Although we’re already over a quarter of the way through 2022, this year has already served up a plethora of excellent cinema and television for hungry audiences to devour. As fans we’re as excited as anyone else for all the great watching, but for the S/W team there’s an extra level of interest in all these news shows/films – the involvement of our alums. I think I say this every time I write one of these filmmaker updates posts, but it truly is inspiring to see all these directors further their careers through their impressive short work. We obviously believe short film is more than just a stepping stone to something “bigger”, but the fact can’t be denied that if you make a name for yourself in short film arena, doors will open throughout the industry.

This list of recommended watches will attest to that – Rob Munday (Managing Editor)

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Bel-Air

Dir. Various

Featured on our site in 2021 with his infectious short U SHOOT VIDEOS?, Cooper’s long-awaited Fresh Prince reboot finally hit our screens in February 2022, with fans already eagerly looking forward to a second season. A grittier, contemporary remake of the classic ’90s show, inspired by a trailer Cooper made back in 2019, the show lists Matthew A Cherry (Hair Love), Ava Berkofsky (cinematographer on Sequin Raze) and Cooper himself as directors, while Nicole Delaney (YOYO, Thirsty) has a writing credit.

Watch on Peacock (US) / Watch on Now TV (UK)

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Big Gold Brick

Dir. Brian Petsos

Having made a name for himself with a series of Oscar Isaac fronted short films – Ticky Tacky and Lightningface – it’s no surprise that the Star Wars actor appears in Petsos’ debut feature Big Gold Brick. The story of a young writer hired to pen the autobiography of an enigmatic middle-aged father, Andy Garcia and Megan Fox also feature in this darkly comedic, genre-bending film.

Where to Watch

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Chloe

Dir. Alice Seabright

Featured on our site three times over the past five years – with Pregnant Pause, Sex Ed and End-O – Alice Seabright has long been a director we’ve expected to see move into the world of television. Directing two episodes in series two of Netflix’s Sex Education marked her first steps into TV, but with BBC primetime drama Chloe, Seabright announced herself as a writer/director who should have a fruitful career ahead of her.

Watch on iPlayer (UK Only)

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Everything Everywhere All At Once

Dir. The Daniels

First featured on our site back in 2011, with My Best Friend’s Wedding / My Best Friend’s Sweating, it’s been a real joy watching the career of The Daniels skyrocket over the past decade. With Possibilia and Interesting Ball confirming them as two of the most exciting directors working in short film and Swiss Army Man showing they could transfer that creativity to the world of features, Everything Everywhere All At Once should be the film that makes them household names.

Watch in theatres (US only) now

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Master

Dir. Mariama Diallo

Recently featured on our site with festival fav. Hair Wolf, Diallo’s debut feature was picked up by Amazon after playing at both Sundance (where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize) and SXSW. Much like her short, the film uses horror topes to tackle themes of systematic racism and is another impressive calling card for a director with rapidly rising stock.

Watch on Amazon Prime

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Servant

Dir. Various

Another high profile show recruiting from the world of short film is M. Night Shyamalan’s Apple series Servant. With its latest series (three) beginning in late January 2022 and set to finish in April, the S/W team were excited to see both Dylan Holmes Williams (The Devil’s Harmony) and duo Celine Held & Logan George (featured six times on S/W) hired to take charge of two episodes each in this latest run.

Watch on Apple TV+

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Severance

Dir. Various

When 2022 is over and we look back at the TV highlights of the year, Severance is bound to be a recurring entry on most lists. While most people associate the show with Ben Stiller, for Short of the Week it’s the director of episodes 4-6, Aoife McArdle, that caught our eye. A name that originally came to our attention through a series of impressive music videos, including the brilliant Every Breaking Wave – which we featured back in 2015 – McArdle directed her debut feature, Kissing Candice, in 2017 and went on to work on the Brave New World series, before directing three episodes of this hit series.

Watch on Apple TV+

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The Afterparty

Dir. Various

The star-studded cast of this new Christopher Miller show on Apple TV+ will be thing that grabs most people’s attention and though we’ll pretty much watch anything with John Early (Rachel) in, it was Nicole Delaney’s writer/executive story editor credit on all eight episodes that made this a newsworthy piece for us. Having followed Delaney’s career since we featured her short YOYO in 2017, she’s building up an impressive CV as a writer (see Bel-Air above) and we’re sure The Afterparty probably isn’t the last we’ll hear of her in 2022.

Watch on Apple TV+

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The Hater

Dir. Joey Ally

In her debut feature, Joey Ally (Joy Joy Nails) stars as an environmentalist speechwriter on a U.S. Senate campaign, who returns to her hometown after losing her job. Written and directed by Ally, the film is available now on various VoD sites.

Where to Watch

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Top Boy

Dir. Various

Following in the tradition of fellow Netflix show Sex Education, Top Boy is gaining a reputation for hiring exciting directorial talent from the world of short film. Returning for its fourth series, Brady Hood (Sweet Maddie Stone) directs the first three episodes, S/W alum Koby Adom (Haircut) is in charge of the following two, while NFTS grad Myriam Raja and William Stefan Smith (Two Single Beds) conclude the show.

Watch on Netflix

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If the ten recommendations above aren’t enough to fill out your own personal watchlists for now, here are a few more shows, featuring the work of S/W alums, to add:

VIEW OUR PREVIOUS WATCHLIST PICKS