated all of the camera jerkiness. Luckily, the actresses absolutely nailed their performances and we managed to capture the whole performance in one take. From beginning to end of the shoot, all of the troubleshooting needed was free-styled to a premier league standard! But we got what we needed.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

This is actually Road Trip's public premiere online! It's been on the festival circuit since Feb '22 and I'm so grateful for all of the audiences that this has exposed us to - it's enabled us to connect with complete strangers all over the world, which is the exact reason for wanting to make this story, in particular. So, I can't wait to have it public online now for anyone and everyone to stumble across it, and hopefully it'll reach some people who will either get comfort or joy (or both!) from it.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Don't wait around for someone to give you money to make your short films, because you'll never get anything made. I personally feel it's unfair the way funding is distributed and who some of it goes to, but it's just the way it is. I've spent so many weeks/months filling out applications for short film funds and never received a penny from a funding body, so I got bored of waiting around and found ways to save little bits of money (I'm talking 'very little' as my wage was minimum), but there's always a way to do things on the cheap, without jeopardising the story that you want to tell - you just have to get creative both in-camera and in post! I do feel a lot of short filmmakers underestimate the power of post production sound, and what you can achieve with this to help build on the images you've got in the edit to really breathe the life into the 'world' you're creating for the audience. Another important thing I'd say is, it's about having the right people around you who understand the story you're trying to tell, and to trust those people - let them bring their views and expertise to the project, because (as much as you think you do) you don't know everything! And being open to this only makes your projects better. 

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

A few things. One if the prices of festival submissions - it's one thing scraping together enough funds to make your film, but once it's complete, I feel the festival circuit can quite quickly get out of hand with costs and is a factor as to why a lot of short filmmakers just can't get their films noticed by industry people. I totally get that festivals need to make money to be able to run the festival itself, but particularly US festivals are SO expensive - some of the submission fees are crazy, and immediately limits to type of filmmaker who can submit their work. But I guess that's the beauty of the digital world we now live in - anyone can put their film up online for free for people to see! It's just getting it in front of the right people who can help take you to the next stage of your filmmaking journey as a professional filmmaker. I've been told it only takes for one person to take a risk on you, so having a catalogue of your short films to back you up, surely, will help for when that time comes.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I really enjoy films with good characters in it, so Ridley Scott's 1977 debut feature The Duellists is a cracker. The tension and rivalry between the two leads is awesome! I'm also a nerd and slightly obsessed with the Lord of the Rings films - they're just SO good in every. single. way... On the flip side, I enjoy sci-fi and horrors also, but so many films reveal the monster too soon, or reveal too much of it - so much so, that it's no longer scary. That being said, still to this day, whenever the (1987) Predator reveals himself at the end of the film, it's way worse that I had ever expected and imagined!! It's such a good lesson in how not to reveal the monster but still be able to amp up the tension and threat throughout the whole film - a priceless tip for short filmmakers!

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VISIT NATALIE’S WEBSITE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HER WORK

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

Mimesis

Written & Directed by Rumen Russev
produced by Dessy Tenekedjieva

A lonely technology addict signs up for a bizarre dating service, which calls his human existence into question.

ABOUT THE FILM

MIMESIS was created as part of the prestigious 355 FILM AWARD in Bulgaria – where three young filmmakers are chosen by an international jury to create three five-minute films in five days with a budget just shy of £1000.

The film premiered at the Stoyan Karmbarev Foundation ceremony in Bulgaria where it was the winner of The Goldfinch Film Award. Following it’s premiere, the film started a Bulgarian festival tour including playing at Киноваканция New Bulgarian Cinema Festival and Golden Rose Bulgarian Feature Film Festival, followed by an International festival tour with highlights including: Film 4 Fun International Comedy Short Film Festival, Soundscreen Film Festival, Sci-Fi Floripa International Film Festival (2023), with it’s British premiere at the Electric Film Festival in Bournemouth.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Rumen Russev developed a passion for storytelling during his "Creative Writing" classes at Liverpool College before going on to study "Film, Television and Digital Media" at UCLA. Currently, he creates in a studio space in Sofia.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH RUMEN

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Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

Hello, my name is Rumen Russev (@rurussev) – a creative and film director from Bulgaria. I studied “Film” at UNIVERSITY OF KENT and “Film, Television & Digital Media” at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES. In 2022, I founded a production company in Sofia, STUDIO FLICKERS, which is specialised in the creation of digitally distributed films, shows, music videos & commercials.

During my childhood years, I wanted to become an astronaut and reach the unreachable. Many years later, I realised that you don’t need a rocket to land on the Moon – a camera, a detailed set & a professional crew can also bring you there. So, in the summer after eighth grade, with the help of family and friends, I made my first adventure-comedy film. It was screened at the local cinema in my hometown and everyone loved it. Ever since then, I have never stopped pushing the cinematic boundaries further and creating inspirational projects, which could leave lasting memories in people’s minds.

Tell us about the genesis of Mimesis?

The story was born from my own relationship with technology and how it pulls us away from the present. For example, the amount of time we spend on video sharing apps by simply swiping up and down or the number of photos we edit on social media apps to make our content more suitable for the algorithm.

I wanted to portray our modern world by focusing on two aspects: online dating and digital content consumption. Taking inspiration from real-life events, I decided to examine the moments when time “freezes” and we get lost in the vortex of our (phone, TV, computer) screens. Ultimately, I asked myself a question: To what extent will technology intervene in our personal lives? The final scene of MIMESIS serves as an answer to the aforementioned question.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Mimesis and how did you overcome them?

It is important to mention that my short film was created as part of THE 355 FILM AWARD – a prestigious competition in Bulgaria – where three young filmmakers are chosen by an international jury to create three five-minute films in five days.

So, taking this into consideration, time was obviously the biggest challenge for my project. However, I managed to create a good schedule. Day one was for filming. Day two and day three were for editing. Day four was for color correction. Day five was for sound design and music.

Another problem I had was the small budget. It was just below £1000. However, by pulling in favors from my friends, family & colleagues, I managed to assemble a team and a collection of great locations to set the film in.

Apart from the limited time and small budget, production went pretty smoothly.

Can you tell us a bit about working with the 360 spiral camera rig and your decision to use it stylistically at a few key points in your film?

The technique allowed me to create more immersive sequences. Honestly, I have used the 360 spiral camera rig in so many projects, that it is now part of my signature. Usually, I achieve the effect with the help of a gimbal. However, since I used a RED camera for this project, which is much heavier than a DSLR camera, a gimbal wasn’t an option. So, my director of photography used a really old, significantly bigger & much heavier device, so that we can get perfect shots.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

I was really lucky to have my premiere at the STOYAN KAMBAREV ART FOUNDATION ceremony, which is a big event in Bulgaria. Straight after that, MIMESIS was screened at a few national festivals and then started its international festival journey. It was accepted by plenty of festivals from around the word, but it was also rejected by others. I think it’s just important to remember that every festival is subjective. Furthermore, I realize that my film has an interesting concept, but it doesn’t have a fully-fleshed out story (since I only had 5 days to make it). Overall, I was happy with the distribution and, as the festival circuit came to an end, I reached out to several online platforms, which decided to feature the film.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

There is a perfect quote by Quentin Tarantino: “If you want to make a movie, make it. Don’t wait for a grant, don’t wait for the perfect circumstances, just make it.” Honestly, that’s the best advice I can give. Surround yourself with talented people, bond with them and create awesome stuff together.

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

In my opinion, finding the right path (distribution) for your film would be the biggest challenge. Submitting your six-minute project to every A-list festival is definitely not a good idea (it is also an expensive one). There are hundreds of smaller (and still great) festivals, which are willing to screen your work in front of hundreds of people. In short, before hitting that submit button, you should definitely do your research. At the end of the day, every good film finds its audience sooner or later. You just have to be patient.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

The biggest influence on MIMESIS is probably the work of Spike Jonze, especially HER (2013) and I'M HERE (2010). Additionally, there is a truly creative commercial, called LAMP (2002), also directed by him. So, if you haven’t seen those yet, you should definitely check them out.

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

Ear, Eye & Head

Directed & Produced by Hwanyi Kim

There is a girl who desires to block out the world, to silence her hearing, vision, and thoughts. This aversion to her senses stems from the presence of those around her. Their incessant chatter and constant scrutiny disrupt her thinking, making it difficult for her to concentrate. The reality is that she struggles with social anxiety, and the daily routines of life weigh heavily on her.

The portrayal shows that people with social anxiety think similarly to the average person, presented in a unique and casual way.

ABOUT THE FILM

This short animation is from South Korea and this is it’s online premeire.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Hwanyi Kim is an artist who works in 2D animation and painting. She studied painting at Dongguk University in South Korea from 2011 to 2015, and animation at Royal College of Art in London from 2018 to 2020.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH HWANYI

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background? 

Hi, I'm Hwanyi Kim, and I'm thankful to be part of Kino Short Week. I'm an animator and designer in London. I studied animation at the Royal College of Art from 2018 to 2020. My graduation film, 'EYES,' was shown at a few animation festivals. Right now, I'm planning more projects that explore social issues.

Tell us about the genesis of Ear, Eye & Head?

My work is inspired by my daily life, especially during the tough times of the COVID-19 pandemic when I faced depression. I withdrew from the world and stayed in my room, wanting to disconnect from everything. It was during this isolation that the idea for my story started to form in my mind.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Ear, Eye & Head and how did you overcome them?

During the pandemic, I had financial difficulties and couldn't easily get the equipment needed for stop-motion animation. But I thought using charcoal animation with just a camera could be the best way to tell this story. Despite the challenges, I'm happy with how it's turning out.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

I'm still a beginner, so I might not have many filmmaking tips. But I do think it's important for animators to connect with each other. Sharing information and asking for help with things like plot or technical aspects can be really helpful. Being open to other people's ideas is a big part of the creative process.

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

The main challenge is budgeting, and there are limited opportunities to showcase short films. This creates a cycle where it's tough for short films to reach a broader audience, and small markets struggle to support creators financially.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I'd like to recommend an animation by one of my RCA seniors titled 'A Girl Who's Afraid of Touching People' by Liang-Hsin Huang. It's not just because I was one of her assistants, her stop-motion animation is truly beautiful and distinctive in character, and the narrative of the protagonist's emotions is impressive.

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Stuck

Written & Directed by Hannah Nixon
Produced by Natalie Wetherall

When Cassie's dismissive boyfriend refuses to take her home for Christmas, it looks like she's going to be stuck in her flat, in more ways than one.

ABOUT THE FILM

“Stuck” played at Sunday Shorts, and this is its online premiere.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Hannah Nixon is a writer/director who has been hailed by theatre critic Lyn Gardner (stagedoor) as a “real talent”. She graduated from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with an MFA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media. In 2016 she produced a short play night in response to Donald Trump’s election called ‘This is happening’ which raised over $800 for Planned Parenthood. Hannah is supported by the Peggy Ramsey Foundation and The Arts Council. She previously wrote the short BARNEY which was nominated for Best Script at Underwire Festival. STUCK is her directing debut.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH HANNAH

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

I'm predominately a writer and STUCK is my first time directing. I did my MFA in Playwriting at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and then off the back of that I had a short film I'd written get made called Barney. The experience of that made me realise I wanted to try directing. 

Tell us about the genesis of Stuck? It's somewhat based on a personal experience, right?

Everyone thinks it's my personal experience but it's not! It happened to a friend of mine, Loretta almost 10 years ago. I remember when she posted the photo of the door on facebook and people were making jokes like, "I would have taken a bath" but I could tell from the state of the door she'd been frantic and terrified. I thought it was such a strong story about saving yourself when no one is coming to help you. I saw it as a story about female strength and almost a rebirth. When I got the chance to make a film years later I got in touch with her to ask if she'd be up for me making it and she said yes, though that was a week before Covid so it obviously had to go on hold for a couple of years. 

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Stuck and how did you overcome them?

The main obstacle was finding a producer. Once Natalie agreed to be the producer, everything fell quickly into place because she's highly skilled with strong industry relationships. I think that it's a real slog to find someone who is as excited about your project as you are and who can see solutions and not just problems. 

In order to demolish the door did you guys have to do a set build or did you still shoot in a real location?

We had four doors because we knew they were going to get hammered. Georgina Pragnell is a set designer who works in fashion and this was her first set that was going to be interacted with. We had three people standing behind the door helping to brace it when Michelle was kicking it. Our biggest worry was the set would wobble and ruin the effect. When we had our rough edit that was one of the main questions we asked everyone, but no one noticed a wobble so I think it held together - just. 

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

I've put Stuck in to film festivals but I think that my attitude to them has changed recently. As wonderful as it is to see your film on a big screen, I also want as many people to see it as possible and online platforms deliver that audience.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

You don't need a huge amount of money to get a short made. My boyfriend used stills and a voice over and made one of the most inventive and scary shorts I've seen. 

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

Funding and distribution. In an ideal world short films would be played before features at the cinema so if you were into it you could watch them before a film. I think that would encourage more funding as well. 

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I tell everyone to watch After Hours by Martin Scorsese. It's got Griffin Dunne in it (Joan's nephew), as a man who can't get home. It was made in '80s New York when SoHo was still grimy artists lofts and it's incredible to see how NYC used to be before it was cleaned up. I also love the story, it's basically another Stuck, he has to get out of the situation he's in even when everything is conspiring against him. 

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

The Room

Directed by Fiorella Pomarino
Produced by Joaquin Jeri

The Room is a fashion film that talks about how a woman feels about being trapped in different relationships. The whole story happens in her room creating a tense atmosphere for her and the viewer. 

ABOUT THE FILM

The Room is a fashion film that started as a photography project for a fashion editorial in 2019.  It’s been featured in Beyond the Short, Curation Hour, and Latex Magazine.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Fiorella is a multidisciplinary artist based in Lima. Her work is characterized by its great aesthetic care, the constant testing of different formats and the emphasis on the visual aspect to create new narratives. Pomarino’s personal work explores social and cultural issues related to identity of women and Latin America through films and photography.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH FIORELLA

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Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background.

I grew up in Lima, Peru. I am Latin and was raised in a patriarchal society. I feel this two things have shaped the way I see the world or in what my attention is focus on. I started working in the film industry when I was 25 years old. I did a little bit of production and art. You could find me helping in the make up department or looking for some random prop the product designer needed. At the age of 28 I started doing art direction for photography and film. Although I love doing art Direcion or production design for feature films, short films, music videos and advertising I can’t deny I adore to direct my own projects. 

I direct mostly fashion films and video art. These two moves me a lot. It is the only way I know how to express myself through film. Perhaps it is because I think first through images instead of words. I usually visualise and draw what I want to tell rather than write the script first. For me, it is really important to put into images the emotions I am feeling. None of my films have voice over, that’s why music and rhythm in the film are very important for me. 

Currently, I work as an art director/production designer in advertising but I direct my own projects.

Tell us about the genesis of The Room? How did the project come about?

The Room is a fashion film that started as a fashion editorial in 2019. I was used to make fashion stories for magazines, so while I was planning “The Room” as a photography project it came to me that I could film it. I started with a photo board and from there everything started to grow. Some friends joined me in this adventure. It was the first time directing a short film with no notion of it. One night we sat down and started to break down all the scenes. It was a very nice process that I never had before. Just some friends making films. It was very enriching. 

I think the moment I more struggled with was when I needed to say what I wanted to say with the film. I wanted to talk about some toxic experiences of women in  really bad relationships. The use of only one main set, the bedroom, was a very important decision as for the wallpaper we used. I really wanted the viewer to feel trapped. It was my aim to visualise this story in a surrealistic, immersive, emotional and cinematic experience. 

What obstacles did you overcome while in the making of this film?

The fear. It was my first time directing and being the person who leads a whole crew. I have seen it done before but being there and making all the decisions it was actually pretty hard. At the end of the day I saw my self directing and making my first short film. It was amazing. 

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

This film in particular was the first one I made but not the first one I showed. It took me three years to put it out. It was showed in some fashion film festivals and in some short film platforms but to be honest because it was my first film I didn’t have a plan for its diffusion. Now I know I need a distribution plan since day one. 

Words of wisdom. What advice would you give to other filmmakers?

Have a distribution plan since day one. Don’t be afraid of doing something wrong. There is nothing wrong with your ideas or the way you film. Experiment as much as you can. Try new film genres. Listen to yourself, you know exactly what you want to say through your films. Film even though you don’t have the perfect camera or lenses. Some great films have been made with cellphones. 

What are you working on now?

At the moment I am working on a film based project about the innocence of girls after facing a traumatic childhood. I am questioning if the innocence is lost after the childhood traumas or if it stays and how these women express it. 

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

The color of Pomegranates - Sayat Nova

La montana sagrada - Alejandro Jodorowsky 

Mustang - Deniz Gamze

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The Fool's Mate

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Cian Llewellyn
produced by Jack Pollington

A couple’s relationship is at a cross roads - as he attempts to break up, she thinks he’s about to propose. But will an impromptu chess game finally force the truth to come out?

Fred and Holly have met up at London’s most eccentric pub, the Nag’s Head. Fred’s there to confess he’s been cheating and that they’re breaking up. But he’s nervous…so nervous in fact that Holly assumes he’s about to propose and tries anything to keep the conversation from getting serious, since she wants to keep things casual. To her aid come the pub’s ‘House Rules’ requiring the couple to engage in an impromptu chess match, strictly enforced by an over attentive waiter who sees all, says little but implies plenty. As the battle on the board reflects the psychological one between Fred and Holly, the distraction tactics become more obscure and the frustration, palpable.

ABOUT THE FILM

The Fool’s Mate stars Chris Lew Kum Hoi and BIFA Winner Nell Barlow as the couple in question. At Kino, we first became aware of this awesome short when it was submitted to our Kino London Short Film Festival. It was selected to screen and Nell Barlow earned a Best Performance in a Comedy nomination. The film also played at the BAFTA/BIFA qualifying Bolton International Film Festival, and the Wales International Film Festival. It was recently released online via Omeleto.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Cian Llewellyn’s debut short, ‘The Outing’ gained UK and US recognition, picking up 11 Official Selections and 4 Awards including ‘Best Short Comedy’ at the Wales International Film Festival and during the lockdown of 2020, Cian wrote, performed and produced ‘The Bike’ a short film, shot entirely on an iPhone, inspired by his own experience of fear and anxiety in a Covid lockdown which went onto win ‘Best Monologue’ at the Imagine Rain Film Awards and ‘Best Covid Film’ at the Toronto Independent Film Festival of Cift.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH CIAN

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

Having initially trained as an actor at RADA, I adapted Dylan Thomas’ timeless short story ‘The Outing’ into a short film. Born in Nottingham and fiercely proud of my Welsh roots, we shot it in the village I was brought up using a group of local friends, not actors, relying on their natural wit, camaraderie and chemistry to come through on-screen. It was a great fun to make and opened my eyes to directing and in particular it’s very collaborative nature.

I then ran on commercials and high end TV, including Steve McQueen’s ‘Small Axe’ - watching him work was enlightening and inspiring. He actually watched ‘The Outing’ in a prison cell in Canterbury on the last day of the shoot which was pretty special - thankfully he liked it. 

In 2020, following the death of a close friend, I wrote a monologue on the nature of fear and anxiety during the Covid lockdown. We shot it in the area surrounding my parents home and I edited it myself. It felt fulfilling to have something creative going on during that strange, empty time and poignant that something positive came out of something tragic. It was a bit of a wake up call personally too - proving that there’s no excuse not to be making something - even if it is on an iPhone. A year later we shot the Fool’s Mate. 

Tell us about the genesis of The Fool's Mate?

I love a pub and the older, more characterful the better. I was introduced to the Nags Head when at drama school and as I grew into film I couldn’t help but think it would make for the most brilliant set - unique, beautiful and eccentric. Every single thing you see in the pub, apart from the House Rules board, is as you find it - it’s one of London’s great gems. 

First and foremost, I wanted to make something engaging and entertaining that didn’t take the audience for granted. I was keen for the story to somehow reflect the idiosyncrasy of the setting and to play with the characters having very clear goals but mistaking each other’s. As an audience we are in a privileged position (or so we think…) jumping between both characters to understand what they want, then to see that manifest in them being unable to be honest for fear of hurting the other person, in a way only the British can do so brilliantly.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making The Fool's Mate and how did you overcome them?

We shot the film in May 2021 towards the end of the second Covid lockdown. The landlord of the pub, Kevin Moran, is nothing if not eccentric and I couldn’t track down his whereabouts or phone number - it transpires, fittingly, he doesn’t own a mobile. Instead, I posted a hand written, wax stamp sealed letter through the front door and hoped for the best. A month later I received a call from an unknown number, it was Kevin. He took a little persuading…we needed to close the pub for the two day shoot, or at least not open until the evening, and he said he’d never closed for anyone apart from when the government forced him to and he wasn’t starting for me. Luckily we managed to twist his arm. Years ago he was an extra in films and secretly, and most certainly by the end, he loved the experience.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences. Tips and tricks for other short filmmakers looking to crack the festival circuit? 

We were fortunate enough to have our premier at BAFTA/BIFA Qualifying Bolton International Film Festival which is brilliantly run and in a great city. But I’d say try not to make something with the sole aim of ‘cracking’ the festival circuit - it’s almost impossible to do so and even the most successful of films receive plenty of rejections. I think it’s just important to remember (and I have to remind myself of this) that every festival is subjective, it’s just a few people’s opinions and very often there can appear to be no rhyme or reason to an acceptance or rejection. Try not to pin your hopes on any one specific festival and celebrate all the acceptances. Tell the story you connect with the most and feels worthy of the blood, sweat and tears short films require - if it’s true to who you are you’ll have the best chance at festivals anyway. Just to add, we genuinely loved KINO - Dustin and the team are a force of nature and have created a vibrant, celebratory event in some of London’s most beautiful art house cinemas. Kudos. 

How did you find the online release of your film compared to your festival run?

We submitted the film to Omeleto and they released it three weeks ago. I couldn’t believe it as the viewing numbers kept going up and two weeks in we were at over 66k views. The whole point of being an artist is to put your work into the world and have it seen, so reading all the positive comments, people sharing and liking it has been incredibly satisfying and rewarding - in that sense, it feels like the film has truly found it's audience. 

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Use every contact you have. Be as tenacious and courageous as possible. If it feels risky and uncomfortable (but just about in reach) then do it. Just go make something!

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

Money - it’s widely accepted that short films are the way you progress your career but there just aren’t enough short film funds. Crowdfunding is a great option and then it’s self funding but even once you’ve finished the film you’re paying for the privilege to submit to festivals. The industry knows that 95% of people making shorts have no money but it also uses festival recognition, which you pay for, as a career barometer. So those with the most to gain (career wise) also have the most to lose (financially). That can be very demoralising for young filmmakers - especially when, in most cases, there’s no feedback on your work - something feels broken to me in that system. 

Something a little less tangible is the lack of any real ‘ladder’ especially for director’s - there’s no clear path that people can walk, knowing they’re ticking off achievements one by one, like the qualifications of a lawyer or doctor. But in all honesty it is the work and the process of that work that is so invigorating. Getting up every day and thinking how I can make the next film - there is no better challenge than that.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I love Thomas Vinternberg - anything by him but in particular, ‘Festen’, ‘Another Round’ and ‘The Hunt’. I’ve loved, ’SuperNova’, ‘Fanny and Alexander’, ‘Un Prophete’, ‘The Fallen Idol’, ‘Local Hero’, Withnail and I’. They are in the front of my mind at the moment as I’m developing something in that vain. It's not a film but, 'A Spy Among Friends' on ITVX - brilliant storytelling.

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Standing Woman

Directed by Tony Hipwell
Produced by Tony Hipwell & Max Gee
Screenplay adapted by Max Gee
Based on the short story by Yasutaka Tsutsui

Standing Woman is a dystopian drama with flourishes of body horror that depicts a near future where an authoritarian government turns those it deems to be criminals into trees as part of an insidious environmental campaign. Under this green dictatorship, a propaganda filmmaker wrestling with the recent ‘planting’ of his wife for making seditious comments, embarks on an emotional journey to say a final goodbye. Featuring incredible depictions of a populace being slowly vegetised by a production team who have worked on the likes of Censor, Doctor Who, and Peaky Blinders, the vision presented in Standing Woman is of a world that has edged into eco-fascism.

ABOUT THE FILM

Standing Woman is based on a short story from internationally acclaimed author Yasutaka Tsutsui. The short film screened in competition at Leeds International Film Festival 2021 as well as playing at Frightfest, Fantasia, Filmquest, and Hollyshorts just to name a few. It was released online on ALTER.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Tony Hipwell is a multi-award-winning filmmaker whose work has screened at Academy Award, Canadian Screen Award, BAFTA and BIFA qualifying festivals such as HollyShorts, Fantasia and the sadly departed Edinburgh Film Festival.

Their debut feature, Whoops! premiered at Raindance and made the Top Ten picks of 2013. It was also the only British film selected for the nationwide Raindance Tour the following year. Since then, Tony has developed projects with the BBC and Searchlight Pictures, worked as the Video Producer for Young Thugs Records in association with EMI and been selected for the inaugural Future of Film Incubator.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH TONY

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

I’m a writer/director based in Yorkshire and have been making films for nearly 20 years, usually in the horror genre. I always wanted to be a filmmaker but got heavily pushed away from that career path as a kid and found myself miserable in a law degree as a result. Eventually I thought screw it and decided to follow my dreams and moved to York to go to film school. I’ve not looked back since. I’ve made a little bit of everything including two features. I love the indomitable spirt of indie filmmaking; the can-do attitude, the sense of community and the sheer fun of making something happen at a grass roots level.

Tell us about the genesis of Standing Woman and the genesis of the project?

A friend of mine, Max Gee, came across the original short story and adapted it as a short screenplay for fun and shared it with me. I was immediately transfixed by the dystopian world it presented that was both incredibly benign and spectacularly cruel. I was convinced we could translate the script to screen and thankfully, Max agreed with my ambition.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Standing Woman and how did you overcome them?

There were many obstacles for making the film. The first one was just getting the rights. The author of the short story, Yasutaka Tsutsui is incredibly well regarded and there was really no reason for him to trust his story with us, but Max moved oceans to make contact. We had a copy of the screenplay meticulously translated to Japanese for him to approve. Amazingly he approved the script, and we were given a window of time to produce it which we JUST made.

The next trick was getting the tree effects to work and that took a long time to develop and even led to us delaying the shoot by a year as we didn’t want to rush them. I also really wanted to have a very autumnal look for the film so had to wait out the seasons.

Casting was hard. We had a casting director at first, but they just couldn’t find what we were looking for. Max and I were adamant that one of the leads be played by someone Japanese so we weren’t white washing the source material, but we were repeatedly told there just weren’t any to cast in the UK or it would be too difficult. In the end I cast the film myself and found Yuriri who was phenomenal in the film.

Raising money was incredibly difficult as well. We went through the usual routes but got rejection after rejection. At one point we had to ask ourselves whether we should retire the project. But we had the rights and couldn’t let this world go so I got a loan to cover the costs. I don’t advise this, but sometimes you just have to see an idea through.

Can you chat about the process of creating the makeup and production design for the tree people?

The design phase was an exciting time. It was a collaboration between myself, the production designer Bethan King and make up designer Rachel Red. At first, we had designs which were a little too ‘magical’ for lack of a better description. They were beautiful but looked too much like something you might find in a Guillermo Del Toro film. This would seem a good idea, but we needed something more grounded. Bethan really pushed to go as real as possible and took casts of countless trees to develop individual looks for the different tree people. Each tree person or animal in the film is turning into a different kind of tree which gives them a real sense of individuality and personhood. We have the Oaks at the post office and Mari who is turning into a Cherry Blossom Tree. Even the dog is turning into a specific kind of shrub.

We thought at first there might be some digital work to enhance the trees but, in the end, it was all accomplished in camera and represented a seamless blend of production design and make up effects. Bethan also fabricated some full size tree builds which were incredible, including the final one for Mari at the end of the film.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences. It appears you've had quite some success in the festival circuit with Standing Woman. with highlights including Frightfest, Fantasia, Filmquest, Hollyshorts, Leeds & more. Tips and tricks for other short filmmakers looking to crack the festival circuit?

The festival run for the film has been extremely gratifying. It felt like such a wild idea we wondered if audiences might think it was too outlandish, but I think the themes had become so much more current over the time we developed it that the bizarre premise only added to the subtext on climate change and authoritarianism.

I had mainly done comedy tinged work up to this point and this film represented a tonal shift for me as a filmmaker and so we were a little unsure of how to approach our festival run at first, especially as it straddles sci-fi and horror as well. We partnered with Festival Formula and they designed a fantastic strategy for us. I can definitely recommend them as they led us to some incredible festivals we would not have initially considered. From there we were able to build out the festival campaign ourselves as the longer you’re on one, the more you start to spot your running mates or become aware of other festivals that fit what you’re offering. This was especially important for ours as we locked more into the horror side of things as time went on as we recognised we were getting a stronger response, there.

That would be one of my key pieces of advice, to look for festivals that truly suit YOUR film. Don’t send to the top ten festivals in the world and hope for the best, actually research what kind of festival you want to be a part of and what kind of film they cater for. And with that in mind, actually GO to festivals. Being a part of that experience gives you such a stronger understanding of the process and leads to so many new collaborators. I’ve had a great time on the festival circuit, and it’s benefited me in many ways, but one of the most powerful has been in the friendship’s I’ve struck up with other filmmakers. It should never just be about your film.

Your online premiere was with Alter, correct? How did you find the online release of your film compared to your festival run?

The online release was great. We couldn’t have hoped for a better partner than Alter to launch as they are by the far the biggest platform for short form horror. It guaranteed an audience which was amazing but also nerve wracking as this would be the true litmus test for the film. Thankfully the response was largely positive. Most really responded to the body horror and the themes of the film and we got likened to Black Mirror which is high praise. I think some would prefer the film to be more gnarly with the gore but that wasn’t the story we were telling. It’s a quiet horror that is befalling the characters. If we went really out there it would break the reality as the general population in the film are meant to think this method of punishment via planting is more humane.

One thing that was really interesting is how you discover things you did not intend through other people’s eyes. I’ve been told the film has a humorous Edgar Wright vibe, which we weren’t going for at all! I think sometimes extreme or awful scenarios are reacted to with laughter as people don’t know how else to respond. I’ve also had others completely miss the point which is informative in other ways. We as filmmakers may believe our film is saying something very clearly, but we really cannot control the audience’s reaction to it. They own that.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Don’t wait. I’ve had friends work on the same script for ten years and not do anything in the interim. Just make something, anything. It will keep you sharp. It’s very easy to fall into this trap of chasing perfection but you’ll learn more and increase your chances of making something closer to that ideal in your head if you’re actually making stuff. So stop thinking about it and just fucking do it.

This especially applies to features. I know so many directors who say they’re never making any more shorts then spend years chasing a feature. Make shorts while you’re waiting! It keeps you in the conversation and it keeps you current. They don’t have to be wildly ambitious but believe me, if that feature comes together, you’ll be glad you kept making things than if you hadn’t and you step on set for the first time in years for that feature.

And as for hacks, the audience only knows what it sees. You can play with that in so many ways. We couldn’t afford to make more than 2 tree sculptures but needed 3. So, to get around this we took one of the sculpts and slightly reshaped and redressed it to make our third. It worked perfectly.

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

Money. More than anything right now it’s money. So many of us can make something as the tools have never been easier to come by, but when we need to go beyond that entry level and break through you need money. It is incredibly difficult and there are no easy answers to it. We’re all hustling.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I’ve seen so many great shorts these past few years by some truly amazing filmmakers. There’s too many to count but here’s a few (and yes, of course they’re horror films).

O, Glory! – Charlie Edwards-Moss & Joe Williams
Bleep – Ben S. Hyland
Molar – Tiago Teixeria
Eric – David Yorke
Demon Box – Sean Wainsteim
Blank – Avishai Weinberger
Sucker – Alix Austin
The Heritage – Andrew Rutter

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Kill List

Written & Directed by JAMES MILLAR
Produced by Chris Datson & Ashley Millar

Get ready for an action-packed ride with 'Kill List'! Follow a ruthless bounty hunter as he sets out to take down his latest target. This short film is a proof of concept for a larger story that will keep you hooked.

ABOUT THE FILM

Kill List Won Best Cinematography at the Midland Movies Awards. It also played at the Northampton Film Festival and the Lift Off Global Network Sessions.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Growing up in a movie-loving household, James Millar knew he was destined to make films. Since his first short film in college, he's made over 20 shorts and music videos, snagging a variety of awards, including one judged by Watchmen author Alan Moore.

With experience as a CG artist for major brands like O2 and Marks and Spencer, James is now head of video production at Jaguar Land Rover. But his ultimate dream is to write and direct a feature film.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH James

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Welcome back to our Short of the Week series. What have you been up to since we featured SWINE?

Since the release of SWINE in 2021, my creative journey has been an exhilarating ride. Following the labour of love that SWINE entailed, I experienced a period of fatigue and burnout, especially while balancing a full-time role at Jaguar Land Rover and the responsibilities of family life alongside my passion projects.

However, I am thrilled to share that things are now back on track. SWINE's journey took us to some fantastic festivals where we had the pleasure of connecting with incredible individuals from the film community. The film's success was further bolstered by the recognition it received through various awards, which served as an inspiration and validation of our hard work.

As the dust settled, I dedicated my time to writing and nurturing exciting new projects. The experience with SWINE has fuelled my passion and motivated me to embark on an array of future endeavors.

With a renewed sense of enthusiasm and a vision for what lies ahead, I am eager to delve into these upcoming projects.

Tell us about the genesis of Kill List and how the project came about.

For years, I've been brewing an idea for a project called Shoe Town, named after my hometown of Northampton. This place holds a special significance as it was once a global hub for shoe manufacturing, and that legacy lives on through our football team, the Cobblers, and the enduring nickname 'Shoe Town' among the locals.

Shoe Town delves into the gritty underbelly of the town, drawing inspiration from personal experiences and the tales of others. It revolves around larger-than-life characters whose paths intertwine in unexpected ways, building up to a climactic finale. 

Kill List emerged as an audacious experiment. We wanted to test the limits of our small filmmaking team, pushing the boundaries of what we could achieve without any external funding. We decided to shoot exactly what we envisioned, curious to see if compromises would hinder our artistic vision. To our delight, the outcome far exceeded our initial expectations.

It was an exhilarating journey, breathing life into our passion project, and discovering the untapped potential within our talented crew. Kill List stands as a testament to our collective dedication and creativity, proving that even with limited resources, we could craft a compelling and impactful film. 

Kill List seems like it's part of a much larger story. Is this a proof of concept for a feature or just one in a series of Shoe Town short stories?

Kill List serves as an exciting glimpse into a larger narrative universe we've been developing. In our discussions, we envisioned a twofold approach: continuing to produce Shoe Town story shorts as standalone proof-of-concept projects, while ultimately aiming to bring forth a feature film set within the same universe.

Kill List, being the inaugural entry in this series of shorts, was a bold proof-of-concept experiment. It allowed us to test the waters, exploring the potential of this dark and immersive world we've created. As we move forward, we're thrilled to expand on the compelling characters and intricate storylines, paving the way for a future feature that will truly bring the Shoe Town universe to life.

Can you tell us about the world of Shoe Town?

Certainly! Welcome to the captivating realm of Shoe Town, a hyper-real, darkly comic reimagination of my hometown, Northampton. Prepare to be immersed in a world steeped in visceral crime, rampant corruption, and a multitude of sins that intertwine with its very fabric. In this twisted reflection of reality, the characters that inhabit Shoe Town serve as amplified caricatures, embodying the town's pervasive darkness in larger-than-life ways.

Within these streets, you'll encounter a colourful cast of characters whose lives intertwine amidst the chaos. Each individual represents a unique facet of the town's seedy underbelly, revealing the extremes of human nature in a way that blurs the boundaries of plausibility and amplifies the grotesque.

Shoe Town is a place where every corner hides secrets, every interaction brims with tension, and every moment pulses with a dark energy that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's a world that challenges perceptions, provokes laughter through discomfort, and pushes the boundaries of storytelling.

Check out this awesome behind the scenes video

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Kill List and how did you overcome them?

Throughout the making of Kill List, we encountered several formidable obstacles that tested our creativity and problem-solving skills. The first challenge arose with continuity as we commenced shooting during a local fair's arrival last May. To capitalize on the golden hour lighting, we aimed to capture as much footage as possible before nightfall.

Initially, this approach worked seamlessly. However, as the week progressed, we faced sudden closures of the fair due to low attendance. In some instances, we found ourselves in the middle of a take only to have all the rides abruptly shut down. This disruption threatened our desired consistency.

To mitigate this issue, we ingeniously implemented Astera Titan tubes to light our talent. By simulating the hues emitted by the rides, we could seamlessly match the lighting and maintain visual continuity when the fair abruptly closed.

Given that Kill List was a proof-of-concept project, we embarked with a loose idea of what we wanted to capture. Our vision truly took shape as we pieced together the footage during post-production. Unfortunately, this coincided with the fair's final week, resulting in its departure and leaving us in a bind, in need of additional footage.

To overcome this setback, we actively tracked the fair's movements through social media. As it relocated to different locations, we strategically shot in each new setting. For instance, the scenes featuring the talent walking around were captured in the initial location, while the drone shots were taken in a completely new location where the fair had relocated. We repeated this process for a total of three different fairgrounds to obtain all the necessary footage.

Despite these challenges, our resourcefulness and adaptability enabled us to triumph over unexpected hurdles. We emerged with a cohesive and visually stunning short film, Kill List, that captures the essence of our original vision.

Awesome location! How did you go about securing that or did you pull it off guerilla style?

Thank you! The truth is, securing the location was mostly a guerrilla-style endeavour. One evening, while visiting the fair with friends and family, I was struck by the incredible atmosphere and realized it would be the perfect setting for a shoot. Inspired by this revelation, I quickly formulated a rough plan that aligned with the Shoe Town concept, and we took the plunge!

During the shoot, we did encounter fair workers who expressed curiosity about our project. Fortunately, their inquiries were never derogatory; instead, they showed genuine interest and excitement about us shooting something in their workplace.

Embracing the guerrilla-style approach allowed us to capture the essence of the fair authentically and without constraints. It added an element of spontaneity and adventure to the process, enhancing the overall experience and resulting in some truly remarkable footage.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

The journey of bringing our film to audiences has been nothing short of exhilarating. Like every project we've undertaken in the past, our approach has always been to harness the power of social media and expand our reach. It can sometimes feel like an uphill battle, but through incredible platforms like yours and the support of remarkable film festivals, we've been able to ensure that the right people discover and appreciate our work.

With this film, we took a unique approach that added a new layer of excitement. We collaborated with a local musician, the sensational FFSYTHO, and incorporated her electrifying track, "Bop Through your manor," as the opening music of the film. Being a literal local legend and boasting a devoted fan base, it made perfect sense to infuse her high-energy track into our cinematic creation. The result was a seamless fusion of music and visuals, elevating the overall cinematic quality of the film to new heights.

This collaboration was just the beginning of our exciting journey together. We have plans to reciprocate the creative energy by working with FFSYTHO on one of her upcoming projects. It's a testament to the power of collaboration and mutual support within the artistic community.

We are grateful for the platforms and partnerships that have allowed us to connect with audiences who appreciate our work. It is through these meaningful connections that our film finds its way into the hearts and minds of those who truly resonate with it.

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

Undeniably, one of the biggest challenges facing short filmmakers breaking into the industry lies in making a significant impact within an already vast and competitive market. With the rise of short-form videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, capturing audiences' attention has become increasingly challenging. People's attention spans have shortened, and the patience to watch content exceeding a minute online has diminished compared to the past.

Countless successful individuals in the industry have emphasized the importance of not solely relying on short films as a means to break through. Instead, they suggest using short films as a platform to showcase one's capabilities and seize opportunities to secure talented actors, crew members, and funding. The prevailing advice has been to leverage these short films as stepping stones toward embarking on ambitious feature film projects.

Navigating this landscape requires strategic thinking, adaptability, and the willingness to embrace change. As short filmmakers, we must find innovative ways to captivate audiences, while simultaneously utilizing our short films as powerful tools to demonstrate our vision, talents, and potential. By leveraging these opportunities effectively, we can build the necessary foundation to make a lasting impact within the industry.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

Something I watched recently was a short film called Lay Me by the Shore by David Findlay which was a Vimeo staff pick and It just got me! I loved it, also another short film I loved recently was Look at Me by Sally Potter starring Chris Rock and Javier Bardem and again it was just great! Also, the latest season of ‘Love Death and Robots’ on Netflix is inspiring! Feature film wise the new Spiderverse movie was epic! And I randomly watched ‘Wheelman’ on Netflix starring Frank Grillo from 2017 and I thought it was a cool concept kind of like DRIVE if he never left the car. Also, Guy Ritchie's new film on Amazon called Covenant was really cool.

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

Dance With Me

DIRECTED BY Simon Lex | Written by Celine Arden
Produced by Celine Arden, Simon Haines & Simon Lex

Insecure millennial Nicole attempts to rekindle intimacy with her distant boyfriend by forcing him to do an online ecstatic dance.

ABOUT THE FILM

“Dance With Me” was created for Mandy.com’s Mini Movie Fest where it won. As it’s prize it played off-competition at the Raindance Film Festival. The film also won Best International Short and Simon Haines won Best Actor at the Golden Horse International Film Festival. Simon also won Best Actor the Berlin Indie Film Festival.

ABOUT THE FILMmakers

Simon Lex is an award-winning film director and doctor working in London. He has worked most notably on DANCE WITH ME (2022), winner of the Mandy Mini Movie Fest and screened at Raindance Film Festival; EMILY (2020), awarded Best Romantic Comedy Micro Film at the Austin Comedy Short Film Festival. From 2018 to the events of 2020 he worked with Actors East in London, hosting their Scene Night - a monthly theatre scratch night. His short film MAGPIES (2021) premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Bengaluru International Short Film Festival. He is passionate about working closely with actors to get truthful performances and create nutritious experiences for his audiences.

Simon Haines is an award-winning actor and filmmaker. Screen roles include Litvinenko (ITVX), I Am Einstein (Netflix/BBC), Knightfall (Netflix), Forgive Me Father (ADB Films), Bombing Auschwitz(BBC/PBS) and several award-winning shorts. Stage roles include The Mousetrap (West End), Straight White Men (Southwark Playhouse), his one-man show Animals and Children (Dutch National Theatre), Posh and Rubenstein Kiss (Nottingham Playhouse/Tour), Europe After the Rain (Mercury Theatre), Distinguished Villa (Finborough), as well as performing Shakespeare around Europe and Asia including Cambridge Arts Theatre, Orange Tree Theatre, Elsinore Castle and Shakespeare's Globe. He also directs and teaches at drama schools.

Celine Arden is an award-winning actress and producer with a slate of award winning films. Her most recent TV credits include, Mimi in Netflix's thriller Obsession, Sally Bloom in Sky's comedy Bloods, Stak in SyFy's Krypton S2, Alice in Acorn TV's Agatha Raisin to name a few. Recent film credits: MGM's ‘The Hustle’, ‘The Postcard Killings’ opposite Jeffrey Morgan Stanley and ‘Us or Them’ opposite Malin Akerman.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH THE FILMMAKERS

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

SIMON LEX: Hi, thanks so much for hosting us and our film Dance With Me. I’m Simon Lex and I directed the film. The other key collaborators on it are Celine Arden (writer, actor and producer), Simon Haines (actor and producer) and Horia Cojan (cinematographer). We have all worked together on a number of films. The collaborative aspect of filmmaking is hugely important to me and is key to how I like to work. I started out directing films through 48 hour film challenges in Exeter back in 2014 I think. It’s funny because the process we did for Dance With Me reminds me a lot of those times. We shot the film in a day with really minimal planning and a tiny crew (we were 5 people on set including the cast!), and then bashed out an edit in another 2-3 days in time to submit it for the Mandy Mini Movie festival. There’s something really liberating about forcing limitations upon creative acts.

Tell us about the genesis of Dance With Me?

LEX: Simon Haines, Celine and I have worked together for a number of years. Both on theatre scenes and on short films. We wanted to make something else together so we had compiled a list of film ideas/half-baked scripts. We were struggling to pick one, until Celine discovered the Mandy Mini Movie Fest and suggested we make something for it, which forced our hand to pick one of the ideas…

CELINE ARDEN: During the first portion of the lockdown, my partner and I were doing an online ecstatic dance and a similar moment happened where my partner (rightly so) did not want to dance with me. However, in the real-life situation I shrugged that off and we carried on dancing. Afterwards, I thought what if I had taken the ‘rejection’ personally and Dance With Me was born.

The performances in Dance With Me are wonderful - especially the chemistry between the two leads. Can you talk more about the director/actor dynamic, and what it’s like directing a script written by one of your actors?

LEX: Thanks for your kind words about the performances in our film. The director/actor dynamic is something that I am infinitely passionate and curious about and I can talk ad nauseam about. So I’ll be conscious to try and make this succinct. I see it as something sacred. It requires so much trust, going both ways. When it works, there is some serious magic that can take place and the end result of this can be so much richer than either director or actor could possibly have imagined before. I owe a huge amount to my directing teacher Adrienne Weiss and my acting teacher Tom Radcliffe for teaching me so much about this divine dance. Check them out!

Regarding directing a work that has been written by the actor who is going to perform it. Well, as a general rule I try to avoid this. I feel that it’s exceptionally difficult to have written something and then act in it with the same amount of freedom and flexibility as you do on another script. But having worked with Celine before and knowing what an incredible actor she is, and the fact that we both trust each other and have that working relationship already in place, I knew we would be able to achieve some really great work regardless.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Dance With Me and how did you overcome them?

LEX: For me, the biggest one with this film was that I rushed out an edit of it in time for the submission deadline for the Mandy Mini Movie Fest. And then - I mention this not out of self-promotion, but just that it’s essential for the point that I’m about to make - it won one of the categories in the festival. But I knew that the edit wasn’t as good as it could be, so I wanted to go back and re-edit it. But the motivation to do that, once it was out in the world and it appeared evident that people thought that it was alright, was excruciating to muster. Thanks to a lot of prodding and nudging from Simon Haines and Celine (with their producer hats on), I did finally get there but I think it took me 6 months!

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

SIMON HAINES: I love film festivals: the people, conversations, sense of community and mutual support, reconnections/new connections - and of course the buzz of watching new work.

I had a lot of fun working with Celine on our festival strategy but no matter how much you plan, there’s always a sort of mysterious kismet that comes into play. For example, we’d never planned on taking the film to Raindance, but screening at Raindance was part of the prize for winning the Mandy Mini Movie Fest. Kino wasn’t part of our original strategy either. Then I discovered the festival when a friend invited me to your final-night award ceremony in April, and I loved both the films we saw and the whole Kino ethos. Basically: stuff leads to stuff in beautifully unplannable ways.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

LEX: Gosh, I don’t think there are any hacks. Get in touch if you want to ask me anything: @simonlexfilms on insta, I’m more than happy to help in any way that I can. I think the best advice that I was ever given was to just make things, you most likely have a camera on your phone and probably editing software too nowadays, so just make stuff!

CELINE: 1) Find a group of people that you love working with. It makes life so much easier. 2) Keep the locations of the script minimal so you can spend your time filming rather than setting up and moving locations. 3) Preparation is KEY! Rehearsals!!! So important. And if you can get the DOP in on the rehearsal days, DO IT!

HAINES: Agreed. Make stuff and find your people. Celine has taught me so much about grabbing the bull by the horns and just doing something, rather than procrastinating until it’s ‘perfect’. It’ll never be perfect. When you just make stuff, it’s not perfect but it actually tends to be unexpectedly lovely in moments. And from all the unlovely stuff between those moments, you’ve learnt something. And then it’s iterative: each thing you make is a little more lovely than the thing before.

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

LEX: I’m very much of the view that if artists continue to make good work, it will find an audience, so artists shouldn’t get discouraged by the apparent challenges of “breaking into the industry”. We just need to keep on making stuff and do the work.

HAINES: Money. Our first short together was shot on an iPhone – and you could tell – but people loved it. We effectively shot that for £50, split between us plus a small festival budget. Dance With Me is the second short we’ve made together and it cost more, but not a lot more.

Stepping up to each ‘next level’ is a challenge but it feels easier if you go step by step.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

LEX: Really depends what you are into… the two films over the last year that left a big impression on me were ‘Close’ by Lukas Dhont and ‘Everything Everywhere’ but you’ve probably already seen those!

HAINES: Ellie Foumbi’s stunning ethical thriller ‘Mon Père, Le Diable’ aka ‘Our Father, The Devil’.

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FOLLOW CELINE ARDEN ON INSTAGRAM

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

Influencia

Written & Directed by Ryan Rosenheim & Patrick De Vinck

Produced by Jan Luis Castellanos

A despondent young man, Cesar, wakes up on the beach hungover. As he readies himself for the day, more and more of his poverty is revealed. Mourning the loss of his mother, Cesar drinks himself into a stupor, listening to his mother’s old voicemail on repeat. After sobering up enough, Cesar sneaks onto a wealthy Malibu property to film a video with a Lamborghini.

ABOUT THE FILM

“Influencia” won Best Actor in a Drama at the 8th Annual Official Latino Film & Arts Festival.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKES

Ryan Rosenheim is an LA native, valley rat with a BFA in acting from the University of Michigan. There, he also minored in screenwriting and creative writing. After short acting stints at The Public in New York and The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Ryan returned to LA to pursue writing and filmmaking. Since then, he’s scored, written, directed, and acted in dozens of indie projects, some of which led to very educational optioning and pitching opportunities in the industry.

Patrick de Vinck, also a valley man, came back from his own east coast adventures at Rutgers where he studied economics. During the pandemic, Patrick delved back into creative endeavors and was able to seamlessly blend in his proclivity for numbers. Thus he put on his producer hat and reoriented his filmmaking aspirations toward being a producer-writer.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH RYAN and PATRICK

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

Throughout highschool, we (Ryan and Patrick) threw together a handful of goofy films. Despite Patrick dislocating his knee at the bottom of a three-mile hike shooting location, the joy we experienced while shooting these shorts mused about in the backs of our minds as we endeavored different paths at uni. 

Ryan continued on, not in film exactly, but as an acting major and screenwriting minor at the University of Michigan. His senior year, however, Ryan returned to his roots to shoot a film called Scott for Now about a man with high quality intentions but horrendous execution. 

Meanwhile, Patrick took a more practical route in school, but ultimately his love for filmmaking resurfaced. The childhood videographer and raconteur couldn’t hide from his true nature.

Tell us about the genesis of INFLUENCIA?

 After graduating, Patrick joined his long-time friend Jan Luis Castellanos on the set of 13 Reasons Why. There, Patrick was inspired and began spitballing an idea that he wanted to write for several members of the cast.

A little rusty, Patrick called up Ryan for some pilot pointers. Per usual with Ryan, eccentric that he is, he became quite invested in the idea. That said, the initial pilot was a raunchy comedy and Ryan saw its merit as a dark comedy drama and began mining the comedy for its riches in drama.  Ultimately, the two became co-writers and had at last reunited.

After the pilot’s ten millionth draft, the satisfied creative team decided to shoot a proof of concept to buff up our pitch. That said, all our schedules had only one brief overlap...two weeks out. We pulled a montage from the pilot, tweaked it, and voila we had a script. We used our recognizable talent to bait in a brilliant crew, and voila we had Kenzen Takahashi behind the camera. 

Suddenly our two day shoot was over and Influencia was in the oven baking.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Influencia and how did you overcome them?

No film ever goes “as planned.” Sometimes the car transporting talent to location breaks down. Sometimes you have to shoot sunset to look like a sunrise. Sometimes you run out of fake vomit. A lack of location permits, a two-day timeframe, a wee baby of a budget, and a whole lot of vertigo (Ryan’s got a condition) made the process a challenge for sure. That said, with an enormous amount of generosity from the crew, we managed to pull ourselves — and a nice little poem of a film — together. 

Obstacles are inherent to the filmmaking process. As much as we love film, we love mediation and problem solving. So any hiccup — big or small — is, in our minds, a reset. Forget the plan, forget the old idea. It’s irrelevant now. The obstacle forces you to think of something better. “Oh, we’re out of fake blood? Fine, let’s give him blunt force head trauma and have him stutter, moan, and spit about like a mummy.” You suddenly find your actor giving the performance of a lifetime, a choice much more horrifying than the bit of classic gore you had planned.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

When people aren’t getting paid much, the goal to finish is — while perhaps impassioned — not priority. That said, even though the film was intended to be a supplement to our pitch, when we finally finished, we couldn’t bear to put the film up on a shelf (or pitch deck) where it’d only see the light of day by the dog-eating studio execs.  

Being a fan of the Annual Latino Film Festival, our star and executive producer, Jan Luis, submitted Influencia to the festival. We premiered our film in Palm Springs, but still were hesitant to post it on socials. Alas, we finally decided our hard work was worth viewing. We threw it up on Vimeo and have had great feedback from viewers. It surprisingly has meant a lot to folks.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

The best advice is, “Become great friends with rich people.” That, however, is not so easily done, so some practical advice would be to practice thinking on your feet. Just as an experiment, go into events or work without a plan. Don’t set ultimatums and don’t put on limiters. See where things take you and wherever they do take you, try to make the circumstances work for you, for your tastes and needs. 

Also, ask for help. Control is hard to give up, but there’s too many hats to wear as an independent filmmaker. If you can surround yourself with trusted advisors and talent, shed a load and ask for help. You don’t have to do it all by yourself. 

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

When “readers” read your scripts or executives hear out your pitch, they aren’t assuming you have any merit. You could be the absolute greatest screenwriter of all time, but they aren’t looking at your work with the lens of genius on. We are not often given a chance to be taken seriously. So, with that, we think the biggest challenge facing indie filmmakers is breaking out of the “indie” title. Eventually, once your catalog is big enough, they might start looking. Until then, it’s pretty damn hard to not have to fund your own projects.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

For short films, selfishly, check out the very amateur, very heartfelt Scott for Now. Unselfishly, we’re very into a couple A24 newbies out, Aftersun and Past Lives. There’s also a Colombian film we just stumbled into called Embrace of the Serpent that absolutely had us jaw-dropped.

Also, Worst Person in the World was so damn moving that Patrick passed out in the theater next to Ryan…he also has a condition. 

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FOLLOW RYAN ON INSTAGRAM | FOLLOW PATRICK DE VINCK

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Plantman

Written, Produced & Directed by Tim Astley

The day begins, and so does the Plantman's work. This is a look inside a day and the life of a humble gardener. Plantman is a film about understanding and believing in our life choices and recognising the difficulties we face along the way; however big or small our impact, we can be proud of our achievements.

ABOUT THE FILM

Plantman was an official selection at the Wolverhampton Film Festival & Derby Film Festival. It first caught attention at our March 2023 Short Film Open Mic and was recently released via Klipist.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Tim Astley studied Film & English in Leicester, moved down to London to pursue a career in filmmaking. He has found a home in editing, but directing is his passion.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH TIM

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

I’ve been interested in filmmaking for a long time, it became my life ambition to become a director from about the age of 16. It did take me a while to actually realise what that meant and how I needed to get there. I didn’t study practical filmmaking, my degree was in English Literature and Film studies, so it was very academic. I think that gave me a good grounding in the cultural importance of films and film history.

Then after uni I worked as a runner on set on some low budget features and shorts, and then I eventually ended up getting a role as a runner in a post-production facility in the advertising industry. I worked there for a while and trained as an assistant editor; this was like film school part 2 where I actually learned how to do something practical. Editing is maybe the most satisfying part of the filmmaking process because you see all the pieces come together.

I love editing, but directing is where I want to be - it’s the central role where you can use so many different skills beyond even your creativity. You have to think practically, you can have a great idea but there’s no use in it if you can’t actually do it.

Tell us about the genesis of Plantman and how you found your subject?

Sort of following on from what I was saying about thinking practically, I felt like I only really had one weapon as a first time filmmaker: me. I asked myself what could I bring to the table that no-one else could? I didn’t have a big budget, I didn’t have access to big names and I had basically no experience and no idea what I was doing. So I needed to make something only I could make.

As long as I’ve been alive my Dad has always been a gardener. He’s a rare example of someone whose passion is his vocation; which is basically my life aim because my parents always encouraged me to pursue something that I actually wanted to do - not just make money. Gardening also feels kind of similar to filmmaking as well in that you have to combine creativity with a certain physicality and have faith in what you’re doing is the right thing.

So bearing all this in mind, it felt like making a film about my Dad and what he does was the perfect film to make because it brought together my own sense of self, could be told my perspective and only I could make the film about my Dad. He also worked in a beautiful location with few to no other people around so we could shoot it very peacefully and it was at least going to look really nice. This meant that it could be heart-felt, true and have a feel of professionalism because we had a champagne location on a lager budget.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Plantman and how did you overcome them?

I think the most difficult thing was figuring out what story we were telling. I think I always wanted to do a straight case study and just tell Dad’s story of his journey but I was worried it wasn’t perhaps interesting enough so I kept trying to think of different general interest themes to give it a broader appeal. For example I was trying to tie together how gardening is an excellent way to relieve stress and help with mental health to give it that angle. But in the end I knew it just had to be his story that was the central theme, which as it turns out has a universality to it because it’s just as simple as: this is a man who knows what he likes, gets up every day and does it. That’s all something we can admire and relate to.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

This was tricky because I knew we had a good film, but it was pretty slow and soft so that it might not make the cut for a lot of big festivals. I didn’t really bother applying to the Sundances of the festival circuit because I knew it would be a waste of money, of which I had little. There was of course a small part of me that hoped it would be accepted and then somehow be nominated for all these awards but that’s just not how this works for most people.

So I decided to apply for more regional festivals that I had more of a personal connection to. We went to Wolverhampton Festival, for their first year, because that’s where my Dad is from and then we also went to Derby Festival because that’s where we shot the film. I didn’t have a huge audience at either screening but just the event of going up with my Dad and other friends and watching it on a big screen was so satisfying.

Then bringing it down to open mic nights (like the legends at Kino) in London has been amazing. Everyone is so keen to share their praise and exchange ideas, I think in part because they know what it takes to put one together so they appreciate it more. It’s a really lovely thing to be able to do.

Then through Kino I discovered the wonderful Klipist! They have put the film on their site which was so great because it has a platform dedicated to showcasing short films and new talent. It’s gone better than I could have expected really.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

All filmmakers tell each other to do is go out there and start shooting which is great advice because the only way to learn is by doing. BUT - I am a big supporter of thinking a lot about different ideas. Have a long think about what you can bring to the table. What is it that you want to do? You will probably be restricted by budget and other resources, so you really need to dig deep inside yourself and think about what it is you want to do. Don’t just make a film for its own sake: make your film. Once you figure out what kind of film you want to make, then the right idea will become apparent - whether it’s a small drama about a piano teacher or a broad comedy about Instagram influencers, your voice can shine through any idea - you just have to figure out what it is.

Then the next thing to do, which I didn’t do soon enough the first time, is get people on board who will help you. Once you’ve got your idea, it probably won’t feel ready to shoot but filmmaking is the discovery of that idea through this medium so you kind of have to feel a bit out of control for it to work.

Then it’s those collaborators who will make the film what it is. Choose those people carefully. You need to be able trust them and they need to understand your idea for you to be able to execute it. Probably the best thing about filmmaking in my experience, is the bond I created with those I worked with - particularly if you all like and believe in the idea to begin with, because you watch it grow and develop as a team because of your co-operative work.

So in summation: have a great idea and find an equally great team, easy.

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

For me it’s finding an audience and the person or people who will take me to the next level. You can make all the short films or low budget features you want but if no-one sees it, then you’re going to stay at the same level because like every business, it’s not a meritocracy. I’m not trying to peddle a cynical viewpoint here, I just think it’s important to know what you’re up against and not care. If you know how hard it is to get your feature made or break into the mainstream and you still want to make films, then you’ve already won because you’re dedicated to making it no matter what.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I was really struck by “a film made entirely of mushrooms” when I came to the Kino Open Mic a few months ago - aka The Boat. It’s a stop-motion short film, with a kind of psychedelic jaunt. It was so creative, and it looked amazing. It was a simple idea, executed beautifully.

Continuing the theme of forest delicacies, I recently watched Pig for the first time. It was a great twist on the revenge thriller, and so great to see a quiet, lean film with such a resonant message. It really spoke to the depths of my soul!

One more that maybe not as many people have seen is, Sweet Smell of Success which again I watched only recently. It’s an Alexander MacKendrick film, who for many might be best known as the writer of the great filmmaking book: On Filmmaking. It’s extremely sharp and quick-witted, kind of Sorkin-esk, but it’s got a great ending.

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Interested in getting your work selected?

Navi Boys | Episode #654

DIRECTED BY Mike Mildon
WRITTEN Mike Mildon & Jon Rende

On the 654th episode of the longest running Avatar-Fan Podcast, one of the hosts drops some very unexpected news.

ABOUT THE FILM

Navi Boys was created by the comedy sketch troupe, Trophy Husbands.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Mike Mildon is an award winning filmmaker and comedian living in Toronto, Ontario. His pas­sion for film and comedy is the driving force behind each project he does. 2021 marked his TV debut with For Heaven's Sake, a true crime comedy series produced by Muse Entertainment and Funny or Die. He executive produced, wrote, and exploited his entire family for the series, which aired on Paramount+ and CBC. The series was nominated for 3 Canadian Screen Awards (which included 'Best Series - Factual' and 'Best Writing - Factual'). Before TV, his claim to fame was his comedy sketch troupe, Trophy Husbands, where he has written, direct­ed, and released over 40 shorts onto the World Wide Web. His short films have attracted mil­lions of views online and have been featured on some of the top websites including Amazon Prime, Funny or Die, and Huffington Post. He continues to implement his genre-bending style and sense of humour in the television and commercial spaces, having directed spots for some of the biggest brands in Canada (Tim Hortons, RBC, McDonalds, etc).

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH mike

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

I’m a filmmaker and comedian based out of Toronto Ontario. I primarily write and direct comedic stuff, but I dip my toes into the dramatics every now and then. I got to make a TV show for Paramount + and CBC called For Heaven’s Sake, a real true crime docu-series with a comedic twist – very proud of that.

Before TV, my claim to fame was my comedy sketch troupe, Trophy Husbands, where I directed, co-wrote and released over 40 shorts onto the World Wide Web. It was basically like my film school (even though I went to film school). The videos themselves did pretty well, but never went super viral, but god did we have a couple die-hard fans. It also lead to cool things (like the TV show thing).

I’ve also sold my soul to the commercial directing world, it’s pretty amazing if you can get your foot in the door, just working on bigger sets, selling your vision to brands, and finding great collaborators through that industry is all stuff that feels like great practice.

Tell us about the genesis of Navi Boys and the genesis of the project?

2 years ago, myself and a friend were laughing at this idea of two hardcore Avatar fans that host a weekly podcast in full Navi makeup. Cut to October 2022, the Avatar sequel was upon on us and I still couldn’t stop thinking about this bonkers idea. With this short I took the classic approach that all filmmakers do: book a day, location, crew and actors without a word of the script written. All I knew going in – we need a really good makeup artist and everyone involved deserves to have a goofy day on set.

We (Jon Rende and I) eventually ended up putting pen to paper with lots of room to improv on set. I think regardless if you know the world of Avatar or not, the idea of these friends having to move on with their lives is a pretty universal theme. On the Avatar side of things – we actually researched the heck out of our roles. The goal was to sell these characters as die-hard fans so that the first 2 minutes feels authentic. I even spent hours scouring forums to translate English to Navi. I’m sure the real fans will poke some holes in our Navi, but we tried!

It’s dumb, it’s hyper-niche, but god am I glad it exists.

You really nailed the whole Navi cosplay makeup - can you tell us about that process?

Irayo! (means thank you in Navi) The whole ideacame down to just: have incredible makeup, but never address it once.  It’s all thanks to Dessa. I met the amazing Dessa Larocque on this vampire series I was directing and asked “heyyyyy, you ever do Avatar makeup” and she said “I’ve always wanted to!”. We stayed in touch and I would always tease her, “expect a call about that Avatar thing” So when the time came she stepped up big time. We we’re so pumped when we finished in the chair, we couldn’t stop laughing.  

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Navi Boys and how did you overcome them?

The intention was to have a fun day and keep it simple it was a relatively easy and fun shoot. Just time on the day went by super fast, makeup was 2 hours per person and then there was a lot to shoot, so sometimes I felt myself removed from the fun because I was stressing about time. But we did! It went a little later than I’d hoped, but it was a tight knit crew that was having fun, so it was all good. Besides stressing about time there wasn’t too much too overcome. The bigger choices we’re in the edit and how much of a heavy lift that twitch style background took to make. Don’t get me started on that twitch style background. Also the choice to keep things in podcast world for the first 2 minutes was found in the edit.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences. Did you try a festival run with this or was it always destined for online audiences?

No festival run, which I somewhat regret, but also not at all. This was a race against the clock for release day of Avatar 2. In the short we say “In 2 days - Way of Water comes out” so we wanted the podcast to be accurate and the short to come out on exactly 2 days before Way of Water hit theaters. I thought with the subject matter and timing it would do a little better online then it did, that’s why I started to go to places like Kino and other online short film platforms to spread awareness. But it’s still early! There’s more Avatar movies coming.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Creatively restricting yourself in the writing process isn’t the worst idea. How can we be creative in one location, how can we be creative with 2 actors, etc, etc, etc. Unit moves, cool lighting setups, big set pieces, I love it all and I’ve done it, but it really makes your shoot days more complicated and rushed, and then the shot looks cool, but your performance isn’t quite there and you are behind by 2 hours. Not saying it’s always the way, but just someone who’s made 50+ sketches/shorts for YouTube, I’m very strategic with my favours now and how I chose to write passion projects.

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

I think it’s just really hard to have your shorts seen. A short we did called “Super Intense Office Scene” won best comedy in My Rode Reel back in 2018 which is considered the “world’s largest short film festival” and I think even with the win it only brought like 3000 views to the actual short. It wasn’t till we had a reddit post blow up that it garnered closer to 25k. I’ve never done a proper festival run because I’m too impatient, but just competing against the mountains of content, you have to work your butt off to make the short, then you have to work your butt off to try and get your short seen.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

Loved Blackberry if you haven’t seen it. Jared Rabb, the guy who shot that, was the DOP on our show. Just a lovely person. Huge fan of that whole filmmaking collective (Zapruder Films). They also did Operation Avalanche and the Dirties, both great movies!

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

Hey Katie

Written, Produced & directed by Ned Caderni

A man in his mid-twenties attempts to send a voice note to an old friend, but it leads to an existential crisis.

ABOUT THE FILM

“Hey Katie” was an Official Selection at our Kino London Short Film Festival earlier this year.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Ned is an award-winning director and writer from London. His last short, Light Fantastic, won the Best Film at the 2021 Reale Film Festival in Milan and will be shown at the annual Independent Short Awards in Los Angeles in the Fall of 2022. Ned has experience working under some of Britain's leading filmmakers, including Josie Rourke and Michael Winterbottom. Furthermore, he has written and directed for Unit9, Campaign’s Tech Company of the Year 2021. When not making his own shorts or music videos, he works as a Story Producer for an upcoming docu-drama about immigrant chefs in London which will be premiering on one of the major SVOD platforms early next year.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH NED

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

First off, thanks for having me! My name is Ned Caderni and I’m a London-based filmmaker. Hard to try and put your entire background into one answer, so I’ll give you the cliche answer of saying I have always loved storytelling. I grew up wanting to tell stories and, for me, film is the best way that I can get my ideas across. Also having a background in theatre has helped me with getting a better understanding of the craft.

Tell us about the genesis of Hey Katie and how the project came about? 

I hadn’t made a narrative short for over a year and was beginning to get the itch to make something again. Or at least something that wasn’t a corporate video. There are only so many explainer videos for energy-efficient gates you can make. I was a story producer on a food documentary at the time and between setups, I’d jot down ideas on my phone's notes app. I was having a coffee and I suddenly remembered how hard I found sending a voice note to a friend a few weeks back. So, I thought that could be a solid basis for a little short. The script followed fairly quickly after, first as voice notes themselves, which I sent to my friend Patrick (they're all on his phone somewhere...) and then finally as a traditional screenplay.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Hey Katie and how did you overcome them?

Filmmaking is more often than not about problem-fixing and embracing limitations. My flatmates at the time were both away and I knew we had just one day to shoot something. I was also moving out soon and wanted to make a short film before I left. There were of course obstacles at every step, but we wanted to try and make the film in the most straightforward way possible. We used our own gear and locations and kept it 'in the family'. This way we knew we could make the film in the way we wanted to. Even if we had a big budget for this, there is very little stylistically I would have changed.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

The film premiered at Kino and it was a great experience. It’s an honour to have your film screened with an audience, even if it makes you feel a little sick. My Al Pacino impression got a chuckle though; that meant a lot! We then released it online and people seem not to have hated it, which is always nice. It’s also my mum’s favourite thing I’ve made, which I’ll probably chat to my therapist about. 

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

For shorts, I often find that simpler is better. I think there is this desire to get all the magic you feel you have into one film. And that drive is wonderful and should never be squashed, but I think you’ve also got to be patient. Rich Taylor, the AC on the film, always talks about working on the rice before you master the fish. When you perfect the rice, then you can move on to making sushi. 

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

Funding. Big time.  

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

This is where you want to flex and recommend some obscure art house film; “Oh, what do you mean you’ve never seen Abbas Kiorastami’s early work?”. But I recently rewatched RoboCop for the first time in ages. I forgot just how epic it is. So if you’ve never seen it, RoboCop. 

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

Out Of Orbit

DIRECTED BY Jess Kay and Dann Emmons
WRITTEN Jess Kay

PRODUCED by Jess Kay, Dann Emmons, RAGHAV MUKERJI, AND CHARLOTTE HARDICK

When Esme's mum dies, her world falls apart. She struggles to navigate her day to day life until she gets an idea, fuelled by their mutual love of space, which may lead to the relief she longs for.

Starring Amira Macey-Michael (Star of Oscar Nominated Aardman Animation / Netfix’s "Robin Robin”.)

ABOUT THE FILM

Out of Orbit won Best Micro-Budget Short & Best Production Design at our festival in 2022. It was also in the Judges Selection at Lift Off London where it also won Best Art Direction. It was an Official Selection at the Manchester Film Festival and Nottingham Film Festival. Jess and Dann won Best Directors at Unrestricted View Film Festival and Visability Film Festival, and Best Drama Directors at the London Director Awards. Additionally the film won Best Cinematography & Best Editing at Feel The Reel 2022.

It recently was released online via Omeleto.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Dann is a London-based Director working in Narrative and Commercial projects. Dann learned his craft in the camera department, as DoP and operator, working on the floor on episodics, features and commercials before moving into the Director’s chair. Naturally, he has an eye for visuals, and his experience gives him a unique perspective when it comes to the complexities of shoots and the demands of productions. To date he’s directed numerous commercials and promos as well as several award-winning short films.

Jess is a writer/director/maker who loves to tell stories. She began her creative storytelling career working in theatre and the outdoor arts, creating puppets and devising stories for numerous theatrical productions. This background in theatrical and large scale spectacles is now hugely influential within her filmmaking style. Jess always strives for visually beautiful work, with a keen eye for the importance of little details and a huge love for hand-made crafts. Out of Orbit is her first short film, following on from her award-winning music video "Drift" which followed a similar artistic style.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH DANN & JESS

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

We have both come into filmmaking through different pathways and first met making a short music video together which had a similar style to Out Of Orbit with a young boy and a puppeteer Jellyfish. Jess brings the arts and crafts to our team as she began her career predominantly in Theatre working as a puppet and prop maker and still works in that role often today. Dann brings the production knowledge and visuals to the table as he has a more traditional filmmaking background as a DOP who worked his way up to shooting smaller budget TV series, Commercials and Feature Films before jumping across to Directing.

Tell us about the genesis of Out of Orbit and how the project came about?

The project began with Jess as she had been toying with the story for a long time. The film is inspired by her own experience loosing her dad at a young age and some form of the story has been floating around with her for a while before she approached Dann with the initial treatment. After reading it and speaking to Jess, Dann was inspired by the ideas and visuals Jess had in mind and they quickly developed the film into a fully fleshed out script together before embarking on co-directing the film. 

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Out of Orbit and how did you overcome them?

As always our main obstacle was a lack of funding or money. We actually made the film for just under £1000 which was a stretch to say the least but by pulling in favours from our wonderful friends, family and networks we were able to assemble a team and a collection of great locations to set the film in. Then came about casting our Child star. We started by approaching a local drama college and was put in touch with a kids acting agency. After interviewing a few of the kids I think we were both taken by Amira straight away so the decision became very easy. Aside from that, production went pretty smoothly all in all and we managed to sneak it all in just before the first COVID lockdowns started kicking in!

How was it working with a child actor in your leading role?

We both have a history of working with kids as teachers and filmmakers so the idea of working with a child actor wasn't too daunting for either of us. We also knew how incredibly mature and talented Amira was so that certainly put our mind at ease. I guess the main distinctions in working with a child actor is the amount of hours and breaks you have to give which can slow a day down, so we had to account for that. Beyond that Amira really was a joy to work with, this was her first film and she picked up so much so quickly it was amazing to watch. By the end she was pointing out props that were in the wrong place and giving herself marks on the ground.

Can us through your production design process since it's such a major centerpiece feature of your film.

Jess background in Theatre and production design was really the key ingredient in the film and she created the space rocket you see in the film all by herself from scratch in her mums living room (much to her mums dismay). It took Jess a few months to piece the whole thing together and she worked feverishly through pre-production to get it finished in time with all the moving parts that Amira could interact with which was really important to us. The main considerations with the rocket were to make sure it always felt like something a child could make themselves and not have it too polished. We also built it in a way in which you could remove any of the walls independently to allow the camera to get inside and shoot from multiple angles. 

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences. 

It's been a learning curve navigating the festival market but we've had a really great run so far with multiple awards being picked up which we've been so grateful for. There's also nothing like seeing the film with a live audience in the cinema, that has always been the highlight for both of us during that time, particularly as we rejoiced in hearing some sniffling and tears at the end. During the initial Festival push we had held a lot of details back from the applications as we didn't want to show all our cards (mainly the rocket) and found we had a lot less success than we anticipated. However, we changed up our strategy and decided to make the rocket the centrepiece of our marketing campaign, which made an incredibly tangible difference! After the festival circuit was coming to an end we didn't want to just pop it on our own youtube channels and hope people might watch it so we reached out to popular shorts channel 'Omeleto' who thankfully loved the film and are programming it on their youtube channel now. The response has been really positive so far!

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers? 

Work with kids, they're great! But honestly just surround yourself with lovely, talented people who you like working with and don't look back. You don't need tonnes of money or resources but you do need friends, so keep them close!

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

I think the festival circuit is a really tricky minefield to navigate (and expensive too) so make sure you treat this part of the process like a business and try not to get too emotional about it. If you're not having much success, try changing up your marketing or asking for feedback. Do your research into festivals too so you're not spending money on festivals that would have never taken your film in the first place... and keep going - it's a long process but if you've got a good film with a solid story you'll find an audience for it!

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist? 

The biggest influence on our film is probably the work of Michel Gondry. We both bonded over our love of 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and 'Science of Sleep' which are incredible films so go watch those!

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VISIT DAN’S WEBSITE | VISIT JESS’ WEBSITE

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

Shadow Boxer

DIRECTED BY Ross McGowan
WRITTEN craig mcdonald-kelly

PRODUCED by Chris evangelou, Ross McGowan, David hepburn, & craig mcdonald-kelly

Round 9. WBF super middle weight fight. Against his old stable buddy, and with his father in the other corner, the challenger Mason Mendoza is down on points. Now he's fighting for his pride.

ABOUT THE FILM

Shadow Boxer was the winner of the Audience Choice award at the Exit 6 Film Festival. It was also an official selection at the Tallgrass, Another Hole in the Head, and the BAFTA qualifying Bolton International Film Festival. Finally, it screened as part of the monthly screenings for the Academy Award qualifying Hollyshorts.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Ross is the director of multi award winning films at Deadline Films UK. Since 2017 he has directed 4 shorts for the company which have gone on to win multiple awards on the international short film circuit. Before the formation of Deadline Films, Ross directed the Showbiz TV original shows, Country Sessions (2016) and Talent Spot (2016). He is currently in post production on an upcoming web series, and has numerous projects in development. 

Ross also works as an assistant director on high end TV and films, one of his most recent credits being Queen Charlotte where he worked with the director to create the background action in scenes featuring supporting artists. 

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ROSS

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

I'm Ross and I've been making short films for over 10 years. Since 2017 I've been a member of Deadline Films UK with Craig McDonald-Kelly and David Hepburn. 

Before the formation of Deadline Films, I was making overlong and over expensive shorts that didn't screen at any festivals. I approached the shorts after forming the company with the mantra of 'do what you can with what you have and cut your cloth accordingly.' This is a quote from Ben Wheatley on his first feature Down Terrace. 

Hangover Food, Shadow Boxer and Byte have all had great festival success and have all won awards. They were all made on this mantra. 

Since 2016 I've worked in the film industry as an AD. The on set experience has been invaluable, I've learnt from great directors, not so great directors, and have been able to creatively have my input on projects when setting background. 

Tell us about the genesis of Shadow Boxer and how the project came about?

I met Chris on the set of The Gentlemen where he was cast and I was the key set PA. We got talking about short films at the after party and arranged a meeting at Nandos in wood green.

He pitched the idea of a boxing film centering on a father son conflict which I was drawn to. He also said he had access to a real fight night where we could go and shoot the wides, and we could do the mids and close ups at a gym, low angle pointing at the ceiling. Being told I couldn't do something made me think how could I do it? Access to a ring for 30 minutes. How do you make a 10 minute short in 30 minutes? 

This was February 2019. I was about to start work on 1917 where I was a crowd PA, in costume, in the trenches, on camera. With this in the back of my mind, it became obvious to do the film as a oner. It's a way of flipping our biggest disadvantage: time and the lack of coverage, into our USP. 

Chris and I wrote a treatment which Craig adapted into a script. Bound by a oner, flashbacks would have to become VO and find a natural way to fit into the film. Exposition would have to be given through the fight and I wanted it to be an immersive experience, where the audience are dropped right in the middle of the action and we learn what's happening through the course of the film. 

On first glance, Shadow Boxer looks and feels like a single take. How did you hide your editing so well?

The film is made up of 8 shots. Logically it had to be broken down to apply make up to the fighters but also, because we were shooting this in front of a live audience, in a 30 minute window, mistakes were going to happen. When the adrenaline is going and there's hundreds of eyes on you, people make mistakes, and it happened on the night. Breaking the film down into these shots gave us the chance to bank what had already been shot. Imagine if it was ran as a oner and 8 minutes in, someone misses their cue. We'd have to go back and start again which we would not have the time to do. 

I insisted on 5 weeks of rehearsals, every sunday leading up to the shoot date which was July 5th at the York Hall. Starting by filming it on my phone, we worked out the blocking of the action and the camera, and hiding where the cut points were. At this point, late May to June, I was deep into shooting 1917 so I was stealing techniques on how to hide the edits in front of me. At the end of every rehearsal, I'd edit what was shot and send it to everyone to review. It's this rehearsal and review process that made the edits look so seamless. 

We built up to a dress rehearsal the week before the shoot with all departments where we made the film in a gym without an audience. I needed to know we could do it before doing it live in front of a crowd. 

Tell us about wrangling your location and extras.

There are no extras! We stole the crowd! It's cheaper. 

Chris was able to strike a deal with ring king events where we were the 'halftime entertainment', also selling tickets on his name and his return to the ring. That's how we got access to the York Hall, the home of British boxing, for free. 

Wrangling a real crowd, getting them on side and to react the way we wanted them to. That's a little harder if you're not paying them.

I thought of this short film as a culmination of my short films but also my crowd AD work. We did the trench run in 1917 with 500 SAs. The conversations I was having were to hundreds of extras so I knew I could speak in front of a large crowd. 

We had between 300-400 people there on the night. How do you get them on side? Look sharp. I wore a suit, fresh hair cut, the small things that make a first impression. I interacted with the crowd, "how are you doing? HOW ARE YOU DOING?" Get them to immediately react to me. I introduced the two fighters, and then got them to pick a fighter they supported. I then got them to cheer for which fighter they supported before we even started rolling. 

I had a 3 minute intro, I had a radio in one ear, and was on a mic. To start with I'd tell the audience exactly what to do, as the shooting progressed, I'd give them leading direction. "Mason is on the floor, if he gets up you're going to raise the roof!" He gets up and the crowd got to their feet. They all played ball. It was incredible. I remember sharing a look with the sound recordist which said 'fuck, this is incredible'. 

It was the closest to doing something live that I've ever come whilst making a film.

watch the behind the scenes video for shadow boxer

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Shadow Boxer and how did you overcome them?

We had a lot of crew drop outs and we were marching towards a shooting date so there was a lot of last minute crew replacement. 

There were certain timings the actors had to go off, dialogue from the corner men that was drowned out by the sound of the crowd, so I had to identify that they couldn't hear these cues and shout them myself. 

When we first got into the ring, the adrenaline was running so hard in everyone that some cues were missed. We had to do the opening shot 3 times before we got it right. We had to stay calm, and progress. 

My radio died half way through the shoot and i had to throw it at an AD and get chucked a new one. Suddenly I was communicating with the crew through the mic as well as the audience instead of on radio. 

Whatever we got, we got. I knew we had to treat it like theatre. 

It was a HUGE rush when it was over. 

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

We worked with Festival Formula to put together a distribution strategy. We shot in 2019 and did a screening at the PCC Nov 2019. Seeing it on a big screen, the way it was intended was amazing. It went to festivals in early 2020, then lockdown hit. Suddenly a film which was intended to be seen on the big screen was being seen on laptops. 

It went to Film Shortage after the festival run, and it's having a second wind now, having gone on Klipist and now being featured here on short of the week. 

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

"Do what you can with what you have and cut your cloth accordingly". 

Don't waste money aiming for something you don't know if you can pull off. Learn how to walk before you can run. Make something you know that you can have absolute control over rather than aiming to make something that will look like a cheap imitation of something else. 

Get experience on sets. Not just your own. 

I would recommend that everyone that wants to make films does some time as an AD. Learn time management. Learn how the floor runs. 

I wouldn't be where I am today without the skills and the contacts I made from doing these jobs.

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

Self inflicted problems like trying to run before you can walk. I believe everyone has to make their share of bad projects before they start to become good, so when you fail, fail small. Learn from my mistakes. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. It's 26 marathons back to back. 

Industry wide, funding is always the big one, but you can make a film on a phone now so it shouldn't stop you from being able to tell good stories.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

My whole mantra is based around Ben Wheatley's approach to his first feature, Down Terrace, so that as a feature plus his film four interview about how he made it for £7K. 

Short film wise, watch as many as you can, Klipist and Kino short film of the week are great for that. 

I'd recommend Vincent Laforte's course directing motion on MZED.com, plus the youtube channels studio binder, lessons from the screenplay, the royal oceanic film society, Thomas Flight plus many others. 

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

Mama's Watching

Directed by Dustin Curtis Murphy
Written by Rose Muirhead

Produced by Alasdair C. Melrose

On her first business trip away after the birth of her child, a young mother has to fend off the unwanted advances of her boss, triggering the memories of a traumatic childhood event involving a monstrous figure called Mama.

ABOUT THE FILM

Mama’s Watching is a Kino Original co-production with Dutch London Pictures, founded by Alasdair C. Melrose. Production on the film took place in 2019, and it first hit the festival circuit in 2022 playing at the Wreak Havoc Horror Film Festival (where it was nominated for Best Short, Best Foreign Film, Best Actress, & Best Director), the Atlanta Horror Film Festival, HorrorHaus Film Festival, among others. It was also named a Semi-Finalist at the Oscar qualifying Flicker’s Rode Island Film Festival. Awards for Mama’s Watching include: second place in the AudPop Horror Film Challenge, Best Screenplay at the Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards, and two awards for Bets Sound from Echonation Audio & Film Festival and the Wolverhampton Film Festival.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Dustin is no stranger to the Kino community. He is an award-winning writer, director, and producer creating work at the crossroads of social impact and commercial crowd-pleasers. His work focuses on character driven narratives with relevant social themes and tightly structured plots, often working in blended genre. Loves a good twist. Dustin has produced 2 web-series, 1 feature film, and 9 short films that have been recognized by Academy Award, BAFTA, and BIFA qualifying film festivals. His feature film debut - COYOTE - a dystopian sci-fi starring Therica Wilson-Read (Netflix's The Witcher), Borislava Stratieva (Luther: The Fallen Sun), Ailish Symons, (The Widow) and BIFA Winner Ruhtxjiaïh Bèllènéa (The Last Tree) - is on the festival circuit in the UK and getting a digital release in North America from June 20th, 2023.

Rose, a Yorkshire born actress, began acting at a young age and was involved with northern based productions such a Waterloo Road (2007-2008) before moving to Manchester for formal studies. In 2013 Rose took up a place at the International School of Screen Acting based in Three Mills Studios. Since graduating Rose has taken on many roles, most notably Jess in Book of Monsters (2018). Rose has always had a keen interest in writing and developed Mama's Watching as a concept in the winter of 2018. She continues to write and is working on a feature length dysoptian triptych which further explores the darker side of gender power dynamics.

Alasdair is a London-born producer and filmmaker. He got his start as a producer on Benjamin Rider’s indie feature Suburban Coffin (2018) then founded Dutch London Pictures, producing Dona & Vixen (2020), Mama’s Watching (2022) and Le Bebe Noir (2023). In 2022 he produced Holly de Jong’s TBA sophomore short and was associate producer on Dustin Curtis Murphy’s debut feature Coyote.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH DUSTIN

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What have you been up to since we featured your last short film “The Last Confession”?

During my last interview I was talking about being in post-production on my debut feature film “Coyote”, and I’m now happy to say that the film has not only been completed, but also released!

Coyote premiered at the Phoenix Film Festival in March 2023. It was a great experience! PFF gives all films three screenings over the course of a week and a half. We were able to pick up buzz with each screening and our last one even sold out. While the festival wasn’t on my radar previously, our festival strategist put it on our list, and I’m glad they did. PFF gets some industry attention and we walked away with an offer from a distributor. We were already in talks with another distributor, so ultimately we decided to go another route, but it was encouraging to have multiple offers on the table - 5 in total. The film is getting a digital and DVD release in North America on June 20th, and we’re currently looking to expand to more territories throughout the year.

In the UK, Coyote also just had its UK premiere at the Romford Film Festival (again, sold out!) where we won the Audience Award for Best Feature, and coming up it’ll play at the Kingston International Film Festival on June 25th.

As if doing a feature wasn’t enough, last year I also shot a new short film ‘“Everything Is Out To Get Me.” It was my first time working on film which was a super cool experience. I’m about to head out to LA for its international premiere at Dances With Films - the largest indie festival in LA. Especially excited because they host their screenings at the historic Chinese Theatere on Hollywood Blvd.

Tell us about the genesis of Mama’s Watching and how the project came about.

I’d previously worked with Alasdair Melrose (producer of Mama’s Watching) on the first short film that I made after moving to the UK - “Nora”. In 2019, Alasdair approached me with a script called Monsters which he’d been developing with screenwriter/actress Rose Muirhead. He asked if I’d be interested in directing the project, and I was honoured to have his faith. Holly de Jong (who played Newt’s mom in Aliens) was already attached to the project as this point, so the prospective of working with her was exciting.

There was a lot of potential in the script, but I had concerns about the scope of the project when compared with the limited budget we had access to. Initially, the script had several monsters which followed the protagonist throughout her life. To pull it off, it would’e required extensive practical and visual effects, so I suggested that we pair it down to a single monstrous character, which eventually became “Mama”. That way we were able to focus all our attention on nailing one monster.

For a few months we would have regular development meetings and review subsequent drafts that Rose would churn out, and soon we found ourselves ready for production.

Rose Muirhead as “Liz”

Holly de Jong as “Mama”

Cast of Mama’s Watching with director and producer

Will Earle as “Lloyd”

Tell us about the development process and how you as a director provide feedback to the screenwriter.

Typically, I’m a writer/director, so when you’re coming in to actualise another writer’s vision, it’s a bit of a dance. You need to respect the initial intentions behind the script while also trying to find a personal hook into the material. You want to put your stamp on it, but you don’t want to be a bully. You need to protect the original spark that attracted you to the project in the first place. 

Rose was wonderful to work with and it felt like we were really pushing the project in the same direction - which is key for a healthy collaboration. There’s nothing worse for a writer than working with a director who completely butchers their source material.

Monsters was written very “stream of consciousness” in its style and it was structured more like a feature film than a short. As a director, it was my job to search for the intensions behind what Rose put on the pages of her early drafts, so we could maintain the heart and soul of her concept while making necessary tweaks. The suggestions I made I hope elevated the project, but at the very least they made the film achievable within our budget limitations.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Mama’s Watching and how did you overcome them?

The shooting draft of our script is actually quite different then the film you see now. The script was written linear without any flashbacks. We started with the story of Liz as a little girl. We see her interacting with Mama a lot more and ultimately Mama protects from her abusive uncle. Then, half way through the script, we introduced Liz in her twenties as a new mother on a business trip. In post-production we found that film didn’t quite flow when the scenes played out in a linear fashion. Although one could argue the 50/50 structure was quite Kubrickian, I think it’s important that a short film feels like one cohesive statement rather than two halves.

What you now see as the final cut of the film is pretty much all of the second half of the script. We utilised sections from the first have as our flashbacks. It did break my heart a little bit to cut some scenes with some great performances, but we needed to make the best decision for the big picture.

We shot the film over 3 days, it’s a 10 minutes film, and about 70% of what made the final cut was shot on 1 day. In hindsight, I would’ve liked to have more time to shoot the scenes that made the final cut, instead of spending 2/3rds of our time on 30% of the film.

Day 3/3 on set was by far the most challenging. It was the day that we were shooting not only the most intense scene in the film - the attempted rape - but also every other scene that took place in the hotel. I asked for two days to focus on the hotel scenes, but due to access to the location we could only wrangle one day. The amount of coverage I wanted was quite extensive. In order to walk away with as many shots as possible, we had to shoot the attempted rape scene out of order which made continuity tough. We would shoot out one side of the room then move the lights to shoot out the other side of the room. If we’d shot it in order then we would’ve been resetting the lights back and forth. Shooting out of sequence was a complete puzzle. I’m pretty sure I was the only person on set who was confident that all the pieces would cut together, and while I’m generally happy with the final result, I do think the scene has a few rough cuts that don’t feel totally polished, but artists see the flaws in their work that oftentimes audience would never pick up on.

More budget, could’ve unlocked more time… A tighter script, could’ve meant we only shot what ended up in the film… but I think as a crew we did the best we could with the limitations.

Dir. Dustin Curtis Murphy works with Rose Muirhead to perfect the pivotal hotel scene

Tell us about the journey of getting Mama’s Watcing to audiences.

Always a tough one, right? Unlike any other film that I’ve worked on, Mama’s Watching was really found during the edit. We were in post-production for awhile, so even though we shot summer 2019, we didn’t premiere until Halloween season 2022. Sure, there was covid smack dam in the middle of that, and I was also working on other projects.

As an American filmmaker living in the UK, I reflect quite a bit on my American influences and how they affect the choices I make as a filmmaker. Since moving to the UK I’ve met the best collaborators - the indie film scene in London is the absolute best - but I’ve noticed that most of my work gets programmed more at US festivals. Perhaps I have an inherently American style to my filmmaking and perhaps that puts off British programmers, but… I digress.

To be honest, during the festival tour I was getting a bit insecure about the lack of success of Mama’s Watching in the UK. I remember the rejection from Frightfest stung in particular because all of my peers got selected and I felt like the only one left out. I think I’m quite in tune with what’s wrong and what’s right about my projects, and while I massively respected the work of my peers that justifiably made it into Frightfest, I just couldn’t really see any clear reason why my film wouldn’t be selected to screen alongside them.

We ended up touring several horror based festivals in the US and picked up a few nominations, but it wasn’t until our Kino Original Short Film Showcase at The Garden Cinema at the end of November 2022 that I got to see the film with a live audience for the first time. I didn’t really know how I’d feel about it. Of course I hoped that audiences responded to the piece, but perhaps they wouldn’t. Feeling the energy in a cinema screening is so helpful for filmmakers. If you’re just watching your film by yourself on your laptop it can be difficult to see what elements are going to work with live audiences.

At that screening it really clicked for me. Mama’s Watching is not an easy watch. It’s about an attempted rape that triggers repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse. I can see how many programmers, even horror programmers, might be too afraid to attach their name to it and give it screen time. It’s not a fun watch, and quite frankly it shouldn’t be a fun watch. I think a lot of programmers and audiences in the horror space are looking for an element of fun in their horror films, and with Mama’s Watching I didn’t really provide any of that. I didn’t want to provide any of that. I feel if I were to make a film about sexual abuse “fun” then it would’ve felt inappropriate. Instead I wanted to show a real life horrific experience for what it was. Where other filmmakers tackling this subject may decide to execute it as a drama, I’d argue that is a safer, more programmable route to explore these themes. But I love challenging audiences vs just giving them what they expect.

Sitting watching Mama’s Watching with an audience I could tell that I’d definitely succeeded in creating a film that was suspenseful to the point of discomfort. So in a way, it feels like the success of effectively using filmmaking techniques to illicit uncomfortable feelings in audiences ultimately gave the film limited appeal during its festival run. I’ll be curious to see how the online release plays out.

At the Atlanta Horror Festival we caught the eye of Alter - the horror shorts distributor known for getting massive views on YouTube. Ultimately, they passed on the project, so I approached Omeleto who released my previous two shorts. I honestly thought Omeleto would pass on the film due to its content not being YouTube friendly (when my sound designer tried to upload a WIP version of the film privately for me to see his work, YouTube blocked it!), but I figured I might as well at least get the project in front of them. They said yes! Just goes to show that you never know. You get a lot of rejection, but the cliche is true: you just need one person to say yes, so best thing is to put yourself out there.

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

Two things. 

1. Over-saturation

Right now it’s easier than ever for anyone to make a film. Technology is a two edged sword. Yes, twenty/thirty years ago, perhaps you wouldn’t even be able to make a film at all, but now thousands and thousands of short film are made annually, and there are only a few slots available at the top tier festivals. That means that amazing work is getting rejection left, right and center. Which brings me to my next point…

2. Industry decision makers putting up barriers

In an over-saturated market, decision makers don’t have the capacity to have a personal connection with every talented filmmaker that comes their way. Some people in the industry are extremely well intentioned, but they are time-poor and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people knocking on their doors looking for an opportunity. Other people in the industry are, quite frankly, negligent and uninterested in fostering an inclusive environment.

Keeping these two things in mind, I think short filmmakers should just continue striving to make their films better. We all need to put ourselves and our work out there. Yes, it’s an uphill battle. Yes, it’ll hurt along the journey when an avalanche of rejection comes your way. Manage your expectations, and don’t allow others to define what success is for you. You made a film. That’s a success. If you can, let that be enough and find pride in your work. Continually strive to find joy in the act of creating, and don’t let external accolades (or the lack thereof) make you feel bad about yourself. You’re doing the best you can. 

What are you working on now?

The big project at the moment is my debut feature film Coyote. Technically, it is finished, but as an indie filmmaker your job is never done. It’s on the international festival circuit at the moment (which is a lot of work) and it’s being released on digital in North America on June 20th, so I’m doing a lot of PR for the film and I have my hand in marketing as well.

Although I’ve made the leap from shorts to features, looking forward I don’t ever see myself completely turning my back on shorts. I think doing a short or two in-between features keeps you sharp as a filmmaker.

Right now I have three short films in development… 

1. A sci-fi alien film set on a space station which I’m just attached as director.

2. A family drama about climate anxiety which I’ve co-written and we’re applying for funding at the moment.

3. A comedy of errors because after all this heavy shit I really need to make something light! lol

…but my main focus is my slate of feature films…

1. My feature length adaptation of my award-winning short Samaritan is ready to go and I’m just looking for the right finance partner.

2. An ensemble folk horror structured where a bunch of seemingly random character’s lives intertwine. It’s like Magnolia, but in the horror space.

3. A Hitchcockian thriller than leans toward dark comedy.

4. An LGBTQ+ indie drama about struggling artists and community theatre.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

A great indie horror film, Little Bone Lodge, just became available on digital in the UK and I highly recommend that you check it out. It premiered at Frightfest Glasgow and it’s an absolutely intense white knuckle thriller.

Also, if you get a chance to see Birth/Rebirth playing at a festival, definitely don’t miss it. It’s the feature directorial debut from Laura Moss and it premiered at Sundance. It’s a super interesting twist on a modern Frankenstien-like story.

I was fortunate enough to meet both of the filmmakers through my work with Kino and I think they’re both going places. Ones to watch for sure - not just these films, but their future careers.

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Interested in getting your work selected as our Weekly Pick?

Shallow

DIRECTED and PRODUCED by PAUL ASHTON
WRITTEN by Joe Johnsey

Deep in a forest, Barry and Larry indulge in conversation that is by turns light-hearted and extremely topical, revealing surprising revelations, both good and bad, along the way.

ABOUT THE FILM

Shallow was an Official Selection at our 2022 festival. It also won the Audience Award at the Short Focus Film Festival and won Best Comedy at the New York Short Film Festival. The screenplay was nominated for Best Screenplay at the English Riviera Film Festival where both actors (Michael Shon & Joe Johnsey) were also nominated for Best Actor. Other notable festival selections include: Nottingham International Film Festival, Earl’s Court International Film Festival, Liverpool Film Festival and Byron Bay Film Festival. Shallow was also a Semi-Finalist at the Academy Award qualifying Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Paul Ashton is a Writer/Director originally from Hertfordshire but now living in London. Shallow is his second short film as director. He’s currently prepping his third short while also developing a feature script.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH Paul

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

I have a Degree in Film and initially worked on a series of films and TV projects such as Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers before focusing on directing and scriptwriting. I've directed Music videos and documentary shorts and used to work at a camera hire company before writing and directing my first short film POV in 2018. POV was selected for a series of film festivals worldwide such as Australia, Germany, the USA and England.

What position did you have on Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers?

On Saving Private Ryan I was a Location Assistant while on Band of Brothers I started as a Location Assistant before then advancing to Crowd Runner and then Floor Runner.

What were some of your main takeaways from working on a large set that you absorbed into your own filmmaking?

The importance of the following:

Organisation

Whether you have a huge crew on a massive production or a small crew on a low-budget short film – you're all trying to capture the best footage you can within a tight schedule so everyone has to be extremely organised and prepared to help things runs as smoothly as possible. No one wants to be the weak link when so much is at stake.

Adaptability

I found that regardless of the size of the production and the prep involved, delays happen or some things just don't go to plan on the day - so the ability to think quickly and come up with a solution is vital, to think outside the box. Perhaps a big set piece needs to be reset which takes some time or an actor isn't free when you need them, can something else be shot in the meantime rather than waste that vital time.

Communication

Hugely vital on a large set where so many departments are involved who need to know what's required from them and when but also for individuals to be given the opportunity to showcase their thoughts and expertise. On my shorts I want everyone to be in the loop and always know what we're trying to achieve and why. To also create an environment where people are able to contribute their opinions freely and be part of the decision making process so that we're all collaborating as a team to make the best project possible.

Tell us about the genesis of Shallow and how the project came about?

Shallow grew from a conversation that took place between our two leads Joe Johnsey and Michael Shon who at the time were housemates – a version of which appears in the final film. I was looking for a short to make while I finished off another script and chose this one to develop from the ideas Joe sent me. Joe then wrote the script which we all fine-tuned in rehearsals. It's very dialogue heavy where the timing is vital so the rehearsals were extremely valuable as they allowed us to discover what did and didn't work before reworking it until we were all happy. It also allowed us to rehearse the script again and again so that it was second nature on shoot day, saving as valuable time as we only had one day.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Shallow and how did you overcome them?

Shortly before we were due to shoot, our initial forest location was damaged by storms and we began to look again – but then Covid hit. Once restrictions eased we began to visit locations once again and came across the perfect spot in Black Park. Lockdown actually worked in our favour as Black Park was completely booked up before lockdown as it's such a popular filming location but as restrictions eased, shoots were slow to start up again. So thankfully they allowed us to shoot there for one day – straight after Jurassic World who delayed our shoot a few weeks as they were filming right next to us.

On the day of the shoot we had to contend with the changing weather. Shallow takes place in real time over 10 minutes so overcast conditions would have been ideal - but instead the weather alternated between sunny and overcast with a few showers. We also needed to lock off the surrounding area as it's a pubic park so members of the pubic were roaming around, usually walking their dogs.

I believe we had 27 shots to shoot that day, some of which were long steadicam takes but thankfully we managed it. And then post was all done remotely which wasn't ideal but perhaps did allow me to fine tune certain aspects.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

So we spent a lot of time researching festivals and trying to figure out where it had a chance of being selected and eliminating those where we thought we didn't stand a chance. We tried to target British film festivals more than anywhere else as we weren't sure how the northern accents and humour would travel.

But then surprisingly we won Best Comedy at the New York Short Film Festival, were Semi-Finalist's in the BAFTA and Academy Award qualifying Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival, as well as being selected for a few other American festivals and the Byron Bay International Film Festival and a number of festivals in England. Some festivals we thought we had a great chance of getting into rejected us while some selections came as a complete surprise – you just don't know.

A lot of festivals were still being shown remotely so sadly we missed out on attending some fantastic festivals and being able to see it with an audience – though we did take part in some great Zoom Q&A's and managed to meet some very talented filmmakers. Furthermore, some festivals were delayed by up to a year which did draw out the Festival process. Luckily, the Kino London Short Film Festival (previously known as the People's Film Festival in 2022) was a live event and this is where Shallow had it's best screening to date in a packed out venue. Kino is such a well run festival with a great atmosphere and it's a place where I have met a number of very good friends.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Find a team of people that you work well who are also reliable. The process might be hard at times but it should also be enjoyable, otherwise why do it? And don't just make do, try and make the best short you can within your financial confines otherwise you're regret not fixing those little issues that then become magnified on the big screen – something I'm very happy I did with Shallow.

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

Getting something made and then getting it seen. You're fighting to get something made, usually on a small budget that you probably financed yourself and which needs to stand out from the thousands of shorts out there.

Then once you've made something you have to fork out a lot of money for the festivals, and be rejected by many as there's just too many shorts out there. Whether you're selected or not is ultimately based on personal opinion and perhaps their desire to group certain shorts together based on themes or subject matter. Which sadly means that a lot of good films get rejected.

Plus the added hurdle of competing against much higher budgeted shorts – which is why the Kino London Short Film Festival works so well as the films are divided into groups based on budget.

Shorts are typically seen as a stepping stone to bigger things, which is a pity as they’re such an interesting art form in their own right and really allow you to experiment and find your voice. Sadly there's no financial gain (unlike features) – if there was it would be a lot easier to obtain funding which would thereby help to support your career progression.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

Some of my favourite shorts are Signs by Patrick Hughes, The Answers by Michael Goode,

Stutterer by Benjamin Cleary, Salt by Rob Savage and the shorts of David F. Sandberg who also includes making of videos for each of them.

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?

Blinkers

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Sophia Capasso
PRODUCED TUTTI TUTTI Productions

This short film is about the cracks we don't see splitting in the rollercoaster of modern life and how two experiences of one night can be drastically dissimilar. Blinkers touches on the complexity of mental health and female friendships. 

For best viewing watch with headphones, as the sound is binaural, cranking the volume up won’t hurt either!”

ABOUT THE FILM

Blinkers was an Official Selection at our 2022 festival where is was nominated for Best Editing & Best Score.

ABOUT THE FILMmaker

Sophia Capasso is a British/Italian writer and director from Suffolk.

Her directorial film debut L’Immigrato was based on her Italian heritage and follows three young brothers in south Italy during WW2. The short won The Hollywood First-Time Filmmakers Showcase 2020 and received an honourable mention at Ischia Film Festival 2020 amid other festival runs.

This was followed by her critically acclaimed one-woman show VOiD which premiered at the Vaults in January 2020, where it received four star reviews. Described as ‘an empowering and gut-wrenching drama’ the play was praised for its ‘confrontation of the criminal justice system’ and exploration of ‘psychological terror that leaves hearts racing to the rhythm of her words.’

Blinkers is her second short film.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH SOPHIA

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?

Thank you! Sure. Um, I came into the industry at eighteen as an actor. I love people and human interaction which is what I think draws me to film making.

As a person I am hugely sentimental and I love bringing people together. I found being an actor can be quite lonely and often you have all these ideas and stories you want to tell but perhaps don’t feel like you can. So after a few years I decided to take what basic knowledge I had of sets and the process and make my first film, an Italian language short set and shot in south Italy.

I’ve been lucky to get collaborate with people who are open and passionate and have let me learn from them on the fly! I’ve also have a background in fine art and I see the film process in a similar way to building an elaborate painting.

Tell us about the genesis of Blinkers and how the project came about?

The two characters in Blinkers have been living rent free in my head for at least five years. I know them very well and they’ve appeared in my writing in various guises.

The voice over you hear in the film is a section of intertwined dialogue initially written for a play. When the two characters speak intertwined there is a semblance of sense but when you isolate either’s dialogue you also get a sensical monologue that reveals their individual truths. I eventually shelved the play and I left Lil and Con in an old folder on my desktop for a couple of years. 

During the pandemic I had wanted to make a different film ('Que Sera’, which we are now finally in post for, yay!) but the restrictions at the time, and a serious lack of money, meant it wasn’t possible. I was having a look through old work, found the play and realised that these characters could possibly finally have a life of their own in short form! I re-worked the script and convinced a micro crew (by which I mean DOP Jan, we were the crew) to agree to shoot the piece…

Blinkers is quite meticulously edited featuring a lot of split screen elements that have to be timed just perfectly to work. How did you go about planning to execute such an ambitious short?

Initially I imagined more split screen than is in the final cut. We shot under the guise of a 4:4 aspect ratio but London is so present as a third character we changed to 16:9 and therefore scaled back the amount of split screen. We instead used split screen to mark moments of parallels between the girls, highlighting their connection. 

For me the most important element in building Blinkers was the sound scape/ audio track. I’d decided early on that we would not be picking up audio on set, so the entire sound world would have to be build in post. I wanted it to be stylised, to mislead the audience and to give the film pace. I curated a playlist of how the film sounded and felt in my mind which I shared with the cast and crew. 

Because there is no exact scripted visual we decided to edit to the music. I split the voice over dialogue into chapters and gave each chapter a look book of stills from the rushes alongside a list of feelings/ emotions. I gave this odd document to our incredible composer BYFYN. 

BYFYN created the most awesome track. Which went to our glorious editor Fio along with the odd document and she built the first assembly. Because the film is literally a journey from A to B there was a clear structure for the edit; from home to the bus stop, on the bus, prom Piccadilly circus to the club/ bridge. 

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Blinkers and how did you overcome them?

It was December 2020. So the bitter cold and the pandemic were our main obstacles. Sophie who plays Lil was an absolute champion in only a slip dress at times and DOP Jan still hasn’t forgiven me for the frost bite on his fingers! 

We had a really small crew, Jan and I, which at first was daunting but actually allowed us to shoot in central London and on TFL without being detected (although carrying the kit from Piccadilly Circus to Millennium Bridge was gruelling). Shooting on to go prevented overthinking and gave us really surprising and intimate footage. 

The pandemic meant we had more hoops to jump though with regards to insurance, risk assessments, covid protocols and permits. But again it worked in our favour in many ways as London was empty! So locations like Millennium Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, etc were unusually deserted, almost as if they were locked off for us!

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

I struggle in some ways to know where to place it because Blinkers not a traditional drama/ narrative short and its not necessarily experimental either!

I spoke to people with more experience than me to gain a better idea of festivals suited to our film. We had a really good festival run and audiences reacted to the piece, which was a massive relief! 

But I have to say that I am genuinely so delighted to have it as part of Kino’s ‘short of the week’ programme because it means people can see it whenever, wherever and ultimately that’s reason we tell storied right, to share them?

What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?

An obvious hurdle is always going to be budget. Then once you’ve made the film it’s hard to know how to get your film in front of the ‘right people’.

But I think if you are confident enough in your piece to be vulnerable, ask for advice/ help you can  eventually get past these things. Ultimately the work speaks for itself!

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

Cinema Paradiso. I could watch it every day. 

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Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?