Following the recent post about my new short film The Suicide Shift (2026) – here I am so proud to now present the trailer for the film in the link.
THE SUICIDE SHIFT (2026)
Tagline
Connect. Process. Record. Never intervene.
Pitch
Banished to the “suicide shift” for breaking spirit call centre regulations, CARMILLA FERRY, now deals with the most tortured of souls moving from this world to the next. After being blasted by her line manager on the phone, Russell, Carmilla is feeling even more isolated and demoralised than usual. After a series of heart-crushing calls, culminating in a particularly stressful shift, Carmilla is then faced with the most heart-wrenching call of all.
Cast
Julia Florimo as Carmilla Ferry
Myles Horgan as Russell Schaeffer
Felicia Kaspar as Lucy Carpenter
Lost Souls (Voices) – Ashley Wong, Bai Ruiying, Bogdan Dima, Christina Leitner, Federica Ruggieri, Jyothi Gupta, Kay Abel, Maria Busz, Melissa Zajk, Paul Laight, Sanjay Batra, Szymon Bartoszek.
Crew
Director, Producer & Writer: Paul Laight
Cinematography: Petros Gioumpasis
Sound Recordist & Designer: Ali Kivanc
Camera Assistant: Ben Bogdan-Hodgson
Make-Up: Georgie Lang
Location Manager: Melissa Zajk
Editors: Oliver McGuirk & Petros Gioumpasis
Composer: Ben Randall
Poster designs: Jaffer Hashim & Gary O’Brien
Every 90 minutes in the UK, someone dies by suicide. But talking saves lives.
Gradual but excellent progress has been made on the post-production. Editing and the musical score have been completed so the film should be ready by the end of September 2025 for submission to festivals.
A trailer will be released soon. In the meantime, I commissioned some film and character posters. See above and the slideshow below.
Logline
Banished to the “suicide shift” for breaking spirit call centre regulations, CARMILLA FERRY, now deals with the most tortured of souls moving from this world to the next. After being blasted by her line manager on the phone, Russell, Carmilla is feeling even more isolated and demoralised than usual. After a series of heart-crushing calls, culminating in a particularly stressful shift, Carmilla is then faced with the most heart-wrenching call of all.
HORROR-ON-SEA FILM FESTIVAL is an amazing gathering in Southend-on-Sea. Every January horror filmmakers and fans flock to the Essex coastal town to satisfy their desire for all things horror.
The festival screens, over two weekends each year and features some of the most gruesome, scariest, funniest and entertaining independent horror films you’ll ever find. For more information please check out their website here.
This year Horror-on-Sea screened the short film I wrote and produced called, Inferis (2024). It’s an atmospheric horror which is a proof of concept short I intend to develop as a feature film I can describe as Saw meets The Office. You can watch it here:
Myself, Julia (who appeared inInferis (2024) and my wife, Melissa, attended the packed 10am screening as the film supported an intriguing indie feature called The Cellar (2024). We also watched a gory and highly entertaining monster movie called, Hell-Hole (2024) that day. Many more films were screened over two weeks, plus masterclasses from horror filmmakers such as Pat Higgins.
So, if you ever find yourself in Southend-on-Sea one January then do check it out. Or scroll through the gallery of photos I took over the weekend.
During 2024 I began planning a new short film and was keen to springboard a new horror idea from something simple around the flat I live in. I decided therefore to check out the various props I had and found an old black phone and an hourglass. From those props I began thinking about how the passing of time and communication could be used as a means of creating emotional conflict for the characters and elicit a sense of dread and fear from the audience. From these thoughts I began writing a script that eventually became called The Suicide Shift (2025).
Pre-production for the film took place during 2024 and I put together a really talented cast and crew all with a very low budget. The filming took place at the end of November 2024 over two extremely productive days of shooting. The Suicide Shift (2025) is now in post-production with a release planned for 2025!
Theme and genre
The Suicide Shift (2025) further develops themes of hell, work and being trapped, previously explored in short films, Hell Is. . . (2013) and Inferis (2024). I was inspired to write a film which dealt with suicide. Mainly due to my own personal experience of losing two close friends who took their own life. I am using the film to highlight the tragedy of people who take their life and meditate on the possible reasons such events take place. I am classing the film as emotional horror.
I have set the film in the genre of psychological, supernatural horror as the horror film allows a filmmaker to explore deep themes while also raising emotion and suspense with the audience. The low-budget production relies heavily on performance, actor reaction, silence, and sound, aiming to be both powerfully dramatic and disturbing. It is set in a few locations but was filmed in one place with limited props and cast.
Logline
Banished to the “suicide shift” for breaking spirit call centre regulations, CARMILLA FERRY, now deals with the most tortured of souls moving from this world to the next. After being blasted by her line manager on the phone, Russell, Carmilla is feeling even more isolated and demoralised than usual. After a series of heart-crushing calls, culminating in a particularly stressful shift, Carmilla is then faced with the most heart-wrenching call of all.
Pitch Outline
In mythical days past, the souls of the dead were carried to the other side by Charon the Ferryman. In the present, the handling of souls has now been modernised and is managed by call centres run by managerial bureaucrats and office workers who exist in limbo, somewhere between heaven, hell and the mortal world.
It is the spirit call centre’s job to manage the dying as they pass into the next world. The employees are not allowed to intervene. Only coordinate, process and record death. The workers communicate via a supernatural telecom system which is heard in the mind of the dying. Any worker who intervenes risks having to work alone in ‘Limbo’.
Banished to the ‘Suicide Shift’ for breaking spirit call centre regulations, CARMILLA FERRY, now deals with the most tortured of souls moving from this world to the next. After being blasted by her manager, RUSSELL, on the phone, Carmilla is feeling even more bullied, isolated, and demoralised than usual. Especially because Russell will not let her see her teenage daughter, a mortal named, Lucy. Russell controls everything and watches Carmilla via a CCTV camera and screens.
During a particularly stressful shift, Carmilla has had to deal with a whole night of heart-crushing calls from the dying. Then, in the early hours of the morning Lucy is suddenly put through to Carmilla having taken an overdose at a party. Carmilla must listen as her frightened daughter’s life slowly drifts away, powerless to intervene. The true horror of work and existence dawns on her.
INFERIS (2024) – a short psychological horror film!
Just a quick update to say I am really pleased the low budget film I wrote and produced did really well at various festivals throughout 2024. I’m still waiting for responses from a few more festivals, but here are some of the events it was screened at:
Inferis (2024) is an eerie, unsettling and psychological no budget short horror film. A mood piece relying on atmosphere, creative lighting and impactful sound design.
Recent prison leaver, Joseph Mann, begins a new job at Inferis Security. Hoping for a fresh start he finds himself drawn toward a mysterious door that leads to god knows where.
INFERIS (2024) – A new horror short poster and stills.
After a few years gap I finally managed to get back into the short filmmaking process last year with INFERIS (2024).
I wrote and produced it as a very low-budget psychological horror proof of concept short.
It was filmed at Raindance Film School in August 2023 and post was completed in February 2024.
Here’s the poster:
Here are some stills:
If you haven’t seen it, the trailer is here:
INFERIS (2024) – Production Details
Tagline – “They make you work like hell!”
Logline – Recent prison leaver, Joseph Mann, begins a new job at Inferis Security. Hoping for a fresh start he finds himself drawn toward a mysterious door that leads to god knows where.
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)
Produced by: Jon Kilik, Spike Lee, Beatriz Levin, Lloyd Levin
Written by: Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Spike Lee, Kevin Willmott
Cast: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Jean Reno, Chadwick Boseman etc.
Music by: Terence Blanchard, Marvin Gaye
Cinematography: Newton Thomas Sigel
Distribution: Netflix
***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***
Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee has been a prolific actor, director, producer and polemicist for some time now. An ultra-talented and outspoken cinematic artist, he has directed thirty fiction and documentary films since his debut feature film She’s Gotta Have It (1986). Plus, all manner of promos, commercials, music videos, short films and television series. An energetic firebrand of a director he has made films in many genres and is a risk-taker in subject, theme and style. Whether you agree with what he has to say he is a filmmaker who is always creating situations and characters who must be heard.
His latest film, Da 5 Bloods (2020), is a timely Netflix film release which encapsulates crime, heist, political, war, drama, Blaxploitation, comedy, documentary, love and experimental film genres. Lee has never been afraid of taking risks and sometimes his films have not worked because of it. However, with BlacKKKlansman (2018) he succeeded in making one of the best films of 2018 and should have won Best Film Oscar in my view. Da 5 Bloods (2020) grabs the power baton of Lee’s prior film and runs with it, delivering an entertaining, funny, thought-provoking, stylish and brilliant genre-blending story full of sustainable socio-political arguments in the era of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The narrative begins by establishing four aging Vietnam veterans, portrayed by the magnetic ensemble of Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis and Isiah Whitlock Jr. They meet in Ho Chi Minh City in order to venture into the jungle and locate the remains of their squad leader. During some very stylised, richly colour-saturated and impactful flashbacks, it is revealed their friend, “Stormin Norman” (the charismatic, Chadwick Boseman), was killed in combat. Furthermore, and this is the money reason they are back in ‘Nam – there is army gold in those hills. Thus, the comrades set out to locate their friend’s body, and the gold, in order to find reparation and hopefully some form of redemption.
The film begins warmly as we enjoy the company of these great actors portraying reunited friends on an old boys outing. However, the film, as it introduces further subplots involving Jean Reno’s suspicious businessmen, Desroche and Delroy Lindo’s Paul crumbling mental state, moves into far darker territory the further the men get into the jungle. Lindo himself gives arguably the best performance of his career as a soldier grieving for his lost friend and desperate to get compensation for the unjust loss of so many lives in Vietnam. His character’s downward mental trajectory is one of the most powerful elements of Da 5 Bloods (2020). No doubt Lindo will be nominated come awards time and so he should be.
The cinematic excellence on show too from Spike Lee and his production crew is to be applauded too. Lee’s box of magic tricks includes: jump cuts, aspect ratio switches, colour saturation, Shakespearean soliloquies, documentary footage, flashbacks, conveyor-belt camera tracks, stills photography, slow-motion, direct address and many other devices. The exceptional cinematography is drenched in an opulent score from Terence Blanchard and the incredible voice of Marvin Gaye. I guess my main reservations about the film would be the elongated running time, with some scenes indulgently over-running. Moreover, there were also a couple of convenient plot coincidences which could have been ironed out. Nonetheless, with Da 5 Bloods (2020), Spike Lee has delivered another bravura mix of genre and socio-political filmmaking which, like classics such as The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948) and Apocalypse Now (1979), stare into the dark heart of humanity and find greed, war and death there. Unlike those two films though, Da 5 Bloods (2020), also contains hope, light in the tunnel, and the idea that togetherness brings strength in the face of adversity.
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
Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee has been a prolific actor, director, producer and polemicist for some time now. An ultra talented and outspoken cinematic artist, he has directed thirty fiction and documentary films since his debut feature film She’s Gotta Have It (1986). Plus, all manner of promos, commercials, music videos, short films and television series.
To celebrate his work and the fact he finally got recognised for his amazing filmmaking skills by the Oscars this year, I would like to highlight, five of his finest films that are worth watching and rewatching. An energetic firebrand of a director he has made films in many genres and is a risk-taker in subject, theme and style. Whether you agree with what he has to say he is a filmmaker who is always creating situations and characters who must be heard. Here are some great examples of his cinematic work.
**MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**
DO THE RIGHT THING (1986)
Spike Lee’s incendiary look at the day in the life of a Brooklyn neighbourhood finds a variety of characters coping with both rising temperatures and simmering racial tension. Lee’s brilliant script is fully of boldly written and brightly sketched characters presented via a succession of hilarious and dramatic vignettes. The formal excellence on show too from Lee is to be applauded as he uses devices from: music video and cinema to tell his rich stories. The day does not end well as the neighbourhood erupts into tragic violence with Lee proving himself adept at balancing humour, politics and tragedy in equal measure.
MALCOLM X (1992)
Arguably, Malcolm X (1992), is Spike Lee’s most significant and impressive film. It charts the life and death of a man born Malcolm Little who would grow to be anything but. After a troubled childhood he became a drug dealer and criminal in order to survive. Having converted to Islam he rejected his slave roots, going on to become one of the most outspoken voices against black oppression the world has ever seen. The project took decades to come to the screen and Lee and Washington both faced objections from many parties for their involvement. However, the finished film a masterful biography capturing the spirit of an intelligent, passionate and outspoken individual trying to right the wrongs within American society and history. Both Lee and Washington should have won Oscars for their work. The film stands ultimately as a fine cinematic tribute to a true spokesperson for a generation.
HE GOT GAME (1998)
From my basic research Spike Lee is revealed to be a New York Knicks fan. It’s no surprise then his love of basketball really shines through in this mix of sport, crime and personal drama. The story follows young hot-shot basketball prospect, Jesus Shuttlesworth, and the decision he has to make in regard to which college he goes to. On paper it’s Jesus’ choice but in reality he has all manner of people attempting to influence him. These include: his girlfriend, his coach, agents, local gangsters and most pressing of all, his jailed father portrayed by Denzel Washington. Ray Allen is excellent as Jesus and Lee invokes an empathetic character study with lashings of verve and style.
INSIDE MAN (2006)
Spike Lee directs in confident style, with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen both excellent as the lead cop and main criminal. Jodie Foster is brilliant too as a venal fixer brought in by Christopher Plummer’s bank owner. What makes Lee’s direction ping here is his deft handling of a complex structure within the heist genre. Moreover, Lee demonstrates he is able to convey a genre story with impeccable skill and deliver fine screen performances to boot. I especially loved the diversity of the supporting characters and the film oozes a pure New York atmosphere throughout.
BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018)
BlacKKKlansman (2018) is a complex film which expertly mixes many genres, infusing musical, thriller, Blaxploitation, comedy and documentary styles, making it a joy to experience. Spike Lee has never been afraid of experimenting and sometimes his films have not worked because of it. However, with this he succeeded in making one of the best films of 2018. It should have won Best Film Oscar in my view. It is thought-provoking but never preachy for the sake of it and uses humour most often as a weapon to undermine the senseless ideologies of the KKK. Indeed, in ridicule there is hope they may eventually be side-lined to the shadows of history.
The Cinema Fix presents 