Film

Film, News

The Haunted House Hotel

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The Haunted House Hotel is now available to watch online.

The year is 1999 and Edward DeWitt has a problem. He’s been murdered. But whodunit? And can he get an Oscar-nominated documentary out of it? But will it end up being just another ghost-directed True Crime doc, or will Edward learn something about himself?

The Haunted House Hotel was a wonderful challenge, and I think everybody involved is thrilled to see it available to the public. After a couple of years in festivals – including the In The Palace International Short Film Festival – it’s finally on YouTube.

I’ve spoken before about the fun we had making this film. We were getting ready to shoot The Cost of the Crown and got the opportunity to work on this as well – so long as it was done in a week. I wrote the script in a single sitting. The challenge was to make a Tim Burton-influenced crime documentary set in the 1990s, featuring four characters.

Moe Acharki directed The Haunted House Hotel and it was produced as part of Nu Boyana’s Film Forge program.

Anyway, here’s the film, and below I’ll post director Moe Acharki’s statement.

Director Statement:

The Haunted House Hotel began as a challenge that quickly became one of the most rewarding filmmaking experiences of my career.

In 2023, during my year-long internship at Nu Boyana Film Studios, I was offered a unique deal by the studio’s CEO. if I directed a short film for the studio’s training programme, I would be given the opportunity to produce my own project there as well. The brief was simple but intentionally restrictive: a fifteen-minute crime-mystery documentary set in the 1990s, featuring four characters, written in two days and shot just two days later.

Knowing the time constraints, I turned to my frequent collaborator Mat Growcott, who wrote the screenplay in a single sitting, allowing us to move immediately into production. The film was created with students from the studio’s vocational training centre, Film Forge, who formed the core of our crew, supported by experienced industry professionals.

What followed was an intense but exhilarating shoot; two twelve-hour days of production, followed by an overnight edit so the students could see their work the very next day. Despite the pressure, the atmosphere on set was extremely positive. The crew embraced the challenge with enthusiasm, and that collective energy became a defining part of the film.

Since premiering at the WLV Screen Awards in 2024, the film has continued to find audiences, including a selection at the Academy Award-qualifying IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival in 2025. For me, the film represents what can happen when creativity, collaboration and a tight deadline come together.

What began as a training exercise became something far more special; a film made with passion, hard work, and a group of people determined to make the most of a unique opportunity. I hope viewers continue to enjoy stepping into the strange and kooky world of The Haunted House Hotel.

Film, News

The Cost of the Crown Selected for Leavesden Festival

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The Cost of the Crown will have its first festival screening next month.

The short film, written by me and Moe Acharki, was filmed at Nu Boyana in 2023. It was completed earlier this year and will premiere at the Leavesden Short Film Festival on April 23rd.

Obviously we’re excited for it to be shown as widely as possible and we’re hoping this is the first of many. I’ll update as and when news comes in.

The Cost of the Crown was filmed at around the same time as The Haunted House Hotel. We’ll have some exciting updates about that one in the coming days as well.

I said in my post about One Step Ahead that I’ve got a lot of updates over the next few days, and I’m not kidding. It’s going to be a busy few weeks!

Film, News

The Triad of Reality – Kickstarter

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The creative team behind The Triad of Reality, a feature length psychological thriller, have launched a Kickstarter campaign.

I was sent the script for Triad back in May, and was happy to provide some feedback. I sent my thoughts to writer/director Nicholas Holmes, and this week my social media blew up with some of what he’s been working on in the months since.

It looks like things are coming along nicely, and the backing page is well worth looking over. There are videos to watch too.

The industry is in a bad place, so it’s always nice to see indies defying the odds and making progress. I wish the team a massive good luck and can’t wait to see The Triad of Reality.

Film, News

The Haunted House Hotel – Interview Transcript

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A little while ago The Haunted House Hotel was shown at In The Palace, an Oscar-qualifying festival in Bulgaria. We were in the Best Short Student Fiction category. Director Moe Acharki and actor Bojidar Nikolov gave an interview during the festival. That interview is now available to read on the In The Palace website.

They spelled my name wrong in the transcript, but what Moe and Bojidar said was very flattering.

Moe said:

I asked the British writer Matt Grocott (Sic) to write the script, which he did in two days based on some very odd criteria: 15 minutes, four characters, crime mystery, documentary, and the 1990s. It was a very bizarre combination, but he made it work, and that’s the film we ended up making.

It’s the only comedy I’ve ever made, and I’m still not entirely sure how it worked, but it did. I think it’s mainly because Matt wrote such a beautiful, funny script. He has a great sense of humor. And I had a very passionate, motivated team, especially considering how fast the production was.

And Bojidar added:

We had a lot to manage in only a few days, it was definitely a challenge. But having real professionals in the crew, and having Moe and Matt’s script, made everything easier.

The full interview is very interesting, and goes to show how much we went through putting this film together in only a few days. It really was a small miracle that it turned out at all, and that’s thanks to the hard work of Moe, Bojidar and the rest of the fantastic cast and crew.

The video can be watched right here. Or you can visit my page about The Haunted House Hotel for some general details.

Film, News, Short Stories

Childbirth (For Men) and a new short story

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Childbirth (For Men) – my short script built about a man who is suddenly thrust into fatherhood – has been polished, given its own page and is ready to download. It’s a fun adventure, layering a man’s impending parenthood with the traditional structure of the hero’s journey. It’s a quality story, with some laughs and a lot of heart.

I’ve finished a new short, Boudoir, which I’ll be submitting for publication over the coming week. It’ll ultimately be part of my anthology, Leak.

The story follows a woman who books herself a boudoir photoshoot after being called sir on the bus. The 1700-word story deals with themes of body image, privacy and confidence.

Another story – Lie for Me – is about half way done. There may be an update on that soon.

Progress on the next novel is steady. The writing is good, the story is hitting the right emotional beats – it feels inevitable in all the right ways. I can’t wait to talk about it.

Finally, I’ll begin the submission process on Nepo Baby in the next month. I finished the polish draft on June 28th, and I’ve been dying to get back to it since.

As well as a Childbirth update, the website has seen some other minor polish. It’s all coming together – slowly, but surely.

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