PROMOTION: Jameson First Shot 2017 – The Winners

There's certainly no shortage of short film competitions in the world, but few offer the opportunities that come with Jameson First Shot. Since its inception in 1998, the contest has been open to aspiring filmmakers internationally, helping to nurture talented filmmakers who have yet to find their voice, and offering the chance to have their short script produced by Dana Brunetti (Captain Phillips, The Social Network) and cast with a bona fide star in the lead role. Previous years have seen the likes of Maggie Gyllenhaal, Adrien Brody and Uma Thurman take part. This year Dominic West was in the hot seat.

Brunetti and West selected scripts by Ollie Wolf from London, England, Alice Goggin from Sydney, Australia, and Jason Manella from Ontario, Canada. Each script was very different but each was brimming with originality, creativity and humour.

"To have a complete bunch of newcomers nail a short film in two days each is quite an achievement," says West. "Working with these guys is a real shot in the arm. It's a really dynamic environment creatively. Everyone is trying to make it as good as possible and come up with something very fresh and very singular that they want to express. Our job was to facilitate that."

The Finish Line

Director: Alice Goggin

The Finish Line is a story about two people with disabilities who look at their lives and their futures very differently. As an Art Director at a Sydney based Advertising Agency, Goggin works with a number of directors who encouraged her to pursue her interest in film and inspired her to create something that offered the viewer a new perspective on life.

While both West and Brunetti loved the warmth of the relationship between the two lead characters, West was particularly drawn to the strength of the ending. "Like all good scripts I could immediately envision how my character could be played," he says, "which is amazing for an actor and is a testament to Alice’s ability as a writer.”

"It’s both good and bad that [the shoot] happened so fast," Goggin reflects. "If you had longer to stress about it, you’d have longer to stress about it. Whereas you had less time to stress about it and you just had to do it. So it was an awesome experience. It was very short and probably there will be no other time that it will be so short, but I think at the same time you learn so much in such a short period of time."

Five Star Fouad

Director: Ollie Wolf

Ollie Wolf is a writer living in London and the appeal of his Five Star Fouad to both Brunetti and West was its brilliant mix of the epic and the everyday: the epic being a bank robbery and the everyday a ride in the backseat of a cab.

"The premise immediately grabbed our attention," says West, "but the more we re-read it, the more we appreciated the heart-warming moment of realisation that Ollie had created and how it was eventually delivered from a completely unexpected source."

"I think that sometimes you can have too long to overthink something," says Wolf, "and I think it was just enough time. I was very lucky, I shot last so I had more time than the other two."

A Funny Thing Happened To Kelly And Ted

Director: Jason Manella

A Funny Thing Happened To Kelly And Ted is a light-hearted comedy with a dark twist. It serves as a warning that if we continually listened to the voices in our heads, we might go insane.

Manella, a film student at the Canadore College Digital Cinematography programme, expertly latched on to West’s expressed desire to hear intelligent, comedic stories that would surprise the audience. West was particularly excited about the quirky approach that Manella had adopted. "Jason’s script had a format and a concept that I have never seen or heard before," he marvels. "All the dialogue is delivered as a single voiceover via two separate characters. And if that wasn’t original enough, all the dialogue is all in rhyming couplets!"

"It really was a test for me in decision making," says Manella. "I had to make really clear, really quick decisions, and compromise some things, but fight for others. I originally thought it would be 'my' film, but the time constraint forced me to work collaboratively, and it turned out for the better."

Applications for the annual Jameson First Shot competition usually open in April. To stay informed about 2018's specific dates, follow @JamesonWhiskey on Twitter, or sign up for the mailing list at www.jamesonfirstshot.com.