The SF3 Smartfone Flick Fest at Palace Cinemas in Paddington was a night to remember, the glitz and glam of an awards night, screening of the top 10 finalists and an amazing awards ceremony packed with amazing prizes from a plethora of sponsors. It's a fantastic festival with an awesome spirit run by some determined women who have a passion for supporting smart phone film making.
It was an honour just to be a part of it, but taking home Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Film as well as lead actress Kirsty McKenzie taking home Best Actress was overwhelming, and the aftermath of cleaning up at such a prestigious event with all the press, interviews and even a spot on Channel 7's Sunrise has been more thrilling than the short thriller itself.
Rewind a month, and you'll find a very tired Ren just finishing the final touches on The Skydiver & The Scarecrow for submission into the Sydney Indie Film Festival (we got in by the way! Screening this month at Event Cinemas George Street). I went online to submit The Skydiver & The Scarecrow and this smart phone festival popped up.
The deadline was 49 hours away, and damn it, I had an idea for it.
I needed a cast. now. no time for auditions. Lucky for me my better half is a talented, trained, signed, experienced, handsome and wonderful actor - Danny Bolt, who jumped on board without hesitation so I called actress/model Kirsty McKenzie (Winner - Best Supporting Actress, End of Days Film Festival 2016 for Brainless Killers) who thought it was crazy but 'why not, let's do it'. Lastly, I needed a ghost - Alex Sulis, now 11 years old (Brainless Killers, Glow) was very excited to be a part of it and her incredibly supportive mum Jennifer Hill was happy to let me steal her away on a school night.
I didn't sleep for that 49 hours, between writing the script, storyboarding the film with Danny, rehearsing the wonderful actors, buying and applying my ghosts makeup, shooting it myself on a Samsung Galaxy, recording the sound myself with my other hand, editing, sound mixing, music finding, sound effects adding, colour grading, exporting and uploading, I got it in with 90 minutes to spare.
By the end I was just happy to have a bit of fun with my best mates, spending a couple of days in my element was gift enough. Before you know it we've been selected for the top 10 and we took home the lions share of awards on the night. Now I have nearly $8000 of prizes in my living room and the film generated tonnes of exposure.
Just goes to show, sometimes it's worth just going for it.
Watch the film here: https://www.renthackham.com.au/ren-thackham-films