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BEN S. HYLAND
Comedy Writer | Director
NEWS
Quiet Carriage
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Quiet Carriage's festival journey is off to a flyer.
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The film will screen at LOCO, The Shortest Nights and also Chelmsford where it's nominated for best screenplay.
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More to come later in the year for this little film.
Charity Film of the Year
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My short film ROLE MODELS, that I wrote and directed for Barnet based charity The Grasvenor Project, won it's category at the Charity Film of the Year Awards.
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It was a black tie event and a real honour to walk away with the award presented by Sally Phillips.
Safe Space Festival run
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Safe Space is now on a 20 festival screening run with 6 awards picked up along the way.
The film still had another 9 months on the circuit so I'm looking forward to see where else the film will be screening.
Safe Space Festival run
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Safe Space is now on a 20 festival screening run with 6 awards picked up along the way.
The film still had another 9 months on the circuit so I'm looking forward to see where else the film will be screening.
Talkies Film Commission
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I've very proud to announce that my short script QUIET CARRIAGE has been selected for this years Talkies Film Commissions.
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There were 70 scripts submitted and four scripts were funded.
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The film will be produced by Hidden Art Films. It will be shot in October.
Enter the Pitch
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I spent time developing and researching a entry for The Pitch competition. It's an annual competition to develop a 2 minute pitch video that's inspired by a story from the Bible.
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My pitch video was called Cornerman and explored the emotional turmoil faced by David after hearing of the death of his best friend, Jonathan.
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It was a really interesting project. Longlisted pitches are announced later in the year.
Media Trust/Grasvenor Project
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I was selected by the Media Trust to write and direct a short film for a Barnet based project called The Grasvenor Project. They mentor young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and give them a help and support as they navigate life.
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It was a real joy working with the charity. The video will be released in September.
Safe Space Festival journey
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After a long post production period we've been excited to have such immediate success with Safe Space on the film festival circuit. It currently has 10 official selections and 3 award wins.
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Although it's only just starting out we're happy to be able to share this film with audiences all over the world.
BAFTA CREW
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I'm proud and excited to announce that I made 2018/19 BAFTA CREW.
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This opens me up to a load of exciting opportunities over the course of the next 12 months.
Padlock available online
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My award winning film exploring domestic abuse towards men is now available to watch online.
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Click on the Padlock tab above OR the link here to watch the film in full.
Junior WINS Colchester Film Festival
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Short Film Junior has won the Colchester 60hr Film Challenge. It was chosen from 800 entries, shortlisted to 15 films and then selected by a panel of industry professionals.
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You can watch the film my home page OR by clicking on the link.
Colchester 60hr film challenge​
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Short film Junior was this years entry into the Colchester 60hr film challenge. 60hrs to write, shoot and edit a 5 minute film.
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Myself and the team are very happy with our film and we await the result in November.
Puddles Concept Art​
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Short film PUDDLES is in preproduction. Concept art has been created and we're looking to shoot early in 2018.
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The film explores the relationship between an estranged father and son in the midst of a spate of mysterious child abductions.
Safe Space
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Later this summer I'll be shooting Safe Space.
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The film explores the relationship between a key worker in a women's safe house and a woman suspected of being trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation.
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The film is starring Rebecca Grant.
Puddles​
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I'm currently developing a package to make short sci-fi film Puddles.
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The film explores the relationship between a father and estranged son in a local community where children are going missing.
Puddles​
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I'm currently developing a package to make short sci-fi film Puddles.
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The film explores the relationship between a father and estranged son in a local community where children are going missing.
LaCie #PushPlay
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I'm very proud to announce that my short film '88' has won the 2017 LaCie #PushPlay competition. From 420 entries the judging panel shortlisted 20 films that were then entered into a public vote. I have two films. Stay and '88'.
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Luckily '88' was chosen by the viewing public. I'm very proud of my last and crew.
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You can watch '88' in the films section of my site.
New films in development​
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Perhaps 'coming soon' is misleading. I have three new projects in development.
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The first project is a feature film that I'm writing with Jonathan Young. It's about three strangers coming to terms with their own accountability in the suicide of a teenage boy. Working title: Show Me.
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I'm developing a second feature with Ian Eadon-Davies. It follows a group of youth offenders trapped in a transportation van after a crash. Whilst they try to escape something sinister is trying to break into the van. Working title: Juvenile.
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The third film is a short exploring human trafficking, specifically focussing on the aftercare of those rescued. I'm developing the script with actress Rebecca Grant and I'm having conversations with UK charity Unseen.
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All very exciting at the moment. I'll update when I have news on these projects.
Padlock Press screening​
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Padlock enjoyed a press screening at RADA on 6th April 2017. I'm hoping for reviews to start coming in over the next few weeks.
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It was also an opportunity to share the film with the Kickstarter backers and charities that made the film possible.
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There was a discussion panel before the film that explored the role gender in domestic abuse and also an engaging Q&A after the film with cast and crew.
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More film festival news will be coming soon. Hoping for a successful 2017.
Stay Festival Run End
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STAY has been an Official Acceptance at nine festivals and has won three awards. There are two more festivals in November and a handful of additional festivals that we're waiting on selection. The end of 2016 will be the end of the festival run.
Looking forward to 2017 we have Padlock close to completion which means they'll be more festivals to explore in the new year.
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Onwards and upwards.
Festival Update
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STAY has now been on the festival circuit for six months and it has played at Omaha Film Festival and Melbourne Indie Film Festival. The film is also an Official Selection at New Renaissance Film Festival and Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
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More deadlines are approaching so more updates will follow.
Kickstarter Success
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After only 12 day we funded our latest short film PADLOCK. A short film exploring domestic abuse against men.
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After the day full 30 campaign we had raise £4305, we had 106 backers which meant we had raised 107% of the original target.
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Now the focus is on casting and other preproduction elements and the film is due to start principle photography on 15th July, 2016.
STAY WORLD PREMIERE
Short film STAY is officially on the festival circuit.
The film (set across four seasons) will have it's world premiere on 12th March at Omaha Film Festival 2016.
We're thrilled to be part of this event and we're looking forward to screening for an American audience.
For more info check out their website http://omahafilmfestival.org/
New Domestic Violence Short
New Short film PADLOCK is in preproduction. After a meeting a few month ago with actor Valmike Rampersad I decided to write a script on this important social issue.
The film focusses on male domestic violence and has the support of UK charity The ManKind Initiative.
Locked Edit online screener
STAY is locked and we have an online screener that is password protected.
It's looking great and the password has been given to a select number of people for industry feedback.
The feedback request was inspired by a weekend masterclass with Guerilla Filmmaker Chris Jones.
Post Production VFX work started
Now the film is in post production there are some hugely talented people working to make the film excellent.
We used a combination of practical and VFX. You can see an example of the great VFX from Lee Watson (left).
Charles Mauleverer has already sent through some amazing musical motifs as he works towards the final score for the film.
Matt Price is building the elements required for the sound design and mix.
Watch this space. STAY will be completed this coming summer.
STAY - short film across 4 seasons
Over the last 18 months I have been shooting STAY. A short film set across 4 season and 4 time periods. The story follows one man as he reflects back on missed opportunities throughout his life with the woman that he loved.
It has been an eventful process ensuring that the seasons were all distinct and the time periods accurate.
The film is now in post production and will be ready for festival submission in summer 2015.