Changes

After Laura Neulip outs her bully she is cornered into lying about what really happened in order to save the reputation of the schools star athlete. In an effort to clear things up, the Neulip’s invite the family over for dinner, but find themselves in a messy situation. CHANGES is a spectacular, ambitious, and extremely satisfying short script written by Matthew Bryan and brought to life by Rhiannon Thomas, Stephanie Carpentieri, Gabriel Grier, Robinson Walsh, Julian Vlcan, and introducing Rayne Potter as the narrator.

Credits

Written by: Matthew Bryan
Directed by: Gary Jones
Produced by: Awfully Good Media

Cast

Narrator: Rayne Potter
Laura: Rhiannon Thomas
Alice: Stephani Carpentieri
David:Gabriel Grier
Tyler: Robinson Walsh
Ben: Julian Vlcan

Sound Supervisor and Editor: Ryan Gottshall

Recorded at Spacewalk Sound
spacewalksound.com

Music

Animal Assassins – Colorado 1864
Firework Festival – Game Changer ft. Robin Hawkin
Half Light – From Below
Joel Porter – St. Anthony


Four Eyes // Featured Short

Four Eyes

A bespectacled kid in the 70's who gets picked on outside the house and then gets beat up at home for having broken glasses.

Four Eyes is the story of a kid in the 70s who gets picked on by some bullies over and over again. Each time they break his glasses a little more and each time he gets beat up at home by his Mom for breaking his glasses. In the end, the two of them need to figure out how their relationship works in order to help each other stand up for themselves.

It’s loosely based on a true story between me and my Mom. She once made me fight a kid who used to pick on me and, as weird as it was in the moment, it definitely felt like a turning point for me in my life.

I normally shoot commercials and I shot this as an exercise for shooting longer form narrative work. It’s won a few awards at some festivals but the main reason was really just for practise and the experience of shooting something like this. Side note: the kid who plays Brent is now the lead in the TV series “The Sinner”.

Directed by Canadian filmmaker Michael Clowater, the film thrives on the rawness captured from the 70's era. A time where kids often wandered off on their own for hours and parents beat them up if they came home with dirty clothes, and a new hero called Han Solo. A fun film that makes us laugh and cringe, reminding us of different times and how people dealt with issues.


Be a Buddy not a Bully // Short Film Trailer

Be A Buddy Not A Bully

Eliott has been bullying by the group of kids doing hip-hop dancing because of he's the best ballet dancer. Anna shows her unconditional love to save Eliott by stop being bullied.


Why You Don't Send Nudes // Daily Short Picks

Why You Don't Send Nudes

A high school girl plots revenge on a bully who posted her nude photographs online, but when it backfires, her whole family becomes a target.


Little Shit // Featured Short

Little Shit

Paul has an attitude. He’s the kid you cross the road to avoid. The no-hoper you pray your children never become. But there’s more to Paul than meets the eye or the ear. A side that he only finds when he’s truly lost.

Perhaps not the type of picture we'd be expecting from PostPanic, the highly conceptual and visual effects specialized studio which has brought us some of our favourite shorts like Sundays and Lost Boy. But 'Little Shit' certainly carries all its production values onto a different kind of genre. The black and white film directed by Richard Gorodecky follows a rebellious young kid with attitude as he roams the London streets seeking and running away from trouble. But there's much more than meets the eye with this kid, as we tenderly start liking the little shit. We connected with Richard to ask him a few questions about the film:

Little Shit is a child’s journey to discover his and London’s hidden nature.

Tell us a bit about yourself, what’s your background and what brings you to be making short films?

That’s such a big question. I could give a big answer. But no one will read it, so I’ll take a chance with a medium-sized answer. My creative background is pretty broad. I messed around with so many formats and, like many creative people unwilling or unable to choose a single output, found in job advertising, where to be multi-disciplined is an asset. That’s where I learnt storytelling and film craft. Ten years ago, I got really excited about the potential of branded content (or whatever we’re supposed to be calling it now). That blurry line between advertising and entertainment. I started making short films for the likes of Intel and Pernod Ricard. Work that I believed was of genuine value to the viewer rather than simply an entertaining interruption. I found myself in a place much closer to film than advertising and it felt good. Quite simply, I wanted more. More than commercial work alone could or probably should give. So, I started making short films and it felt like I’d finally worked out ‘what I want to do when I grow up’.

What was the inspiration for the film?

I grew up poor in a rough-ish part of London. I was a little shit and my friends were little shits. No-hopers basically, or so we were made to feel. It was almost impossible to imagine anything particularly good coming out of life. ‘Getting by’ would probably be the height of ambition. It was hard to find positive role models, and it was all too easy – in fact almost inevitable – to walk down the wrong path.

Luckily, I discovered the Grand Union Canal when I was little. This place, this ‘natural’ world provided an alternative reality. Dragonflies as big as your hand, sparrow hawks, and carp swimming in the murky depths. It gave wonder to a fairly cynical childhood. It felt like a safe place to be a kid. So Little Shit is a fictional amplification of some of those experiences.

Anticipation is key in your film, where the build-up lets us hate the little shit early, but also feel compassion for him as the story progresses. What would you like the audience to take away from his double-sided persona?

I show Paul as you would see him. As you would dismiss him. I want the viewer to jump to conclusions. As the story progresses and we see beyond the immediately visible, I reveal more sides to Paul and challenge your opinion of him. The child behind the little shit. I don’t want to give too much away, but he attempts something terrible. I’m not saying bad kid is actually good kid. That’s too simplistic. He’s complicated. His life is complicated. When you don’t have role-models, morality can take on some very strange shapes. So yes, I play with the audience’s preconceptions and then peel away. It’s a set-up from the start with a title like Little Shit.

That fox scene was pretty trippy. How did that idea come about and what does it enforce exactly?

Fear dominates Paul’s life. Even sleep offers no escape. The fox is simply a manifestation of fear. In children’s stories, the fox and the rabbit are often classic portrayals of hunter and prey. Both are present in the film. I liked this childish simplification in a story about a child who seems to be almost completely lacking a childhood.


Jessica // Short Film Trailer

Jessica

A young man targeted by bullies meets a mysterious outgoing girl. Soon after a series of dark deeds occur seemly connected to her presence


Little Bill's Peep Show // Short Film Trailer

Little Bill's Peep Show

After an intimate moment is shared online, Little Bill must cope with the consequences of being a homophobic bully.

Premiering on Film Shortage January 15th!


Stye // Featured Short Film

Stye

A father and son's attempt to reconnect over the course of a weekend visitation will send them further into a world of crime that will ultimately bring devastating consequences.

BJ is a twelve year-old boy desperate to win the attention of his father. Tacco is the father desperate to win the admiration of his son. Stye is a work by director Matthew Jenkin, far different from his previous short 'Cockatoo', which shows the incredible power of influence on a young teenager. Together, their attempts over the course of a weekend visitation will send them further into a world of crime that will ultimately bring devastating consequences.

A year after my father passed away, my wife and I fell pregnant with our first child, a boy. During the pregnancy I was reflecting on the relationship I had with my dad - the good and the bad. It was also a time of preparation for becoming a parent and the anxiety that can come with that - the responsibility for another human who will now totally rely upon you to bring them up in the world and develop them. So with father / son relationships firmly in my mind, it was natural for me to write about it however, as my upbringing was relatively drama free, I decided to fictionalise most aspects but ensure it came from a place of truth.

Built in part by real emotional ties, Matthew's main intentions were to make a visceral experience for the audience.

I wanted it to have impact and for the audience to feel totally immersed in this world.

By setting an almost silent mood where actions speak much louder than words, Matthew banks on the strong performances by the lead cast to drive the unformed relationship. With this a memorable experience is formed, and perhaps unconsciously reminding us that bad kids most likely come from bad upbringing - and there's very little anyone can do to help.


My Brave Young Boy // Daily Short Picks

My Brave Young Man

A little boy discovers the boundaries of his imaginary world. A seemingly ordinary quest for a new toy takes a different turn when we discover what that toy actually means to him.


Dumb Luck || Daily Short Picks

Dumb Luck

A shy teenager is the unlikely winner of a three million dollar lottery jackpot. While it seems like a lucky break at first, the money slowly but surely starts to cause more trouble than it's worth.