Short Films, Big Questions

MarBelle co-founded the platform Directors Notes in 2006 as a way to make filmmaking more accessible by sharing useful knowledge on how to make films. Sixteen years later, Directors Notes has become the home for thousands of short films looking to premiere online, featuring filmmakers like Mark Jenkin, Rob Savage & Ben Wheatley. As a bit of recent news, DN has just partnered with BIFA’s The Douglas Hickox Award sponsored by BBC Film.

MarBelle is also a programmer and advisory board member at Aesthetica Short Film Festival, a voter for the British Independent Film Awards, and jury member and panelist for events such as The Shark Awards, Bolton Film Festival, Berlin Commercial, The Shiny Awards and Paris International Film Festival.

In this episode, as always, we cover a lot of ground. MarBelle talks about how important it is to build an audience from the ground up, not only through festivals but online outlets and your own social media channels. He tells us about the creation of Directors Notes, how they started and how they have continued to this day. We get into the weeds of what DN are looking for with their features as well as what it is like being an entrepreneur in this niche space. 

Directors Notes - Website

SOCIAL MEDIA 

Directors Notes: Instagram

Ieuan: Instagram

Will: Instagram

In this episode, we speak with actor Amit Shah, well known for his outstanding performances in TV, film, and theatre.

Amit's TV credits include Happy Valley (for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Best Supporting Actor award), Crashing, Mr Bates vs the Post Office and The Witcher. His feature film work includes roles in The Infidel, Final Score, and The Courier. On stage, Amit has appeared in productions at the National Theatre, the Royal Court, and the Donmar Warehouse.

Amit has acted in many short films, including a trilogy of shorts from director Sam Baron, who we recently had on the podcast.

We focus on his performances in the short films A Quiet Carriage and Tall, Dark and Handsome, as well as his dynamic with Sam Baron. We also talk more generally about his acting process, as well as how he specifically approached Happy Valley and Mr Bates vs. the Post Office. All of this, and as always, much more. 

LINKS TO AMIT’S WORK: 

SHORT FILMS: 

A Quiet Carriage

Tall, Dark and Handsome

Big Ears

The Orgy

TV: 

Happy Valley Trailer

Watch via BBCiPlayer

Mr Bates vs. The Post Office Trailer

Watch via ITVX

Amit's IMDB Page

Sam Baron's episode (where he discusses his and Amit’s collaboration):

SOCIAL MEDIA 

Amit: Instagram

Ieuan: Instagram

Will: Instagram

Philip Shelley is a script editor, producer, and the head of several screenwriting courses, including the Channel 4 Scriptwriting course.

Philip began his career as a freelance script reader/consultant, working for numerous companies including the BBC, Granada TV, Thames TV, the First Film Foundation, Channel 4 Film, Paramount Pictures, and Paines Plough Theatre Company. He later transitioned to a development script editor role at Granada TV Drama and then at LWT Drama.

This is the first time we've had a script editor on the show, and it was fascinating to learn more about this crucial role in film and TV. We also explore Philip's process with writers on the Channel 4 writing course, dive into topics such as structure, writing characters, what to write to get your foot in the door, and why you should write what you want to write rather than what you think the market wants.

You can find out more about Phillip's work via these links:

https://script-consultant.co.uk/

https://careers.channel4.com/4skills/talent-schemes/4screenwriting

Phillip - Twitter

Ieuan - Instagram

Will - Instagram

Short Films Big Questions - Instagram

Cinematographer Stuart Harris has shot over 4000 commercials, several feature films and loads of renowned Pink Floyd music videos with director Storm Thorgerson. Stuart now heads up the Directing Commercials course at the NFTS and co-heads its Cinematography course. He is an Honorary Full Member of the British Society of Cinematographers (only the third person to ever receive this!)

Stuart started his career in the camera department on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. We go into detail about his experience on this legendary production and what it was like to work on a Kubrick film. We delve into the weeds of the commercial 'The Deficit Trials' which Stuart shot for Ridley Scott as well as Pink Floyd's music video for 'High Hopes' which Stuart shot for Storm Thorgerson.

We highly recommend you watch both of these (linked below) before listening to the episode.

More generally we speak about self confidence as a director, being persistent and the importance of shooting as much as you can. Stuart has such an inspiring take on the industry and the filmmaking process. We can't wait for you to give it a listen!

You can find 'The Deficit Trials' and 'High Hopes' alongside some of Stuart's other cinematography work on his website, linked below.

The Deficit Trials

High Hopes

http://stuartharris.co.uk/

Will - Instagram

Ieuan - Instagram

Short Films Big Questions - Instagram

Grant is a writer and director with a passion for telling upbeat stories about disability and care. 

His award-winning shorts have screened at BAFTA, BFI and festivals worldwide. He’s directed LGBTQ+ series ‘Flatshare’, web series #Reality, award-winning short ‘Emigrant’ and his latest film ‘Ecstasy’ is a heartfelt adventure about a disabled father and son’s attempt to buy drugs so the Dad can dance with his wife... one last time.

It is this short ‘Ecstasy’ which we specifically focus on in this episode. We dig deep into every aspect of Grant’s process from the two kickstarter campaigns he and his team ran in order to get the project off the ground, working with production designer Elena Muntoni and his DOP Hamish Anderson, his in depth shot lists to get the crew all on the same page, his choice of music and working with the actors to do his Dad justice and create an authentic portrayal of Parkinsons. 

We have linked Ecstasy below. In order to get the most out of this episode we highly recommend you watch the short first before tuning in. 

Watch the short film Ecstasy here:

https://directorsnotes.com/2023/05/16/grant-taylor-ecstasy/

Shot List:

https://vimeo.com/439519137/c49657403a

Crowdfunding Campaign:

https://vimeo.com/granttaylor27/download/371501358/50a04e4840

Social Media:

Grant: Instagram

Short Films, Big Questions: Instagram

Will: Instagram

Ieuan: Instagram

Charlotte Hamblin is a British actor, director and writer based in London.

She trained at RADA on the Foundation Course and studied English, Drama with Education at Cambridge University.

Charlotte's acting theatre credits include 'Strings' (Royal Court Upstairs) and 'Miss Julie' (Jermyn Street Theatre). 

Her acting TV credits Includes 'The Alienist': Series 2 (Netflix), 'McMafia' (BBC1), 'Downton Abbey' (ITV1), and her film credits include 'Operation Mincemeat' (Archery Pictures).

She's also performed in various well received short films, including 'Cubicle' directed by Chloë Wicks, and 'Extinction' directed by Jack Cooper Stimpson.

Charlotte has also been working as a professional screenwriter for the last six years. 

Her TV writing credits include writing an episode of ‘Hanna’ (NBC Universal/Working Title for Amazon prime), and participating in the writers room for black comedy series Personal Assistance.

As a director Charlotte’s debut short film 'Everybody dies sometimes…' won Best British Short at the British Short Film Awards, and was an official selection at Tribeca film festival.

It’s recently been released online on Omeleto, and Directors Notes. 

We speak about working with name talent, her festival journey with ‘Everybody Dies Sometimes…,’ how she approaches visuals, her writing process, and much more.

Links to Charlotte’s work:

Everybody Dies Sometimes… 

https://directorsnotes.com/2024/03/16/charlotte-hamblin-everybody-dies-sometimes/

Cubicle: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3paYPdpj9Y

Extinction: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD24LntwRow

Hanna, episode 6, season 2 (accessed with an Amazon Prime subscription):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hanna-Season-2/dp/B08BXPKS8D

Charlotte’s favourite short film: 

Shadow Brother Sunday (trailer):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCum3x7OIzA

Social Media:

Charlotte: Twitter & Instagram

Short Films, Big Questions: Instagram

Ieuan: Instagram

Will: Instagram

A departure from the norm for us here at Short Films, Big Questions…

In this episode, filmmaker Sam Baron helps us workshop two of our short film ideas. He guides us through his process of breaking down an idea, interrogating character motivation, and examining what we can personally bring as filmmakers to the story. The approach Sam takes can be applied to all short films, as well as fiction generally. As such, we feel the episode will be valuable to anyone in the midst of writing a narrative project. 

A bit of background about Sam: He is a writer, director and actor. In 2014, he won the coveted Academy's Nicholl Fellowship for his script, The Science of Love, kicking off an impressive career as a screenwriter. He’s written for TV shows including the BBC’s “Chloe” and Netflix’s “Lockwood & Co”, as well as developing his own originals with Sky Comedy, Netflix and the BBC. 

Sam has written and directed many short films that have played at festivals worldwide. He has recently completed a trilogy of short films starring Amit Shah and is now busy developing one of these, "The Orgy," as a TV series with Sony Pictures. Sam also teaches on the NFTS short filmmaking course.

You can find links to Sam's trilogy of short films in full below, including his most recent, "Tall Dark and Handsome."

We’d recommend listening to part 1 of our conversation, ‘Making your Short Film Personal with Sam Baron’, to get more insight into his work and process. 

Links to Sam’s work:

Tall, Dark and Handsome: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2024/02/01/tall-dark-and-handsome/

Big Ears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RWeJTVXWqM

The Orgy: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2021/06/07/the-orgy/

Sam’s speech accepting the Academy's Nicholl Fellowship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYr3u_SA2Rg

Website: https://www.sambaron.com/

Social Media:

Sam: Instagram and Twitter

Short Films, Big Questions: Instagram

Ieuan: Instagram

Will: Instagram

Sam Baron is a writer, director and actor. In 2014, Sam won the coveted Academy's Nicholl Fellowship for his script, The Science of Love, kicking off an impressive career as a screenwriter. He’s written for TV shows including the BBC’s “Chloe” and Netflix’s “Lockwood & Co”, as well as developing his own originals with Sky Comedy, Netflix and the BBC.

However, our main focal point in our conversation is about Sam's amazing short films. Specifically, a trilogy of shorts he's written and directed starring Amit Shah. He is currently busy developing one of these, "The Orgy" as a TV series with Sony Pictures.

We talk about Sam's process with actors, his approach to visuals, the value of making his short films personal, zero budget features and much more.

You can find links to Sam's trilogy of short films in full below, including his most recent, which just premiered on Short of the Week, "Tall Dark and Handsome." We encourage you to watch these to get the most out of our conversation, as we spend a lot of time discussing Sam's specific process within these projects.

This is part 1 of our conversation with Sam. In part 2, we are fortunate enough to have Sam helping us workshop our short film ideas. Stay tuned for this episode! 

Links to Sam’s work:

Tall, Dark and Handsome: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2024/02/01/tall-dark-and-handsome/

Big Ears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RWeJTVXWqM

The Orgy: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2021/06/07/the-orgy/

Sam’s speech accepting the Academy's Nicholl Fellowship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYr3u_SA2Rg

Website: https://www.sambaron.com/

Sam’s favourite short film (accessed via a subscription to Mubi): https://mubi.com/en/gb/films/wasp

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baronifish?igsh=MXN2amRjcGFkaGdlcw==

Follow us on instagram @shortfilmsbigquestions to get more content about all things short films, and the amazing guests we have on!

Gregg Chilingirian, also known by his stage name Gregg Chillin, is a writer, director and actor. 

He recently directed and lead performed in the short film, George. It's achieved much success on the film festival circuit, with official selections at Bolton International Film Festival, Kerry International Film Festival and the Hollyshorts Festival. 

A lot of what we discuss is specifically about this film, and how to effectively both direct and act in a project. So if you're interested in balancing those two disciplines, this episode is absolutely for you.

Gregg has had a successful acting career, appearing in many television shows over the years, including leads in Da Vinci's Demons, Being Human, Inside Men, A Discovery of Witches and The Wheel of Time. He made his stage debut at the Royal National Theatre playing Mark in Dennis Kelly's DNA in 2008.

As well as both directing and acting in a project, we spoke about shooting on film, achieving an abrupt tonal shifts on screen, the directing lessons he's learnt as an actor, as well as another upcoming short film project.

To watch George, which we encourage you to, please get in touch via email to [email protected], with GEORGE SCREENING LINK, in the subject box, and we'll send over a private link.

Links:

The George Short Film Trailer:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs6rJsoOrtO/?hl=en

Gregg's IMDB page: 

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1209486/

The George Short Film Instagram Page:

https://www.instagram.com/george_slickfilms/?hl=en

Gregg's favourite short film (accessed with a MUBI subscription): 

https://mubi.com/en/gb/films/an-avocado-pit

In this episode we have the pleasure of speaking to the co- founder of the prestigious London Short Film Festival, Phillip Ilson.

Phillip co-founded LSFF with Kate Taylor in 2003 under its original moniker Halloween Short Film Festival, following ten years of running its predecessor The Halloween Society.

Phillip is also a vastly experienced short film programmer. He’s currently the Short Film Programmer for @BFI London Film Festival and has previously programmed for East End Film Festival, Cork Film Festival, Branchage Festival, Latitude and Curzon Soho.

In short (pun intended), there's not much Phillip Ilson doesn't know about short films.

We talk about all sorts, including his journey with LSFF, what filmmakers have to gain from submitting to a festival, what makes a short film stand out, how the festival runs its selection process, as well as the process by which they come up with their film strands.

This was a fresh perspective for us (we haven't interviewed a festival founder before), and it was fascinating for us to get this insight. We've spoken before on the podcast about how we absolutely love LSFF, and were blown away when we went last January.

Links:

You can find out more about LSFF here:

https://shortfilms.org.uk/about/

Some of Phillip's favourite short films:

Wasp- dir. Andrea Arnold (watch with Mubi)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.c37439e8-7d54-449d-a0ed-4fa4e9639316?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb

Smart Alec (Andrew Kotting) http://www.andrewkotting.com/ak%20web/smartalexvideo.html