The Cost of the Crown has been named a finalist in the third NSBM International Youth Film Festival.
The festival will take place September 24th. The film will be screened at the NSBM Green University Main Auditorium in Sri Lanka.
I wrote The Cost of the Crown, which was filmed at Nu Boyana in Bulgaria. Director Moe Acharki said: “My sincere thanks to the jury for this honour and recognition. I’m truly grateful for this opportunity and look forward to sharing the film with audiences at the festival.”
For more information about the Festival, click here.
It’s a busy week for me and Moe, with The Haunted House Hotel also getting a screening on Saturday.
My new short story, For All My Future Loves, will be published tomorrow. It’ll be part of the third volume of Pink Ochre magazine.
The flash piece is the story of love felt in the head instead of the heart. Of the fear of being alone. It’s what happens when you shop for romance like it’s a phone charger, and the anxiety it builds in you.
Pink Ochre is a new literary magazine, started just this year, focussing on stories of love. It covers the melancholy, the joy and everything in between.
You’ll be able to check out the third volume of the digital magazine – and For All My Future Loves – tomorrow (Tuesday, September 22).
The Haunted House Hotel will screen at the REVEEU Finale and Awards Night this weekend.
The screening is at the Lockworks Cinema in Wolverhampton. It takes place on Saturday. Films will be screened between 4pm and 7pm. Tickets cost £5.
It follows a voting campaign that saw more than 200 people back The Haunted House Hotel in the competition.
Director Moe Acharki will be in attendance. He said: “This film continues to find new life, and that’s a testament to the incredible work of the cast and crew who helped bring it to the screen.”
The film, which I wrote in a single session, was shot at Nu Boyana in Bulgaria, and was screened at the Oscar-qualifying In The Palace festival.
For more information or to buy tickets, check out the Reveeu website.
A Brief Encounter, my latest flash short, has been published at 101 words.
The piece, which you can read here, was originally the first paragraph of a novella I was writing. I’m hoping to one day go back to it!
After a rough year, I’m back on the submission train – Nepo Baby and all the shorts have been sent out to agents and literary outlets. I’m hoping there’s more good news in the coming weeks.
And that’s without mentioning The Caretaker, which is going to be published next year.
101 Words has a great rule. Each of their published stories must be exactly 101 words long. Writing to that length means being as tight as possible – getting character, moment, atmosphere, location into just a few short pars. If you’re a writer or you want to see some excellent examples of craft, take a look at their website.
The Cost of the Crown had a screening at Wolverhampton’s Lockworks Cinema, with both Moe and I signing posters and talking about our future plans.
The screening was part of The Hive Connect (June Edition), during which two films were shown. As well as The Cost of the Crown, we also watched I’m Toby.
After the film was shown, director Moe Acharki and I answered questions, then took part in a networking session. It was tremendous to meet so many passionate filmmakers, and I love what the guys behind The Hive are doing. We heard about lots of exciting projects. Some are in post-production, others in pre-pre-pre-production. I can’t wait to see them all come to fruition.
As part of the event, a signed Cost of the Crown poster was given to a member of the audience, and we were signing copies as part of the network event. It’s a beautiful poster, and that was reflected in the interest. Thanks to everyone who bought one, or who came and chatted with us.
We managed to talk a little bit about our next project together – a feature film set against the backdrop of an historical event in Morocco. We also were asked a few times about a sequel to The Cost of the Crown, although neither of us really wants to do it. Don’t forget, I wrote a sequel to The Haunted House Hotel here.
We both really enjoyed our time with The Hive. I’d seriously recommend them to filmmakers in the West Midlands. Check out their Instagram for details of any upcoming events.
