Big thanks to TREKLANTA.ORG for organising the 2020 BJO Star Trek Fan Film awards. Delayed due to COVID-19 the awards took place late in 2021 and I am so pleased that The Holy Core (2019) was nominated for a number of awards and won two.
The Holy Core (2019) won BEST ORIGINAL STORY OR SCREENPLAY and BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM!
Here are some photos of Paul Laight (me/writer), Gary O’Brien (Director, Editor/Production) and Philip Wolff (lead cast member) with our awards.
And if you have never seen the film you can watch it here:
YOU HAVE A NEW FOLLOWER (2020) – SHORT FILM RELEASE
Hope you are well and safe!
Finally, I have decided to release my short film, You Have A New Follower (2020) on YouTube. It has been delayed due to the pandemic and other personal matters. It got several screenings at online and physical film festivals, however, not as many as hoped due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
I am very proud of the film as I have attempted to explore issues relating to mental health within the thriller genre. I hope it intrigues and interests you too. Below is link to the film and after that the credits and further film details.
You Have A New Follower (2020) – Fix Films Ltd
PITCH
“Watch your back…”
Astrid Nilsson’s life begins to unravel when she is stalked by a mysterious hooded figure.
You Have a New Follower (2020) is the latest short film from Paul Laight and Fix Films. It was shot in London and combines mystery, suspense and science fiction genres with dramatic effect. It’s a short, low-budget film which seeks to explore themes of paranoia, anxiety, and identity within the thriller genre.
CAST & CREDITS
Directed by: Paul Laight & Tilde Jensen Cast: Tilde Jensen, Mitchell Fisher Written and Produced by: Paul Laight Camera: Petros Gioumpasis Lighting: Sakis Gioumpasis Sound: Marina Fusella Editors: Oliver McGuirk, Petros Gioumpasis Composer: James Wedlock Sound Design: Simos Lazaridis Location Manager: Melissa Zajk Production Assistant: Lue Henner
SCREENINGS
The Fix Film Night, London – February 2020 Cineshots, London – March 2020 Lift Off Sessions, UK – March 2020 (Online) Fabulosis Short Film Night, London – May 2020 (Online film night) Unrestricted View Horror Festival, London – October 2020 – (Online festival) Horror of Damned, Italy – November 2020 (Online festival) Lulea International Film Festival, Sweden – November 2020 – (Online in 2020 and hopefully in Sweden in September 2021)
THANKS TO UNRESTRICTED VIEW HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2020!
Just a quick post to say thank you to the Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival for screening my short film You Have A New Follower (2020). They screened it online as part of their Little Terrors programme on Tuesday 27th October 2020. Loads of great shorts and features were screened in an amazing programme. Further, in this period of COVID-19, it is a testament to their talents and enthusiasm they continue to support independent filmmakers.
If you didn’t know, Unrestricted View was set up in 1997 by Felicity & James Wren in order to produce exciting and innovative new theatre, comedy & film. In 1999 UV became the resident company at The Hen & Chickens Theatre and remains so to this day. UV was also resident company at Lowdown at The Albany on Great Portland Street 2003-2011 and The Vandella in Shepherds Bush in 2012. Subsequently, they continue to run the Unrestricted View Film Festival and a separate Horror Festival too. This year’s event ran online from 26-10-20 to 1st November 2020. Check out their website here.
Here is the brochure for the festival at this link.
You Have a New Follower (2020) is a psychological thriller/horror. The story concerns Astrid Nilsson, whose life begins to unravel when she is stalked by a mysterious hooded figure. It combines mystery, suspense and science fiction genres, while exploring themes of paranoia, anxiety and identity.
I’ve been busy trying to avoid the booze in the fridge most days, although I did fail miserably on Saturday. But I was kind of celebrating fifteen years of low budget short filmmaking. If you didn’t know my production company is called Fix Films Ltd. Here is my latest showreel video. It’s basically a look back at all the films we have made. Also, it’s a tribute to all of the talented people we have worked with.
Fix Films are a filmmaking collective. Since 2005 they have been involved in the creation of many, many short films and promos. They self-produce, write, direct, edit and score their own films to a very high standard despite the low budgets. They are true independent filmmakers.
This showreel features images, clips and music from most of our major short films productions.
Fix Films Ltd are:
Paul Laight, Gary O’Brien and all the amazing people we have worked with.
As you know The Cinema Fix is a website for all film and TV lovers everywhere. It’s a mix of reviews, articles, essays, news and thoughts on new and classic releases. It is intended to be honest, irreverent, funny and hopefully intelligent.
In this period of social distancing I have now found the time to make some short video film review content. This video article is a fun piece highlighting our favourite films set on a train.
Written by: Paul Laight Narrated by: Melissa Zajk Music: Classic Train – Simple Sound – No Copyright Check out our YouTube site: www.youtube.com/c/FixFilmsLtd
Film/Trailer credits:
1) The Cassandra Crossing (1976) – AVCO Embassy Pictures
2) The Lady Vanishes (1938) – United Artists
3) Murder on the Orient Express (1974) – EMI Film/Paramount Pictures
4) Snowpiercer (2013) – Radius TWC/CJ Entertainment
5) The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974) – United Artists
6) Train to Busan(2016) – Next Entertainment World
My latest short film You Have A New Follower (2020) was screened earlier this week at the wonderful CineShots film night. The venue was the Streatham Space Project and a great night was had by all.
CineShots aims to give up-and-coming London filmmakers a chance to screen their films, get the feedback from a live audience, engage in Q&A and network with like-minded people for potential collaborations or just to talk film.
The only criteria the film has to fulfil is that the filmmakers are London-based, the film hasn’t been finished more than 12 months before submission and is not longer than 15 minutes. Please check out their website here and the cool trailer of the event.
All six films were received with fine appreciation by a decent crowd of filmmakers, actors and audience members. It was so good to get a premiere for You Have A New Follower (2020) too and watch it with many of the crew members. Overall, I would certainly recommend CineShots to anyone interested in attending a positive film screening night.
I look forward and hope that I can get more screenings of my film at festivals in the UK and worldwide. I am very proud of the film as it has powerful suspense, plus memorable themes relating to identity and anxiety in an urban setting. You can watch the short film trailer here:
HORROR-ON-SEA FILM FESTIVAL is an amazing gathering in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Every year horror filmmakers and fans flock to the Essex coastal town to satisfy their lust for all things horror.
The festival screens, over two weekends in January, some of the most gruesome, scariest, funniest and entertaining independent horror films you’ll ever find. For more information please check out their Facebook page here. And the website here.
I would personally like to thank Horror-on-Sea for screening my short psychological thriller, TOLERANCE (2019). It was a great crowd who seemed to enjoy the film last Sunday night. You can see the film by clicking on link below. Also, please subscribe to the YouTube channel by clicking here.
Lastly, a big shout out to Paul Cotgrove and his army of assistants who make the festival such a success. Also, congratulations to all the filmmakers who commit to making their horror films so bloody entertaining. Many of these films are self-funded and produced so well done to them.
This was my third visit to Horror-on-Sea Film Festival and this year I stayed for two nights. That enabled me to watch even more short and feature horror films. Here is a list of films I watched with promotional links (where possible). They were all really entertaining with horror, comedy, fear, sex and gore all combining to wonderful effect. There were many, many more films shown too so I recommend you go next year as it’s back in 2021!
HORROR-ON-SEA 2020 – FILMS WATCHED
The Dead Ones (Short) – Director: Stefan Georgiou – Link
The Front Door (Short) – Director: Andrew Rutter – Link
YOU HAVE A NEW FOLLOWER (2020) – SHORT FILM UPDATE
Last year I wrote and filmed a new short film called You Have a New Follower (2020). It is now completed and it is now being prepared for submission to film festivals. Here are the details, credits and a trailer to watch.
Please also feel free to SUBSCRIBE HERE to my YouTube channel which has all my short films on. Or check out the WEBSITE HERE.
YOU HAVE A NEW FOLLOWER (2020) – TRAILER
YOU HAVE A NEW FOLLOWER (2020) – DETAILS
TAGLINE
“Watch your back…”
PREMISE
Astrid Nilsson’s life begins to unravel when she is stalked by a mysterious hooded figure.
ABOUT
You Have a New Follower (2020) is the latest short film from Paul Laight and Fix Films. It was shot in London and combines mystery, suspense and science fiction genres with dramatic effect. It’s a short, low-budget film which seeks to explore themes of paranoia, anxiety, and identity within the thriller genre.
MAIN CAST
ASTRID NILSSON – Tilde Jensen DAVID MARKER – Mitchell Fisher
CREDITS AND CREW
DIRECTED BY: Paul Laight and Tilde Jensen WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY: Paul Laight CAMERA: Petros Gioumpasis LIGHTING: Sakis Gioumpasis SOUND: Marina Fusella EDITORS: Oliver McGuirk, Petros Gioumpasis COMPOSER: James Wedlock SOUND DESIGN: Simos Lazaridis LOCATION MANAGER: Melissa Zajk PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Lue Henner
TOLERANCE (2019) – MY SHORT FILM WINS FESTIVAL AWARD
Just a quick post to say that my short film Tolerance (2019) won best short film at the 2019 UK Offline Webfest. It’s a great independent film festival with the awards held at the Etcetera Theatre in London. As a low budget filmmaker it’s great to get screenings for my films, and while I am not a massive fan of competitions or awards, it was also fantastic to be acknowledged. If you haven’t seen the film you can watch it at the link below.
TOLERANCE (2019)
“What’s your poison?”
Tolerance is a story of obsession, addiction, revenge and murder. It concerns a dinner “date” which takes a twisted turn. Inspired by narratives like those of Hitchcock, Tales of the Unexpected and Inside No. 9, it explores the damage toxic relationships can cause. It is both a thriller and a very dark comedy.
CAST & CREW
Written and directed by Paul Laight Starring: Georgia Kerr and Patrick Tolan Sound: Marina Fusella Camera: Edward Lomas Lighting: Kato Murphy Make-up: Camille Nava Music: James Wedlock Editor: Jodie Williams Set Designer: Melissa Zajk
Last year I wrote, produced and directed my second short film called Tolerance. Post-production was carried out and completed including artwork and the music. It was finished earlier this year and I am now releasing the film online here.
SCREENINGS
TOLERANCE premiered at the Unrestricted View Film Festival, London in April 2019. Also, it was nominated for best art direction award at http://www.uvff.co.uk.
Also screened at:
Fix Films Ltd Film Night, London, March 2019 UK Monthly Online Film Festival, April 2019 Lift-Off Online Sessions, Pinewood Studios, April 2019 Direct Monthly Online Festival, April 2019
PITCH
Tolerance is a story of obsession, revenge and murder. It concerns a dinner “date” which takes a murderous turn. Inspired by narratives by Hitchcock Presents, Tales of the Unexpected and Inside No. 9, it suspensefully examines both personal and societal issues when a relationship breaks down.
On the surface it is essentially a suspensful thriller and dark comedy. However, within the subtext I attempt to examine the harm people inflict on each other with their relationship choices. Lastly, with the recent #MeToo furore that correctly highlighted the horrendous toxicity of human behaviour, I wanted to consider wider concerns of gender politics.
CAST AND CREDITS
Written and directed by: Paul Laight Starring: Georgia Kerr and Patrick Tolan Sound: Marina Fusella Camera: Edward Lomas Lighting: Kato Murphy Make-Up: Camille Nava Music: James Wedlock Editor: Jodie Williams Set Designer: Melissa Zajk
The Cinema Fix presents 