News

Directors Notes is delighted to present the inaugural edition of the WeAreDn Awards, a celebration of the best films from Dn’s 2023 official submissions. Taking place from 6:30pm on the 25th of April at Whirled Cinema London, the Dn team have selected 22 films over 8 categories – Drama, Comedy, Music, Documentary, Animation, Buckle Up, British & Student – for our industry jury members to vote on. We welcome all nominees, cast, crew, friends and film lovers to join us as we screen the winning films and present the WeAreDn Awards followed by celebratory networking drinks.

Our Jury

Ella Glendining is a BAFTA-nominated writer and director. Is There Anybody Out There? premiered at Sundance 2023, and has won the Silver Horn for the director of a film on social issues at Krakow Film Festival 2023, the prestigious Fipresci International Film Critics Prize, and the Bring the Change award at Biografilm Festival 2023. In 2024 Ella was nominated for...

It’s Halloween and therefore the perfect occasion to tune into those bangs in the middle of the night, the hairs on the back of your neck standing up without reason and that disconcerting sense of being watched even when you’re alone. While all these uncanny experiences may have the majority of us calling for an exorcist, for filmmaker Ben S. Hyland and friend and co-writer Mark Brennan, the recounting of a late night disturbance for the latter led the pair into a back and forth dissection of the origins of the encounter, which soon developed into the beginnings of snappy creepy comedy short Bleep. The story of a couple who find their relationship pushed to the brink as they investigate a strange noise that’s woken them in the night, like all good horror we soon discover that things aren’t quite what they seem… A film which...

With even most features struggling to get the big screen limelight they so often deserve these days, it’s harder still to get shorts played big and loud. Once again FrightFest delivers though, with another three feature-length showcases of short-form goodness, giving a platform to some of the most exciting up-and-coming genre filmmakers on the planet.

Here’s this writer’s stand-outs, from another densely packed year:

Kicking things off with Chris McInroy’s tonally perfect, and utterly disgusting workplace splatter comedy Guts; a bold and terrifically performed sketch about what it means to have guts (in every sense of the word) that milks a single joke for all it’s worth beautifully.

The same can be said for smartly devised and shot black comedy Cruise, from director Sam Rudykoff, a tight one room concept that builds wonderfully to a laugh-out-loud kicker of a punchline.

British comedy had a banner year too,...

"Just keep cool. She'll be gone in the morning. Just let this play out..." Agghhhh these loud talkers are the worst! Does anyone actually enjoy their daily commute? Especially when it involves other people acting like assholes? Quiet Carriage is a funny short film made by British filmmaker Ben S. Hyland that takes on one of these awkward situations on the train from London. A working man's daily commute is interrupted by a loud-mouth passenger, but he really should have left well alone. What would you do? What is the right thing to do? What if you don't say anything, does anything ever change? Maybe not... Quiet Carriage stars Amit Shah and Emma Sidi. A very basic concept making fun of the madness of the daily commute turned into an amusing short. Even the old man make-up is great! Have a laugh, and please keep quiet on the train. Thanks...

FX has released the first two images from Guillermo del Toro's "The Strain." The tale is a high concept thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll), the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, Eph, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers, wage war for the fate of humanity itself. Mia Maestro, Sean Astin, Kevin Durand, Natalie Brown, Jonathan Hyde, Richard Sammel, Robert Maillet, Jack Kesy, Ben Hyland, and Miguel Gomez also star. As you can see, these pics came from Yahoo! The series hits this summer.

Bwm’s Melbourne office has released the next installment of discount retailer Kmart’s ‘Ok’ campaign.

The ad, shot in-store over three days and nights, features shoppers amazed by large sculptures of prices made from Kmart products.

“The new work supports Kmart’s Every Day Low Price positioning but also brings these incredible Price Sculptures to life, showcasing the surprising range of choice behind their low prices,” Bwm’s Melbourne MD, Carl Ratcliff, said.

The sculptures were made by Melbourne-based artists Tin & Ed.

“We’ve really enjoyed our journey together. Bwm continues to demonstrate their capacity to genuinely excite mums in a category defined by dull, and uninspiring retail advertising,” Kmart Gm of marketing, Dion Workman, said.

Credits:

Brand Council

Managing Director – Carl Ratcliff

Executive Planning – Jamie Mackay

General Manager – Nicole Miranda

General Manager Marketing – Dion Workman

National Marketing Communications Manager – Natalie Warren-Smith

Creative

Creative Director Bwm – Shaun Branagan

Creative...