Future A-list directors have to start somewhere, so why not a short film about a younger brother who likes to put underwear on his head?
You may have never heard of the UK's Co-Operative Young Filmmakers Film Festival, but the truth is that it has been around since 1966. That's longer than Toronto, longer than Sundance, longer than the upcoming Mill Valley Film Festival.
This year, per usual, various young and enthusiastic entrants ages 21 and under have successfully submitted their short films of six minutes or less to the event, to be held October 12th-13th at Bradford's National Media Museum. The one that caught our eye is from Wiltshire's budding 15-year-old version of Mike Leigh, Josh Jackson, whose work will be screened alongside the likes of Operation Red Sand.
Just as writers are fundamentally told to 'write what you know,' Jackson has gotten into the festival for the second year in a row by 'filming what he knows.' In this case, we're talking about Pantsman, a short film starring younger brother David.
"David used to dress up with underpants on his head when he was little and pretend to be a superhero," Jackson explains via an interview with This is Wiltshire. "I think he really enjoyed making the film and found the acting fun."
There are no prizes awarded at the Co-Operative festival, which tellingly follows an event at the Media Center the previous weekend entitled 'What's Wrong with British Cinema?' Who knows? Maybe as Hollywood runs out of comic book superhero material, they will be optioning Jackson's 2007 effort and remaking it with Seth Green under the title Fruit of the Loominator. A kid can dream, can't he?
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