Short Films, Big Questions Ieuan Coombs, Will Liney

Cinematographer Stuart Harris has shot over 4000 commercials, several feature films and loads of renowned Pink Floyd music videos with director Storm Thorgerson. Stuart now heads up the Directing Commercials course at the NFTS and co-heads its Cinematography course. He is an Honorary Full Member of the British Society of Cinematographers (only the third person to ever receive this!)
Stuart started his career in the camera department on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. We go into detail about his experience on this legendary production and what it was like to work on a Kubrick film. We delve into the weeds of the commercial 'The Deficit Trials' which Stuart shot for Ridley Scott as well as Pink Floyd's music video for 'High Hopes' which Stuart shot for Storm Thorgerson.
We highly recommend you watch both of these (linked below) before listening to the episode.
More generally we speak about self confidence as a director, being persistent and the importance of shooting as much as you can. Stuart has such an inspiring take on the industry and the filmmaking process. We can't wait for you to give it a listen!
You can find 'The Deficit Trials' and 'High Hopes' alongside some of Stuart's other cinematography work on his website, linked below.
The Deficit Trials
High Hopes
http://stuartharris.co.uk/
Will - Instagram
Ieuan - Instagram
Short Films Big Questions - Instagram

Grant is a writer and director with a passion for telling upbeat stories about disability and care. 
His award-winning shorts have screened at BAFTA, BFI and festivals worldwide. He’s directed LGBTQ+ series ‘Flatshare’, web series #Reality, award-winning short ‘Emigrant’ and his latest film ‘Ecstasy’ is a heartfelt adventure about a disabled father and son’s attempt to buy drugs so the Dad can dance with his wife... one last time.
It is this short ‘Ecstasy’ which we specifically focus on in this episode. We dig deep into every aspect of Grant’s process from the two kickstarter campaigns he and his team ran in order to get the project off the ground, working with production designer Elena Muntoni and his DOP Hamish Anderson, his in depth shot lists to get the crew all on the same page, his choice of music and working with the actors to do his Dad justice and create an authentic portrayal of Parkinsons. 
We have linked Ecstasy below. In order to get the most out of this episode we highly recommend you watch the short first before tuning in. 
Watch the short film Ecstasy here:
https://directorsnotes.com/2023/05/16/grant-taylor-ecstasy/
Shot List:
https://vimeo.com/439519137/c49657403a
Crowdfunding Campaign:
https://vimeo.com/granttaylor27/download/371501358/50a04e4840

Social Media:
Grant: Instagram
Short Films, Big Questions: Instagram
Will: Instagram
Ieuan: Instagram

Charlotte Hamblin is a British actor, director and writer based in London.
She trained at RADA on the Foundation Course and studied English, Drama with Education at Cambridge University.
Charlotte's acting theatre credits include 'Strings' (Royal Court Upstairs) and 'Miss Julie' (Jermyn Street Theatre). 
Her acting TV credits Includes 'The Alienist': Series 2 (Netflix), 'McMafia' (BBC1), 'Downton Abbey' (ITV1), and her film credits include 'Operation Mincemeat' (Archery Pictures).
She's also performed in various well received short films, including 'Cubicle' directed by Chloë Wicks, and 'Extinction' directed by Jack Cooper Stimpson.
Charlotte has also been working as a professional screenwriter for the last six years. 
Her TV writing credits include writing an episode of ‘Hanna’ (NBC Universal/Working Title for Amazon prime), and participating in the writers room for black comedy series Personal Assistance.
As a director Charlotte’s debut short film 'Everybody dies sometimes…' won Best British Short at the British Short Film Awards, and was an official selection at Tribeca film festival.
It’s recently been released online on Omeleto, and Directors Notes. 
We speak about working with name talent, her festival journey with ‘Everybody Dies Sometimes…,’ how she approaches visuals, her writing process, and much more.
Links to Charlotte’s work:
Everybody Dies Sometimes… 
https://directorsnotes.com/2024/03/16/charlotte-hamblin-everybody-dies-sometimes/
Cubicle: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3paYPdpj9Y
Extinction: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD24LntwRow
Hanna, episode 6, season 2 (accessed with an Amazon Prime subscription):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hanna-Season-2/dp/B08BXPKS8D
Charlotte’s favourite short film: 
Shadow Brother Sunday (trailer):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCum3x7OIzA
Social Media:
Charlotte: Twitter & Instagram
Short Films, Big Questions: Instagram
Ieuan: Instagram
Will: Instagram

A departure from the norm for us here at Short Films, Big Questions…



In this episode, filmmaker Sam Baron helps us workshop two of our short film ideas. He guides us through his process of breaking down an idea, interrogating character motivation, and examining what we can personally bring as filmmakers to the story. The approach Sam takes can be applied to all short films, as well as fiction generally. As such, we feel the episode will be valuable to anyone in the midst of writing a narrative project.



A bit of background about Sam: He is a writer, director and actor. In 2014, he won the coveted Academy's Nicholl Fellowship for his script, The Science of Love, kicking off an impressive career as a screenwriter. He’s written for TV shows including the BBC’s “Chloe” and Netflix’s “Lockwood & Co”, as well as developing his own originals with Sky Comedy, Netflix and the BBC.



Sam has written and directed many short films that have played at festivals worldwide. He has recently completed a trilogy of short films starring Amit Shah and is now busy developing one of these, "The Orgy," as a TV series with Sony Pictures. Sam also teaches on the NFTS short filmmaking course.



You can find links to Sam's trilogy of short films in full below, including his most recent, "Tall Dark and Handsome."



We’d recommend listening to part 1 of our conversation, ‘Making your Short Film Personal with Sam Baron’, to get more insight into his work and process.



Links to Sam’s work:



Tall, Dark and Handsome: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2024/02/01/tall-dark-and-handsome/

Big Ears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RWeJTVXWqM

The Orgy: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2021/06/07/the-orgy/

Sam’s speech accepting the Academy's Nicholl Fellowship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYr3u_SA2Rg

Website: https://www.sambaron.com/



Social Media:

Sam:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baronifish/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/baronifish?lang=en

Short Films, Big Questions: https://www.instagram.com/shortfilmsbigquestions/?hl=en

Ieuan: https://www.instagram.com/ieuancoombs/?hl=en

Will: https://www.instagram.com/will.liney/?hl=en

Sam Baron is a writer, director and actor. In 2014, Sam won the coveted Academy's Nicholl Fellowship for his script, The Science of Love, kicking off an impressive career as a screenwriter. He’s written for TV shows including the BBC’s “Chloe” and Netflix’s “Lockwood & Co”, as well as developing his own originals with Sky Comedy, Netflix and the BBC.

However, our main focal point in our conversation is about Sam's amazing short films. Specifically, a trilogy of shorts he's written and directed starring Amit Shah. He is currently busy developing one of these, "The Orgy" as a TV series with Sony Pictures.

We talk about Sam's process with actors, his approach to visuals, the value of making his short films personal, zero budget features and much more.

You can find links to Sam's trilogy of short films in full below, including his most recent, which just premiered on Short of the Week, "Tall Dark and Handsome." We encourage you to watch these to get the most out of our conversation, as we spend a lot of time discussing Sam's specific process within these projects.

This is part 1 of our conversation with Sam. In part 2, we are fortunate enough to have Sam helping us workshop our short film ideas. Stay tuned for this episode!



Links to Sam’s work:



Tall, Dark and Handsome: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2024/02/01/tall-dark-and-handsome/

Big Ears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RWeJTVXWqM

The Orgy: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2021/06/07/the-orgy/

Sam’s speech accepting the Academy's Nicholl Fellowship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYr3u_SA2Rg

Website: https://www.sambaron.com/

Sam’s favourite short film (accessed via a subscription to Mubi): https://mubi.com/en/gb/films/wasp

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baronifish?igsh=MXN2amRjcGFkaGdlcw==



Follow us on instagram @shortfilmsbigquestions to get more content about all things short films, and the amazing guests we have on!

Gregg Chilingirian, also known by his stage name Gregg Chillin, is a writer, director and actor. 
He recently directed and lead performed in the short film, George. It's achieved much success on the film festival circuit, with official selections at Bolton International Film Festival, Kerry International Film Festival and the Hollyshorts Festival. 
A lot of what we discuss is specifically about this film, and how to effectively both direct and act in a project. So if you're interested in balancing those two disciplines, this episode is absolutely for you.
Gregg has had a successful acting career, appearing in many television shows over the years, including leads in Da Vinci's Demons, Being Human, Inside Men, A Discovery of Witches and The Wheel of Time. He made his stage debut at the Royal National Theatre playing Mark in Dennis Kelly's DNA in 2008.
As well as both directing and acting in a project, we spoke about shooting on film, achieving an abrupt tonal shifts on screen, the directing lessons he's learnt as an actor, as well as another upcoming short film project.
To watch George, which we encourage you to, please get in touch via email to ieuancoombs@gmail.com, with GEORGE SCREENING LINK, in the subject box, and we'll send over a private link.

Links:

The George Short Film Trailer:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs6rJsoOrtO/?hl=en

Gregg's IMDB page: 
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1209486/

The George Short Film Instagram Page:
https://www.instagram.com/george_slickfilms/?hl=en

Gregg's favourite short film (accessed with a MUBI subscription): 
https://mubi.com/en/gb/films/an-avocado-pit