Category Archives: ‘Be Careful…’ short film

NZ screenwriting honour for short film and other news

I know I’ve dropped off the internet radar…

So what’s been going on? Well, I’ve pretty much done the rounds of the film festivals with my debut short film ‘Be Careful…’.

I was heartened that it was honoured as a finalist of the Screenwriters Awards of New Zealand (SWANZ) last year. And while it ultimately missed out (hats off to Dianne Taylor for her win!) I was pleased to be in such illustrious company. Considering the film was entirely self-funded, it was nice to see it honoured at this nation-wide ceremony.

On an entirely unrelated note: I see I’ve finally made Wikipedia as creator of the TV series, The Strip! The funny thing is when you clicked on my name, you got taken to my late grandfather’s Wikipedia page! I was named after him – he was a Presbyterian clergyman. But despite (or perhaps because of) his many talents and fierce intellect, he never created a dramedy about male strippers! Think I’ve now fixed it so you get taken to this website instead.

Anyway: Hopefully I’ll soon be updating this site with more news of the many projects I have in various stages of development, including graphic novel State’s Evidence, screenplay Sex, Vows and Jellybeans, and one or two theatrical projects I’m working on.

Stay tuned…

Short film wins an award

I’m very proud to announce that at the sold-out screening for my short film “Be Careful…” (and others) where I ran a scriptwriting workshop and was the key note speaker, my film won the Best Director category of the self-funded section at the Magma Short Film Festival in Rotorua, New Zealand.

I had a great weekend there and extend heartfelt gratitude to the fabulous organisers!

Be Careful… accepted into Show Me Shorts Film Festival

Be Careful… makes its World Premiere Next Month in Auckland

We’re hugely excited to be accepted into New Zealand’s premiere short film festival. Now in its 5th year, Show Me Shorts showcases the best Kiwi and Aussie shorts every year. We’re delighted that Be Careful… has been honoured by being selected as the opening film of the “Noir Motive” compilation.

Be Careful... opens "Noir Motive" compilation

 

It will screen in Auckland at The Academy cinema – home of independent cinema in Auckland (and where we had our cast/crew/friends/industry screening of Be Careful… earlier this year – see this post) on the first Saturday night of the festival (8.15pm), as well as the following Tuesday afternoon (4.30) and Friday night (8.15)

During this time, it will also screen in Devonport on the North Shore, in the historic and recently refurbished Victoria Picture Palace as well as on Waiheke Island, before touring to:

Wellington (Paramount)

Christchurch

Dunedin and

Tauranga, before finishing up in

Whitianga in January 2011.

Other Kiwi films selected include Cannes favourite The Six Dollar Fifty Man (Mark Albiston), darling of Sundance This Is Her (Katie Wolfe) and international festival favourites Choice Night , Day Trip, Brave Donkey and Va Tapuia.

Clearly being amongst such illustrious competition means that winning any prizes will be an uphill battle! 🙂

 


Show Me Shorts Progamme

 

But for me it’s enough that our film is being shown and that local audiences will have a chance to see it. So if you’re a local, check out the Show Me Shorts website to see when the screenings are coming to a theatre near you. (There’s some info up there now, with the full programme on its way.)

And a big shout-out too to Patricia Phelan and Lucy Zhou, Unitec graduates (and former students of mine!) who respectively directed and researched/wrote the fun short doco A Furry Tale about people with a fetish for dressing up as cartoon animals! This also made it into the festival, and is screening as part of the “Kissing Games” compilation.

 

Show Me Shorts Auckland Dates

 

More Great Feedback on our Short Film Be Careful…

While rejections from film festivals are always something of a kick in the guts, it’s gratifying to continue to get awesome feedback on the quality of the film.

This, a handwritten note from Kyle McKinnon, Lead Programmer for the Alabama Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival:

“This is a strong film with a very clever twist ending. Thank you for sending it our way.”

And remember: Keep an eye on the blog next week for an exciting film festival announcement… 🙂

Congrats Lisa Chappell – winner at Qantas TV Awards!

This is a belated shout-out to my leading lady, Lisa Chappell, who took away the prize for Best Supporting Actress at this year’s Qantas Film & TV Awards for her excellent work on the prime-time TV drama, The Cult.

WELL DONE LISA!

And keep an eye out next week for an exciting announcement about a film festival accepting our short film “Be Careful…”

Stay tuned…

Premiere Screening a Great Night Out

Alan Brash

Alan Brash at premiere screening of Be Careful…

Nearly 100 crew, colleagues, friends, family, film students and industry-ites braved a miserable mid-winter night in Auckland to be the first in the world to see my short film up on the big screen.

Four lucky members of the audience also scored bottles of 26000 vodka from McCashin’s Brewery, and Cable Bay Vineyards Chardonnay and Rose in a draw on the night.

The staff at The Academy did a great job and I thought the film looked (and sounded) awesome. The crowd enjoyed a drink beforehand, and many stayed on for a drink and chat afterwards.

Personally, I wasn’t drinking – mainly because I’d spent much of the previous night throwing up due to a stomach bug… (But, hey, “the show went on!”)

….

….

The Auckland audience who braved a cold, wet night to see Be Careful...

The Auckland audience who braved a cold, wet night to see Be Careful…

 

Here are some comments about the film from people who’ve seen it:

“A treat of subtlety, layers of innuendo upon layers of expose…”

“Really enjoyed your short – it was slick!”

“Excellent!”

“[My wife] and I loved your film, the ride home we kept on picking up on little allusions that you have made throughout the story. Very nice… Congratulations on a superb effort.”

“I really enjoyed your film last night. Hopefully it’s the first of many.”

“[My wife] and I very much enjoyed the premier of your first film. It was a thoroughly professional movie and was an excellent script with interesting twists in the presentation. Many thanks for allowing us to be part of the evening.”

“Very well done. You have every reason to be really pleased with yourself.”

“I liked the film immediately… the actors were great. Good direction and editing. Good job.”

“Well done, it’s cool! I really liked it!”

“The look of the film was great, but the story really stood out – loved the twist! What I admired the most is you had a script that wasn’t overly written, pretty minimal dialogue-wise, didn’t feel the need to waffle on and explain everything, good sh*t.”

“I was delighted with the way the film hung together on the big screen. As well as the quality of the sound and images.”

“A strong film… intriguing. The storyline concise and mysterious. The cinematography, acting, sound design were all very good.”

“Loved the twist in the story.”

“Big congrats… You must be thrilled with it. If I was more expert I could offer specific comments – but I just know it looked bloody good!”

“Congratulations on a great accomplishment!  I really liked the film – everything was top notch: the writing, directing, acting, cinematography.  It looks really good.  It seems to me that it would be a great calling card for future work.”

“It’s everything a short film should be, and more.  Well crafted, superbly acted, tightly scripted, and just the right length.  Technical elements and casting are top-notch.”

“Thanks for the absolute pleasure of your film. Your story was unique, surprising, different.  Your look and sets suited the story well.  The pace and performances were very good.  And there was a wonderfully bizarre and ironic and smart humor to the piece.”

“I loved your film. It looks fantastic.”

“One ticket to Be Careful… please”


Now we just have to get that response from some film festivals… and the judges of the New Zealand Qantas Film & Television Awards!

It’s in the Can!

Sigh… the road to hell is paved with good intentions about keeping this blog up-to-date… c’est la vie.

In news since December (date of my last post)

1. Eddie and I parted ways and the music was brilliantly done by Rhombus. They brought real creativity to the job and also an incredibly diligent, reliable and professional work ethic – thanks guys!

2. Lisa Chappell came in and post-synched some dialogue and recorded the vocals of our Paul Kelly song, Be careful what you pray for. Despite being knackered from a full-on theatre show (The Importance of Being Earnest) in which she played a leading role.

3. Matt Aickin, working out of Ant Nevison’s sound studio, did a truly awesome job of the sound design and sound mix. The whole project has been given a huge lift with the addition of music and sound FX, including foley, room background noise, etc, etc.

4. The titles and opening credits were finalised. Big ups to Brenton Cumberpatch for his work. Simple, but very effective titles!

5. The colour grade was done, tweaked, and tweaked again. Thanks to the invaulable input from Dan Wagner, DP, and of course to Paul Lear, the fantastic colourist working out of Images. Again, the often subtle work he did with colour, contrast, light, etc all added up. Taken together it really adds to the emotional impact of the film.

6. Having submitted ‘Be Careful…’ as a work-in-progress, I’ve officially missed out on being selected by the film festivals in Cannes, Edinburgh and London. (Including the Director’s Fortnight and the Critics Week in Cannes.) But I’ve been keeping busy stuffing envelopes and courier packs. I’m waiting to hear back from:

– Melbourne

– Dances with Films

– Palm Springs Short Film Fest

– DC Shorts

– The New Zealand International Film Fest (including the ‘Homegrown’ selections)

– Sidewalk Moving Picture Fest (Birmingham, Alabama)

– Hawaii International Film Fest

– Hollywood Film Fest

– St Louis International Film Fest

And will submit to more when I’ve run-off more of the locked-off copies of the film. Keeping fingers and toes crossed! 🙂

Next step is to lock down a date and venue for the cast, crew & friends screening!

Another overdue update

Guess it’s ‘cuz of the busy time of year, but I’ve been spectacularly remiss with these updates.

In a nutshell:

1. Got the pick-up shot re-shot that I needed. It’s the opneing shot of a child (or is it…?) drawing a picture while the lead character speaks in V/O. Nic, the editor, felt it didn’t quite work as shot, and given it’s the very first image we see, we thought we’d have anoter crack at it. Big ups to Daryl Habraken and Peter Simpson who shot it and provided the RED camera respectively. Thanks, too, to Auckland University (whose camera it was, and whose studio and lights we used).

2. Got the drive back to the editor to do the final off-line pass with the new shot.

3. Eddie’s now got a music-free version of the cut so he can start putting some music on it – including some composed by our female lead, Lisa Chappell. Can’t wait to hear how it sounds!

4. Have locked-in our on-line edit facility: Images & Sound where we’ll be doing our grade, credits, etc. I’m really hoping to get in there before Xmas, but failing that, it’ll be first thing in the New Year.

Oh, and who knew credits took so long to finalise! 🙂

Long overdue short film update

BREAKING INTO HOLLYWOOD WITH A SELF-FUNDED SHORT FILM? IMPOSSIBLE!!

The blog has been shamefully quiet for weeks (nay, months), so here’s an update:

1. The off-line edit is looking better and better with each pass. Nicola (Nic) Smith is doing a superb job – fitting it in between actual professional, paying gigs – including a telemovie directed by Simon Bennett, produced by renowned NZ film & TV production company, South Pacific Pictures, who made Whale Rider, amongst many others.

2. I’m in talks with various postproduction houses to do the on-line edit. Details TBC.

3. I continue talking with Kahra Scott-James from Entirely Sound about the sound mix, and also using her recording studio.

4. Musician, Eddie Gaiger, has come on board as composer/arranger.

5. Last week we recorded additional dialogue from our two leads (Craig Hall and Lisa Chappell) and our 1st AD (Tony Forster) who recorded the lines of the judge.

Hope to update more thoroughly when I’m over this damn cold! (Grrr… sniff, sniff…)

« Older Entries