Sharp Shorts Year 1
Running Time: 17mins
Year: 2022
Synopsis: Annette lives a discontented life in a road-side cafe until Morgan enters one day and the pair become immediately transfixed by one another. They are inevitably drawn into a deeply intense romantic attraction they are fated never to fully realise.
FILM CREW:
Director: Olivia J. Middleton
Producer: Carys Evans
Exec Producer: Garry Paton, MTP, Gillian Berrie, Tiernan Kelly, Rebecca Thompson, Mar Vila Barcelo, Alice Whittemore, Sean Greenhorn
Writer: Olivia J. Middleton
DOP: Leon Brehony
Editor: Olivia J. Middleton
Sound Design: Heather Andrews
Composer: David Scobie
Production Design: Gail Bowman (Prep), Kieran McCruden
Costume Design: Lucy Proctor
Hair & Makeup: Madeleine Drewell
Cast: Marli Siu, Sinead Macinnes, Jamie Robson, Trish Mullin
Photo credit: Aga Urbanska
Olivia J. Middleton is a UK based director who’s portfolio encompasses narrative films, commercials and music videos.
Her short film Rosalyn went on to screen at several revered festivals in the UK and internationally, including Belfast Film Festival, Kerry International Film Festival, Underwire Film Festival, Edinburgh Short Film Festival and Cork Film Festival. Rosalyn won the Best Scottish Short award at Edinburgh Short Film Festival 2020 and the Best Cork Short award at Cork Film Festival 2019.
In 2022, Olivia completed her short film A90, which was developed and commissioned by Screen Scotland and BFI NETWORK in association with Short Circuit. She is also in post production for another short film Morning which is set to be complete this year. A90 premiered in November 2022 at Aesthetica Short Film Festival.
Her commercial for Zero Waste Scotland was recognised by the Marketing Society Star awards for which the campaign was awarded Bronze for marketing planning and insights. She regularly collaborates with local musicians on promo videos, which have screened at festivals such as Aesthetica Short Film Festival.
Carys is co-director of Finite Productions Scotland. Her passion for talent development, cultivated from an early career working with Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Scottish Film Talent Network, and Glasgow Film Festival, has carried over into her career as a producer. She is committed to working with new and emerging filmmakers, working collaboratively towards telling stories, shaded with authenticity and captivating detail.
Her recent producing credits include short films A90 (dir. Olivia J. Middleton – World Premiere, Aesthetica Short Film Festival) and You Land (dir. Debora Maité Bottino – in post-production), both commissioned by Screen Scotland and BFI NETWORK as part of Short Circuit’s Sharp Shorts scheme. She has a number of shorts and features in development, including elevated female-led horror Mother Furnace (dir. Kirsty McLean – in development with Le Groupe Ouest, with initial development at LiM Residency).
