Film4 partners with Vimeo to launch upcoming shorts

3 June 2013

Film4 is partnering with Vimeo for the release of two of its upcoming short films – Kibwe Tavares’ JONAH and Shynola’s DR. EASY – as part of Film4.0’s strategy to reach wider audiences for its shorts and gain exposure for the filmmakers behind them.

JONAH, a stunningly ambitious live-action/animation about the cost of human progress, was released online on Friday 31st May, following its international premiere at Sundance in January. Written by the BAFTA-winning Jack Thorne (The Fades, This is England ’86), and produced by Ivana MacKinnon, JONAH is Kibwe’s second short after his award-winning Robots of Brixton which received half a million hits online.

DR. EASY, a London-set short film based on Matthew De Abaitua’s novel The Red Men, is released online on Friday 21st June, the day after its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival. Directed by Shynola – renowned for their extraordinary commercials, music videos and title sequences – and produced by Ally Gipps at Warp Films, it stars Tom Hollander and the voice of Geraldine James, and was shot by DOP Barry Ackroyd.

JONAH and DR. EASY will be available to watch online at Film4.com and Vimeo, where they can be embedded by other sites, with both platforms heavily promoting their release.

Anna Higgs, Head of Film4.0, says: “Jonah and Dr. Easy totally epitomise what brilliant shorts can do: tell bold, impactful stories with a remarkable and distinctive visual style, and showcase outstanding new filmmaking talent. We’re constantly looking for new ways to reach audiences, so it makes total sense to partner with Vimeo to bring these films to as many people as possible online. We can’t wait for audiences to discover them.”

JONAH

JONAH tells the story of Zanzibarian beach boy Mbwana, hungry for the future, who creates a myth that transforms his small town into a tourist hot spot. When the reality turns out to be far from his dreams, he sets out to destroy the town – or himself.

Jonah is produced by Stray Bear Productions from the imagination of Factory Fifteen. It is backed by Film4, C4, BFI and Shine Pictures, in association with Jellyfish Pictures, and stars Daniel Kaluuya, Louis Mahoney and Malachi Kirby. It is Kibwe’s second short film, and he is currently in development with Film4 for his first feature.

DR. EASY

Michael (Tom Hollander) is a broken man with a gun, surrounded by armed police. A robot with a medical degree is dispatched – but can it save him?  DR. EASY is written and directed by Shynola, the directing team of Jason Groves, Richard Kenworthy and Chris Harding, who have created films for bands such as Radiohead, Coldplay, Beck, Blur and Queens of the Stone Age; are responsible for the titular guide in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the title sequence for The IT Crowd, and the eye-popping title sequence for Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Dr. Easy is their first short film, and they are currently developing a feature film, The Red Men.

DR. EASY is directed by Jason Groves, Chris Harding and Richard Kenworthy (Shynola). It is produced by Ally Gipps for Warp Films and is backed by Film4. It stars Tom Hollander, the voice of Geraldine James, and Alex MacQueen.

Watch JONAH now at www.film4.com/jonah
DR. EASY will be released online on Friday 21st June.

 

Editor’s Notes

Kibwe Tavares on the development of Jonah:
http://blog.film4.com/kibwe-tavares-the-development-of-jonah/ 

About Film4
Film4, headed by Tessa Ross, is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division. Film4 develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most innovative talent in the UK, whether new or established.

Alongside developing and financing features, Film4 backs a number of short films each year, enabling new and up-and-coming filmmaking talent to hone their skills or explore a story idea with the support of an established production team.  Previous shorts supported by Film4 include Martin McDonagh’s Academy Award-winning Six Shooter, Paddy Considine’s BAFTA-winning Dog Altogether, John Maclean’s BAFTA-winning Pitch Black Heist, Sam Taylor Wood’s BAFTA and Palme D’Or nominated Love You More and Fyzal Boulifa’s BAFTA-nominated The Curse, which won the Illy Best Short Film prize at Cannes 2012.

Launched in 2011, Film4.0 is a talent and idea Dr..iven hub within Film4 that works with emerging and established talent, supporting them to tell unique stories and connect with audiences in new ways.  Film4.0 has been working with filmmakers to release their shorts online as soon after completion as possible, some exclusively or at the same time as their festival premiere. Shorts to have been released in this way already include Peter Straughan's Gee Gee, Catherine Shepherd's See Me and now Kibwe Tavares' Jonah.

For further information visit www.film4.com/productions
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