Short

About the Director

Hayden is an award winning Australian Writer, Director and Editor. He attended the prestigious Victorian College of the Arts. Hayden is currently working on his first feature film and is collaboratively developing the script for two others. Hayden is a recipient of an Atom Award in 2011, Best Film of 2009 Raw Nerve along with Best Film at the Diegesis Student Film Festival. He is also known for his Corporate film productions which has taken him across the globe.The Severing is a character study about the influence of living in a voyeuristic society. An exploration of crippling external pressures and what it means to take a stand and fight for what is yours.

In The Severing, Jacinta finds herself at the threshold of adulthood; confronted by the dilemma of how to be alone in today’s world of chaos. The emptiness of her new apartment filled with unfamiliar sounds and walls waiting to be called home evoke a deep sense of fear. Through a guided audio meditation she is forced to confront these fears and battle for her very existence.

From an early age I have experienced out of body episodes and long wanted to communicate the sense of awe and terror they bring. As Writer, Director, Editor and Sound Designer, I’ve been afforded the luxury of an uncompromising audiovisual approach to The Severing, an approach that encapsulates my love of cinema as a bold sensory medium. Tackling multiple roles has also helped working without a budget and tight schedule.

The Severing offers a space where we travel between the blurred lines of what is real and what is not. Jacinta’s struggle is every young woman’s struggle with darkness and a meditation on being alone, if we ever really are?

About the Director

Neil Triffett is an Australian-based film and theatre practitioner. Neil received a Special Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2014, Screen Australia Completion funds in 2013, was awarded the Most Outstanding Undergraduate student at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2010, and has written and directed many short films that have gone on to be played both nationally and internationally.
In 2013 he completed an AD attachment on Ariel Klieman’s ‘Partisan’, gained valuable industry experience in the production office of the ABC’s telemovie ‘Cliffy’, and was employed by Platform Youth Theatre as a Digital Storyteller in Residence. He is experienced in writing, directing, acting, and editing and has a constant engagement with many forms of story telling, from web, to stage to screen and is in development for several features, stage and cabaret works.

Neil has also been recognised and awarded via: VCA Professional Pathways Scholarship 2013; Finalist: Qantas Spirit of Youth Finalist 2013; Nominated: Best Young Australian Filmmaker, Byron Bay Film Festival, 2012 & 2011; Awarded: Audience Choice Award; Made in Melbourne Closing Night, December 2011; Awarded: Jump Cut Tertiary Award; Bayside Film Festival, August 2011; Awarded: Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student, VCA, 2010; Nominated: Best Achievement in Directing, VCA, 2010. Upstart Award for Best 2nd Year Production, VCA, 2009; and awarded Best Tropfest entry, Wide Angle Tasmania, 2008.

Ivan Bradara is an upcoming producer for both Film and Television. Having already been an actor since an early age and boasting a successful career in Australia to date, Ivan has acted in a countless number of award-winning short films which have been officially selected in major film festivals in both Australia and overseas. Some of these films include ‘Shoplifting’ (Directed by Neil Triffett), ‘Look My Way’ (Directed by Richard Vette) and ‘Shiny Thing’ (Directed by Lisa Gloufchis). Ivan has also acted in some of Australia’s finest award-winning television shows including ‘The Slap’ (ABC) and Neighbours (Fremantle Media) to name a few. His resume as an actor continues to grow which has given him a passion for the arts and dedication to finding compelling stories for both Film and Television. His dedication in front and behind the camera has allowed Ivan to alternate between his acting commitments and step into producing.

About the Directors

Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico in 1976, Vance lived most of his childhood and teenage days not knowing what to become of himself. He liked science, veterinary, math, physics, everything but film making. It was during his first day of college that the film making lightning struck him and ever since his career goes from tv programs, commercials, music videos to shortfilms, films and most recent, web series.

"Don't fall asleep, motherfucker" story started as a inside joke between the writer and his girlfriend at the time. He started telling people that she turned into something creepy and scary when she slept, that she would sleepwalk waking up anyone in the house with her blank staring and frightening snore sound. So, years after, it became a screenplay and finally turned into this shortfilm last year. The writer and his now ex-girlfriend are the actors who played "Manolo" and "Vanessa" in the film.

About the Director

Tong Zhou was born in the icy city of Harbin, China. In 2009, she studied at the Central Academy of Drama, Beijing. Her major was directing and stage management. Two years later, she changed course and went to New York Film Academy, where she studied filmmaking and directed ten short films. In 2012, she moved to Los Angeles.

Her first year thesis project in NYC was, "A Celebration is a Celebration is a Celebration is a Celebration." This film brought her to the next level of filmmaking in the US. She won several awards and was honored to attend many film festivals including Cannes. After that she directed two more short films, "Square the Circle" and "Fish eye," as well as music videos and commercials during her 3 years in Los Angeles, as well as Beijing, China. "Square the Circle" and "Fish Eye" have recently been invited to screen at many international film festivals. She's been learning and growing as my style of work evolves. She is particularly interested in drama, especially the concept of marriage. Currently she is in the pre-production for her first feature length film in China as a director and screenwriter.

About the Director

Director David Lawrence’s love of film began at five-years-old, in a dark Cineplex, watching Star Wars. Mesmerized by the characters and the way they came to life on screen set his imagination on fire.

At age eleven, it was a rented VHS copy of Nightmare on Elm St., watched late one night at a friend’s house that ushered in an undying love of horror films. The idea that you could draw someone into a fictional world and scare the crap out of them was an appealing one. After that, he watched every horror movie from the 70s and 80s that his local video store had to offer.

In 2013 David wrote a full-length feature titled, Casual Encounter, a psychological thriller about a man whose seemingly anonymous internet hook up results in grave consequences. He raised $5000 on Kickstarter to make it into a proof-of-concept short and hopes to see it made as a feature.

Since then, David has directed three more shorts: Dream Big, Something in the Woods, and his latest, Don’t Let Them In. This creepy little film explores the legend of the Black Eyed Kids who come knocking late at night. The idea of innocent-looking kids who play on our sympathies, but hide sinister intentions, is tremendously creepy.

David lives in Los Angeles.