Snap takes top gong

My short film Snap has taken out four awards at the 15-15 Film Festival Gala night, including best overall film.

The film was unanimously selected as the festival's top film from a field of 168 Australian and international films. The award means the film will be shown at all screenings of the festival across Australia as well as in Japan, South East Asia and Europe. It will be subtitled for the international screenings.

The film managed to win four awards from its eight nominations taking out best male actor (Dan Wells), best cinematography and best editing as well as best film.

The film will also be archived in the National Australian Film Archives.

Needless to say, myself and co-writer/director Cameron Oliver are pretty stoked.

The film is screening at a bunch of Aussie venues over the next month or so. To check out a screening near you click here.

Snap gets eight award nods

My short film Snap has been shortlisted for eight awards in the 15-15 Film Festival.

The film which I co-wrote and was directed by Cameron Oliver has been nominated for:

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BEST EDITING
BEST DIRECTION
BEST ORIGINAL STORY/SCRIPT
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEST ANIMATION
BEST COMEDY

The 15-15 festival requires filmakers to produce, shoot and edit a film in 15 hours.

The film will be shown at the Melbourne Gala Night on October 2 at the RMIT Capitol Theatre from 7pm.

Award winning films will be shown throughout Australia and Europe.

Continuum ramblings and other associated news

We'll I survived another Continuum festival, had a great time, met some fresh faces, caught up with a few I'd met before and managed to knock off No Award for the innagural Chronos Award for Best Fan Writer.

The trophy, a fantastic looking clock is now proudly on display above the TV - as promised in my speech.

The con itself was a little smaller than the ones I have attended previously - but with plenty of friendly faces we all had a great time. A special thank you goes out to those who put up with me in a very intoxicated state on Saturday night.

From a writers point of view the con did all the things its supposed to do to, renewing the itch to get stuck into your own work, making you more determined than ever to make sure you write something you can launch at one of these events in the future, and making you realise that yes - even the best still get rejection slips.

While I ran out of cash to get my early bird ticket to next year's Continuum in February, I'll definately be making my way back to it in the new year.

On a writing note, I have seen the proof of my story A New Year's Murder which will be out in Sex and Murder Magazine #2 this weekend. The yarn has been given a great position at the top of the table of contents so be sure to check it out.

Going... Going... Sold to Sex and Murder Magazine

My story A New Year's Murder has been picked up by Sex and Murder magazine.

The story, which strangely includes both sex and murder, will appear in an upcoming issue of the new online and print magazine.

In a time where a lot of my writing time has been eaten up by my day job, it's nice to know I'm still able to keep the fiction sales slowly ticking over.

Snap caught on film

Filming has completed on a short horror film I co-penned with fellow screenwriter Cameron Oliver called Snap.

The film - which is a play on the Hostel and Saw torture films - tells the story of a man who awakes bound in a dark room and is tortured by an inflatable penguin.

It was shot in one day as part of the 2009 15-15 Film Festival. Originally written as a comedy, a great acting performance and some powerful cinematography from Mark Morris has seen it hold its own in the horror genre.

The film was directed by Cameron.

I’m usually fairly critical of our short films, but I’m really proud of the way this story transferred to the screen.

Look out for it in coming months as part of the 15-15 Festival screenings.

Chronos award nomination

In a bizzare twist I have somehow managed to be shortlisted as the only finalist for Best Fan Writer in Continuum's innagural Chronos Awards.

Why I have been singled out among such other great reviewers, news, fan writers is a bit of a mystery but I thank those who felt me worthy of their vote.

To be shortlisted for both this and a Ditmar in the same year is a great honour and with a bit of luck (given that I'm the only finalist) I may get to accept a nice shiny award at Continuum 5 in Melbourne next month.

I have noticed on the ballot that there is the option for no award, so hopefully enough convention goers see it in their hearts to select me above the option of not handing out an award.

Here's the full list of nominees:

Best Short Fiction
"Neverland Blues", Adam Browne (Dreaming Again)
"They Live Under the House", Felicity Dowker (Midnight Echo #1)
"Her Collection of Intimacy", Paul Haines (Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #2)
"Painlessness", Kirstyn McDermott (Greatest Uncommon Denominator #2)
"Dress Circle", Miranda Siemienowicz (Hecate Vol 34, #1)

Best Collected Work
Dreaming Again, editor Jack Dann (Harper Voyager)
Midnight Echo #1, editors Kirstyn McDermott & Ian Mond (AHWA)

Best Fan Writer
Mark Smith-Briggs (HorrorScope)
Best Fan Artist
Carol Kewley (Ethel The Aardvark cover art)
Dick Jenssen (Interstellar Ramjet Scoop)

Best Fan Publication
Ethel The Aardvark, editor Murray MacLachlan (Melbourne Science Fiction Club)
Interstellar Ramjet Scoop, editor Bill Wright
Steam Engine Time, editors Bruce Gillespie & Janine Stinson

Werewolf story finds a home

The good folk down at Ripples Magazine have agreed to publish my tale Werewolf Story in their upcoming issue.

Werewolf Story will appear in issue 16 of the magazine, due out any day now.

This was the first story I wrote after my mentorship with Lee Battersby, so check it out and see if he was able to belt me into shape.

To grab a copy go to www.ripples.150m.com