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Ben Steiner 2012/13
I’m delighted to confirm I will be making another short film having secured the Ben Steiner Bursary at Deaffest 2012. You will be able to follow my progress here: http://bs2012-13.tumblr.com/
I look forward to the challenges and will work very hard in bringing a quality film to deaffest next year.
I would like to thank the organisers at Deaffest/Zebra and the brilliant Judges making this a memorable and enjoyable time.
I’m delighted to come back from Rome with the best short film (by a deaf director) award for ‘The End’. This is now our second award.
Firstly I would like to thank the organisers of the festival in Rome. It was an honour to attend the first Deaf Film Festival in Rome and I really enjoyed my time meeting the deaf community and exploring their wonderful city. I wish the festival all the success in the coming years and hope to return one day with a new film!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people involved in the film:
Neath Films and Maverick Litchfield-Kelly for all their support and for making some of the best deaf films in recent years. These guys are amazing and want them to know that so many people watch these films all over the world. We owe so much to these guys.
My producer James Tracy for backing me as a director/filmmaker, for backing this story and making the film what it is. I’ve learnt so much working with James and I hope we get to make a few more films down the line!
Stuart White for making the film look beautiful, I appreciate all the time and effort he put in.
Tom (Ed) Sharp for editing the film and for all the support he gave - the finished film would not have been what it is without Tom.
Glen Laker, script-editor, for really inspiring me with my writing. I’ve come so far since working on the Zoom films and I’ve valued the experience of working with Glen.
Bev Wilson - She often gets uncredited for so many films she works on behind the scenes… including this one. She is known as an interpreter and actress but she is really a super-woman (with all the side effects!) and this film simply wouldn’t be the same without her.
To the rest of the crew; Lucy (production manager), Emily (production design), Luke (VFX) Natalie & Emma (costume) Tian (make up) Paul (sound design) Gareth and everyone else, for all the hard work you all put in - Thank you so much!
I would like to thank the amazing cast I worked with. We worked so hard to find you all and it has been so worth it; you gave amazing performances. You are being seen all over the world, bringing tears and happiness to many people and you should all be very proud. It was an honour to work with you all, thank you for all your hard work!
I’d like to thank my family and friends who helped me immensely during production particularly my partner Becky Bailey who did the storyboard, ran around and even was a protester for me. I’m so excited about your first film (Little World).
Last but not least, I would like to thank the BSLBT for providing so many opportunities for deaf filmmakers in the UK. None of this would have happened without those who work behind the scenes, obtaining funding and I am so grateful for having this experience. Deaf people all over the world look at our films and programmes with amazement and it is because we have the BSLBT - Thank you.
Thank you also to everyone who has watched the film and sent us awesome comments via email/facebook.
Long live The End!
This is the finished ‘Role Models’ film and I ended up calling it ‘From Us to You’…
It has had a phenomenal response in the first 48 hours, people passing it around on facebook/twitter, people emailing me from all over the world and making nice comments about the film.
For me the film works because people have passed it around… and that really inspires me to see many people out there who actually care.
What also surprised me that the actual need for this film is extremely high and I am already looking into how we can reach more people and find more inspirational stories. I hope this is just the beginning in bringing more role models to the screen.
I must thank my very good friend Bim for helping me on a couple of shoots and helping me with some material - this guy has helped so many people in his career, including mine and it was great to have him in this film.
Enjoy!
This is the trailer for the short film: ‘Twelve’
As part of the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) ‘Film Making Weekend’ we made this short film with a group of 12 young deaf people.
We shot the film just under 15 hours (over one and a half days) with no rehearsal time and very little pre-production. The group had very little or no previous acting experience and helped out behind the scenes with the boom and clapper board.
Co-written and co-directed with Bev Wilson, we had to devise a story based around our cast (of 12 young people), the location and the style/genre(s) the group wanted the film to be in. We had no budget for production and mainly used natural lighting (we had one small video light!) Prior to the weekend we had not been able to visit the location in Dorset and did not know the participants, so we literally hit the ground running. Credit to the group, they were really enthusiastic and put a huge amount of effort into the film - it was a pleasure to work with them : )
The film will premier at Deaffest in May 2012 and will take part in the Young-Deaffest competition.
Cool things happening behind the scenes at the moment. I have almost completed my NDCS project. We made a short film called ‘Twelve’ and I will post the trailer up shortly…
I’m also working on a top secret job at the moment and I’m very excited about that progressing - all will be revealed in the coming weeks.
Finally I am pitching for the Ben Steiner Bursary a 5K budget to make my next short film. I am currently writing a horror/thriller treatment which I will pitch to a panel of Judges (which includes the man in himself - Phillip Bloom) Wish me luck!
