Horror short heading to Perth, York and Wrexham

In recent weeks I’ve found out that my short film Little Brown Bird, has been selected for some more film festivals.

On Saturday 17th August, our Australian Premiere will be part of the Imported Fear strand at Perth Horror Film Festival. You can find out more here.

Following that the film will be shown in York, England at the Dead Northern Horror Film Festival at the end of September. The full schedule hasn’t been released yet, as I only got the notification we had been selected today. Find out more about the festival here.

On October 12th and 13th Little Brown Bird says welcome to Wrexham, for the Phantasmagoria Horror Film Festival. I’m pleased to add another Welsh date to our festival run and to let the North Wales audience have the chance to watch it.

I’m awaiting on decisions for sixteen more festivals whose notification dates are between now and the end of October. These are our sixth, seventh and eighth physical screenings and including online festivals/awards takes us to twelve official selections so far in our run.

The full rundown:

Marbella International Film Festival, Spain 2023  - World Premiere. Nominee, Best Short Film

Chapter Moviemaker, Cardiff, Wales, 2023 - UK Premiere 

Ramaskrik Presents at Minimalen Festival, Trondheim, Norway, 2024 - Scandinavian Premiere 

Scream by the Seas, Bournemouth, England, UK, 2024

Sunday Shorts, Lisbon, Portugal, 2024 - Portuguese Premiere 

Perth Horror Film Festival, Perth, Australia, 2024 - Australian Premiere 

Dead Northern Horror Film Festival, York, England, UK, 2024

Phantasmagoria Horror Film Festival, Wrexham, Wales, UK, 2024.

Online Festivals/Awards:

Director Talent Movie Awards ( Budapest), 2024 - Honourable Mention, Best Horror Short 

Athens International Monthly Film Art Festival, 2024 - Winner, Best Horror Short 

Prague Film Festival, 2024 - Nominee, Best First Time Director 

Los Angeles Short Film Awards, 2024 - Official Selection 

Little Brown Bird festival run continues

This Friday Little Brown Bird has its Scandinavian Premiere at Minimalen Short Film Festival in Trondheim, Norway. We are the opening film of six being shown as part of the Horror: Ramaskrik presents strand of the festival, which has been running for thirty-six years. You can see the full festival schedule and get tickets here.

Closest to home and in the county where I grew up, Little Brown Bird is coming to the South Coast next month. We have been selected as part of the short film program at the inaugural Screams by the Sea festival in Bournemouth on February 10th. Find out more here.

Little Brown Bird premieres in Marbella

Last month Little Brown Bird had its world premiere at the Marbella International Film Festival and I made it over to Spain for the duration of the festival.  On the festival’s opening night on Wednesday 4th, and again on Saturday 7th October, Little Brown Bird played on the big screen at Red Dog Cinemas. 

We had a really positive reaction from festival goers and fellow filmmakers, which was extremely gratifying. On the final night of the festival, Sunday 8th October it was the gala dinner and awards ceremony. where Little Brown Bird was nominated for Best Short Film. The category was won by the excellent Dragunov, written by, directed by, and starring fellow Brit Robin Kirwan. 

One of the best things about being part of the festival was getting to spend so much time with other filmmakers, comparing notes and discussing the writing and filmmaking process was a real highlight of the week. I’ve been to a number of film festivals before in my capacity as a VFX Producer, so it was a really good feeling to be there representing my own work and as a filmmaker in my own right. 

Our next screening is at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff on Monday, as part of their monthly Moviemaker event which makes us eligible for next year’s BAFTA Cymru awards.

Cast and crew screening for Little Brown Bird

On Monday night we invited our cast, crew, Indiegogo crowdfund backers, and guests to see Little Brown Bird on the big screen in Cardiff. Producer Daniel J Harris from Eat Sleep Media introduced the film with me, giving an insight into the development process while trying our hand at being a comedy duo!. After the screening, I was joined on stage by lead actress Eliza Butterworth (The Last Kingdom, A Town Called Malice) for a Q&A.

Introducing Little Brown Bird with Daniel J Harris

Q&A with me and Eliza

I was a nervous wreck all day prior to the screening, I was worried about what to say to introduce it and unsure whether the film would be well received. I put myself through the wringer unnecessarily though by assuming the worst. From the moment I saw the name of the film on the door of Screen 1 in Chapter Arts Centre to the very last question at the Q&A, I felt relaxed and incredibly at ease, As soon as I joined Dan at the front of the auditorium all those nerves disappeared.

The audience reaction was extremely positive, which I was thrilled about and the Q&A was littered with interesting and insightful questions. All in all, I think it was a massive success, and it felt like all the hard work, the self-doubt, and the persistence had paid off. Next week we take the film to Marbella International Film Festival for its Festival Premiere, and I’m excited to see how it goes down on the Costa Del Sol too. It’s been an incredible, life-changing journey and it’s far from over yet. So many people have helped me along the way and I will forever be grateful to them all.

Storyboard artist Mike Collins, production assistant Cerys Hodgson, me, producer Daniel J Harris, Eliza, DoP Mark Nutkins