With over two months passing since we published our last Filmmaker Updates piece, our ever-increasing list of S/W alums continue to push their careers to their next level through a series of new challenges and exciting projects. From heartwarming Christmas ads to world-ending features, below is a collection of news snippets that look to celebrate our previously featured filmmakers and all they’ve achieved since we last showcased their work. 

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Watch now

Since our last filmmaker update, a number of projects from previously featured filmmakers have been released on VoD and streaming platforms

• Come Play by Jacob Chase – after its Halloween release, Chase’s Horror feature (based on short Larry) topped the box-office charts in the US, before being released on various VoD platforms (US only).
• Love & Monsters by Michael Matthews – South African filmmaker Matthews impressed us with proof-of-concept short Apocalypse Now Now back in 2017 and it looks as if we were weren’t the only ones to take notice, with Paramount selecting the director to helm end-of-days feature Love & Monsters. With the film’s theatrical release curtailed by COVID, you can now enjoy the film from home (US only), as it’s available on Amazon, Google and other streaming services.
• Yes, God, Yes by Karen Maine – we’ve followed Maine’s Yes, God, Yes journey almost “religiously” (I know!) over the last couple of years and after we last spoke to her, the film was released over VoD and has now landed on Netflix.
• Calm with Horses by Nick Rowland – featured on our site twice, with NFTS shorts SLAP and Group B, Rowland’s debut feature Calm with Horses is now available to watch on Netflix.

• The Twentieth Century by Matthew Rankin – If you’ve seen the short films of Rankin on our site (we’ve featured both Mynarski Death Plummet & The Tesla World Light), you’ll already know to expect something distinct and original from his debut feature. If reviews so far are to be believed (David Eldrich described it as a “phantasmagorical biopic” for Indiewire) you won’t be disappointed. Now available on Amazon US.

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Trailers

Projects from previously featured filmmakers, which are not available to watch yet, but have trailers to whet the appetite.

• Somewhere with No Bridges by Charles Frank – Currently on the festival circuit, Frank’s (who directed S/W pick Clint Smith: Beyond This Place) debut feature is a ‘stirring, lyrical journey beneath the brusque, reticent surface of a New England fishing community’.
• I Blame Society by Gillian Wallace Horvat – with Kiss Kiss Fingerbang and Whiskey Fist, Horvat made a name for herself in the WTF dark-comedy sub-genre, described as a ‘titillating meta-story about the camera as an excuse for abuse, artistic transgression and blurry boundaries’, her debut feature sounds like it should continue her distinct filmmaking style.

In Development

Our In Development section is all about upcoming projects, sharing the exciting news of what S/W filmmakers are working on next:

• Too Long at the Fair by Jessie Barr and Lena Hudson – A 2019 pick on S/W, Barr and Hudson’s tale of struggling artists fulfilling the role-playing fantasies of the Los Angeles ultrarich has been selected in the Sundance Institute’s first-ever Episodic: Pilot to Series Lab.
• Rooftop Films Grant – the annual fund for independent filmmakers released the recipients of its 2020 grant – which included debut features from Laura Moss (Fry Day) and Nikyatu Jusu (Suicide by Sunlight) and new shorts from Elizabeth Lo (Hotel 22, Mother’s Day), James Burns (Revolving Doors, We Live This) and Stephen Irwin (The Black Dog’s Progress, Atomic Hubbub, Moxie)
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  Still from Dan Ojari & Mickey Please’s Netflix feature Robin Robin – still from Aardman.com

  Robin Robin by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please – Somehow, despite being announced over a year ago, I’d managed to miss the exciting news that Aardman’s first collaboration with streaming platform Netflix – Robin Robin – was to be directed by friends of S/W Dan Ojari (Slow Derek) and Mikey Please (The Eagleman Stag). Though the announcement that the film is in the works is hardly breaking news, recent casting of Gillian Anderson and Richard E Grant put the project in the spotlight once more – although it looks as if we’ll have to wait until Christmas 2021 to enjoy this festive stop-motion tale of a robin who is adopted by a family of mice.
• BFI Short Form Animation Fund – the British Film Institue announced it was awarding 15-projects a share of its 900k investment in ‘bold and ambitious animation projects’ – with recipients including S/W alums Ainslie Henderson (I Am Tom Moody, Monkey Love Experiments & Stems), Bexie Bush (Mend and Make Do) and Elizabeth Hobbs (I’m OK & The Flounder)
• Brian and Charles by Jim Archer – A favourite of the S/W team’s from 2018 (we named it ‘Best Sci-Fi’ short in our yearly awards), Channel 4 revealed earlier in December that ‘filming has commenced’ on the feature version of Archer’s Brian and Charles. Co-funded by Film4 and the BFI the film builds on the original “odd-couple” premise of the short and although COVID threatened to derail the feature, co-writer and star David Earl revealed the shoot was in full flow admitting he was “stood in North Wales staring at a 7 foot robot”.

Miscellaneous

From Christmas Ads to awards and pitches, the ‘Miscellaneous’ section of these updates wraps up any other news that includes previously featured filmmakers from S/W.

• 25 New Faces of Independent Film 2020 – Filmmaker Magazine’s annual celebration of exciting new talent in the world of independent film is something we always keep an eager eye on here at S/W. Over the years, we’ve seen a host of our Alum’s appear on the list and 2020 was no expectation, with Victoria Rivera (Night Swim & Verde), Nikyatu Jusu (Suicide by Sunlight) and Joe Sackett (Dominant Species) included.

• John Lewis Christmas Ad – the festive period is never really here until you’ve witnessed one of the “big” Christmas ads on screen and in the UK, none come bigger than the John Lewis advert. This year the retailers have outdone themselves, by not only delivering a two minute story brimming with heart, but one that features a host of talent from the world of short film. With previous S/W award winner Oscar Hudson (Joy in People) taking the reigns as the overall director of the piece, there are also animated segments from Anete Melece (The Kiosk, Analysis Paralysis), Anna Mantzaris (Enough), MegaComputeur (Hors Piste, Wild Love) & Sylvain Chomet (La Vieille Dame et les Pigeons).
• Sundance 2021 – With the line-up for the 2021 edition of the festival announced, we were once again excited at S/W HQ to see a number of our previously featured filmmakers – Clint Bentley, Sean Ellis, Parker Hill, Madeleine Sims-Fewer + Dusty Mancinelli, Dash Shaw, Kate Tsang, Daryl Wein – screening this year. We’ll explore the programme in further depth, in a separate post, soon.