News

Micro Movies Classic Results

Public vote selects classic children's story in on-line film competition

A North East short film adaptation of the children's classic ‘Alice in Wonderland' has won the public vote in an on-line competition run by Regional Screen Agency, Northern Film & Media.

1 minute film Alice's Adventures in Wonderland from North East Writer / Director Mark Lediard beat off stiff competition from 3 other short films to win the Micro Movies Classic public vote.

Writer/Director Mark Lediard says: "I'm very pleased to have won the Micro Movies Classics audience vote. I've been amazed at the number of people who have watched all the films on the website and took the time to vote. I thought all the entries were strong but I thought we had a good chance as the Alice in Wonderland story was a popular choice."

Alienated from the world around her, Alice uses her imagination to escape the confines of a psychiatric ward. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland starred Villing Chong, Jason Savin and Julija Zablocka.

Micro Movies Classics asked filmmakers to adapt a classic children's story into a short film format. Almost 600 votes were cast by the public.

A second winning film came in the form of Rabbit Hole. It was specially selected by a jury from Story Engine, the team behind the North East's hugely successful Screen Writers Conference. Rabbit Hole also used Alice in Wonderland as its inspiration. Written by Natalie Adams and directed by James Cook, Rabbit Hole takes a man who is used to looking at up at life and forces him to begin to look down. Rabbit Hole stars actor Paul Grant.

Victoria Johnson, Training and Development Manager at Northern Film & Media, says: "The production standards of the five films are very high. We have been particularly impressed by the vision that the writers and directors brought to these traditional children's stories. They offered a very fresh perspective. It was a pleasure to invest in such talent, they have produced some excellent work. It is important that we use technology to get North East talent and their work out to wider audiences. The strength of the North East Movies platform is that it has taken hundreds of North East films to tens of thousands of people throughout the world."

Other films in competition were The Piper at the Gates and Arrival . All of the films can be viewed under the Micro Movies Classic series on the multi award winning North East Movies website, http://www.northeastmovies.co.uk/ . North East Movies is an online digital platform for North East short film makers run by Northern Film & Media. It showcases over 200 short films made by North East talent. Over 450,000 films have been watched since its launch in 2008.

North East production company Shudder Films was selected by Northern Film & Media to produce all five short films in the Micro Movies Classic series. Producer Jack Tarling says: "Running the Micro Movies schemes has been hugely important for the development of Shudder Films. The company's profile has gained added credibility from managing a publicly funded slate and the brand has reached a huge number of people who otherwise might not have heard of us. The Micro Movie Classics are, in my opinion, the strongest selection of films made so far under any of the schemes like this from Northern Film & Media. I'm very proud of my involvement. I hope these short films go on to achieve big things."

The prizes won by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Rabbit Hole include free passes to next year's Story Engine conference, lunch with screenwriter Lisa Holdsworth, a subscription to the online magazine twelevepoint.com and camera and editing packages offered by Steadi-Red and Superkrush films.

August 20 2009