indie film

News September October ’18

Well, it’s now been almost a year since “The Morning After” was released into the wild…er, the film festival circuit. With a 40% selection rate, we’ve done pretty well – and September was especially good for us!

Ocean Coast Film Festival

“The Morning After” was an Official Selection and screened at this festival in its inaugural session on September 7. Unfortunately I was in the US at the time and couldn’t attend, but geez that Portugese coast looks nice!

Detroit SheTown Women’s Film Festival

This is another festival in its very first year, and again we were thrilled to be screened in Motor City! “The Morning After” screened on Saturday September 15 in the Thrillers section. I was in Long Beach at the time with another festival, but the organisers were so communicative, even offering discounted accommodation, and the event SOLD OUT! So yes, this is definitely one I’ll be submitting my next short film into – and any female filmmakers reading this should too!

Cambodia Town Film Festival

This festival has been going for 6 years, in Long Beach California, where a lot of Khmer people (as well as Vietnamese and Lao) settled in the aftermath of the Pol Pot regime. I attended this one, and was welcomed with open arms by organisers and volunteers. I  loved Long Beach the place as well! Full of palm trees, much more chilled than LA, but still with cool shops and eateries, beaches, sea breezes and blue skies 🙂

On Saturday September 15 We heard a very moving address by Ellen Wong (Knives in Scott Pilgrim vs the World) on identity and sense of place, and then were graced with the appearance of Angelina Jolie! Ellen is on the festival committee now, and Angelina is a friend to the community, and may well attend each year (but you didn’t hear it from me). We screened in the morning block after the introductory addresses. Again, I recommend it to anyone in LA – it makes a great weekend getaway, and you’ll catch some great shorts, documentaries and features.

Best Short Fest

The Morning After was a semi-finalist at this Ontario, Canada festival, which took place on September 22 and 23.

And finally, it’s worth mentioning that the script for “The Morning After” has also done really well in the few script competitions I entered it into, especially – TA DAAAA!

PAGE International Screenwriting Awards

This is one of the biggest screenwriting awards in the world (along with the Nicholl, Austin, BlueCat etc) and each month we’ve been getting closer. First we made it through to the quarter-finals, then the semi-finals, and now we are down to the Top 10 Finalists in the Shorts category. On October 15 the winners will be declared, and some writers’ lives will be changed forever!