Short Film of the Month: Signs (November 2009)

Communication is key

Director: Patrick Hughes
Writer: Patrick Hughes, Karl Fleet, Nick Worthington

Distributor: Publicis Mojo and @RadicalMedia
Year of Release: 2009
Running Time: 12:13

Synopsis: This short film is about communication. Using no dialogue it moves the story with facial expressions and the written word on pieces of paper. Hughes creates a depressing, emotional, romantic story that is fantastic. This film could be up for the Best Short Film at the Academy Awards but its release on the internet could make its bid invalid.

Short Film of the Month (October 2009)

If God were a DJ...

Director: Jamin Winans
Writer: Jamin Winans
Distributor: Double Edge Films
Year of Release: 2005
Running Time: 8:15

Synopsis: "Penned, shot, chopped & scored" by Jamin Winans (Ink), the 8-minute Spin film has no dialogue, and stars Hayz II as a mysterious street DJ with God-like abilities that allow him to bend time and control objects with his fold-away turntable. The indie short has won dozens of festival awards around the world, and has been viewed on YouTube more than 2 million times.

Short Film of the Month: 9 (September 2009)

Acker's short film 9 lost the Oscar, but gained a fan in Hollywood heavyweight Tim Burton

Director: Shane Acker
Writer: Shane Acker
Distributor: UCLA's Animation Workshop
Year of Release: 2005
Running Time: 10:39

Synopsis: Shane Acker's Oscar-nominated computer animated short film tells the story of a sentient rag doll called '9', who is the last of his breed in a parallel world that is absent of humankind. In fact, the only other visible entity is a relentless mechanical monster known as "the Cat Beast," which had already killed the first eight of the rag doll species, and is set on taking down '9' and its soul. This voiceless (music by Eric Olsen) short caught the attention of Tim Burton and Focus Features, who extended the story into a $33 million feature film that hits theatres today.

Short Film of the Month: Still Life (July 2009)

Canadian filmmakers come up with interesting story starring a bunch of dummies

Director: Jon Knautz
Writer: Charles Johnston
Distributor: Brookstreet Pictures
Year of Release: 2005
Running Time: 8:48

Synopsis: In this Twilight Zone-ish short, Trevor Matthews (co-producer) is Nathan Evans, an exhausted young man who accidentally runs over a stranger in the streets of a bizarre small town in the middle of winter. Althought most might easily predict its ending, Still Life is an interesting piece nonetheless. Ottawa-born director Jon Knautz (The Other Celia) won the Best Director Award for Still Life at the 2006 Malibu Film Festival. The film was financed by Brookstreet Pictures, which Knautz co-founded in November 2004 with his Canadian-born partner Matthews (Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer).

Short Film of the Month: The Insane (June 2009)

"I'll be fighting these demons for the rest of the time I have left"

Directors: Mark Cripps, David J. Ellison
Distributor: Far Atlantic Pictures
Running Time: 12:50
Year of Release: 2006

Synopsis: James Spofforth plays John Vincent, a police detective out for revenge after the slaying of his wife and unborn child in this horror short, directed, produced, written and edited by the team of Mark Cripps and David J. Ellison. Vincent goes on a murderous rampage of psychotic "freaks" that terrorize the city, carrying us into a twist ending that may catch you offguard. The 2006 film was named Best Horror/ Suspence Short at 2008's Comic-con.