How I travelled the circuit with my short Beatles film
In 2017 I flew over to Ireland to produce a movie with Paddy Murphy and Celtic Badger Films. It was a thrill of a lifetime because I had developed the concept with my novel, Mersey Boys. The ten-minute short was entitled Mersey Boys A Letter From Al Moran. The cast included actors from Ireland, Great Britain and Ireland. I even did a turn in the movie in a tiny role. The film was shot in Galway and Wicklow. My collaboration with Paddy has taken on a life of its very own these past seven years. It has appeared in sixteen film festivals, as well as in ten countries on three continents.
Paddy put our 10-minute movie on the film festival circuit in 2018 without any success after ten submissions. I encouraged him to give it the old college try with another five entries. As 2018 was closing out the film was zero for fifteen. I was stunned because I believed the movie was well-done enough to earn at least one selection. Granted, our budget had been a mere $5,000: small even by the standard of independent short films, but our cast and crew had done an excellent job in all of their performances and duties.
I reached the conclusion that film festivals were rejecting my movie because it was a fictional story using the real-life Beatles as the main characters. I didn’t have permission to use them, but the film hadn’t been made for commercial purposes. We weren’t making a profit from our efforts. The film was also using tongue-in-cheek satire of whether this story took place in reality, or if it was simply from the imagination of a dying old man.
My film had been collecting dust for three years when I decided to try again during Covid-19. The first one to select my film was The Sprouting Seed Festival in India. I was overwhelmed to download a copy of my first festival laurel. In quick succession my film was selected by The Sweden Film Awards, The Depth of Field International Film Festival in Delaware, and the Near Nazareth Film Festival, Israel. All of them had their screenings online. The Fan Fiction Film Festival was able to hold their event live in Toronto with a tiny audience of 27.
In June of 2021 I received the biggest thrill of my festivals journey when my film won the Silver Award (2nd place) for Best Short at the prestigious International New York Film Festival. I watched it streaming on my computer. About half-way through the thirty-minute program, Daine Lasko, the master of ceremony, announced the film and the producers, Paddy Murphy and Steven G. Farrell. To this day I laugh to myself because Ms. Lasko pronounced Paddy’s name as ‘Patty.’
I thought my journey was basically over with as 2021 closed out. The film had won three awards: gold (1st), silver (2nd) and merit (3rd). Life has a way of compelling us pilgrims back on to the highway of life to continue our journey whenever we think we can rest upon our laurels. I didn’t give my film project much thought until later in 2022 when I saw an advertisement for the Cynon Valley Film Awards at The Film Freeway web page. I submitted the film because I had not had my film projected on the silver screen in Britain. Upon being selected, I was tickled to see that my film was going to be screened inside of the lovely St Elvans Church in the small village of Aberdare, Wales. I was tempted to make the flight over to Cardiff, but the arthritis in my right knee said otherwise. I was disappointed not to be able to attend in person, but I felt better when the film received an award for best screenplay.
I have found that the Los Angeles market was rich for the taking. Winning an award for best screenplay also planted the seed inside of my mind to enter in other categories besides Best Short. In rapid succession the film was in The Indie X Film Festival, The Indie Film Festival, the Hollywood Verge Awards and The Best Shorts Competition. We were able to garnish five more awards, including a Recognition Award for Jessica Messenger, our female lead. I was delighted when we took home two prizes in the Ensemble Cast Award category.
I was on a tear, but I wanted to step away before the worm turned and my film would no longer be selected. I saw my last opportunity arise with the Liverpool Indie Awards in my beloved England. My knee surgery having been successful, I was determined to fly over to Europe to attend. The day the film was selected, I made my flight and hotel reservations with Expedia.com
The festival was at the Southport Bijou Cinema, a forty-minute train ride from Liverpool. It was wonderful seeing Mersey Boys: A Letter From Al Moran in front of a very crowded theatre audience in England, home of the Beatles. I was able to sit in the audience with my friends Ronnie Almani, Tom Donohue and Michael Derham. I felt old dude was allowed to tear-up when the folks applauded at the conclusion of the film’s run time. It was the moment that truly made the entire journey worthwhile.
