The little fierce diva Connie has a new lease of life! She is back and has high-kicked her way onto Shorts TV’s subscription channel on Amazon Prime. You can watch the feisty foul-mouthed showgirl as part of a free seven-day trial now.
Tag: Connie
Brilliant news! My award-winning short Connie is now available to buy on Shorts International’s iTunes stores in the US and Europe! Better still, the foul-mouthed puppet is a cheap gal – a snip at only $2.99 or £1.99 respectively – so fill your stockings this festive season with twenty minutes of our little felt-covered diva.
Connie has had an incredible journey since the shoot in May 2016, playing festivals globally, including awards qualifiers, winning awards, receiving great reviews and entertaining audiences we could only have dreamed of. Being able to share it now with a whole new audience is really something else. Film festivals rock, but so few people can actually get to them, so I’m proud that Connie has been licensed by Shorts International.
The film showcases the incredible talent of our superstar, Catrin Stewart, who did an incredible job of playing two roles at once and also operating a puppet – all in just two days on set! It also features the legend that is Kim Newman. It’s a film I’m incredibly proud of. Meeting audiences at festivals and seeing their reactions to the film, and to me and the puppet, has been an extra slice of joy.
Connie is also screening now on ShortsTV’s channel in the US, with the European premiere coming very soon. ShortsTV is the world’s first 24/7 HD TV channel dedicated to shorts, and currently available to approximately 25 million homes, with more channels across the globe to come. More details on how to watch ShortsTV here.
Excellent news! We’ve struck a licensing deal with the brilliant Shorts International to broadcast Connie on ShortsTV in North America, Europe and South Asia for five years from late 2018. ShortsTV is the world’s first 24/7 HD TV channel dedicated to shorts. This is a very exciting agreement as the ShortsTV channels are currently available to approximately 25 million homes! I can’t wait for Connie to reach a wider audience and for the little puppet to expose herself on TV!
PLUS, Connie shortly be added to the ShortsTV online stores on Amazon (UK, USA and Germany) and iTunes (in over 80 countries) for purchase! So anyone who hasn’t managed to catch little felt diva at festivals can see her on the tellybox or online! Launch date details coming soon!
Great news! Connie has won big at GenreBlast Film Festival 2017 in Virginia, USA! Connie scooped the Funniest Short Film award this month following the State Premiere at the festival, where my little short screened alongside the opening feature film, Guardians.
GenreBlast is an awesome festival and the comedy shorts selection was really amazing, so I’m totally blown away that the film has actually bagged the award. You just never really know when you write a comedy if people are going to get your sense of humour. You can edit, rewrite and share with your team and crew and have all the laughs in the world on set, but you still have to hope that the film finds its tribe in on the festival scene and in the big bad world. Thankfully, Connie has, and I’m thrilled that GenreBlast wanted to recognise my work in this way.
Connie was also nominated in two other categories against impressive competition – Best Actress and the female writer/director award.
Massive congrats to all the nominees and winners at GenreBlast, and a big thank you to the festival team for including us in the festival. The selection was amazing and communication before, during and after the festival has been great – a festival really worth submitting to and being part of. We couldn’t be there in person, but will definitely be submitting more work in future and hope to make it over to join the party one day.
There are more festival announcements and screenings still to come for Connie as she continues to stomp around the globe – thrilling, touching and offending as many wonderful people as she can well into 2018! These are regularly added to the Screenings page on the official Connie site.
Wowzer! Connie continues to cook up a storm stateside with four upcoming state premieres over just nine days, with three award nominations to boot!
First, Connie gets to catch some rays at the California premiere tomorrow, 31st August, at Long Beach Indie International Film, Media and Music Festival 2017. The film is screening as part of the Suspense and Horror shorts block from 9pm. I love California and am really thrilled that she’ll be allowed to cause mayhem in the golden state.
Connie is hitting Kansas City on Monday 4th September! The little diva is headed to kick Dorothy’s butt and enjoy the Missouri premiere next week, screening at the super cool Slaughter Movie House at the Screenland Armour movie theatre. Connie will be screening with the feature film, Space Babes from Outer Space, kicking off at 7pm… and better still, it’s FREE! Check out this gorgeous event poster!
Just a couple of days later after a stroll down the yellow brick road, Connie heads to GenreBlast Film Festival 2017 for her Virginia state premiere! Connie screens with the opening film of the festival, Guardians, from 7pm on Thursday 7th September at the Alamo Drafthouse. You know it’s a great festival when it’s at an Alamo Drafthouse, and GenreBlast have a really cool selection of shorts and features playing, including an advance screening of IT, also on the opening night.
AND… The awesome team at GenreBlast have very kindly nominated Connie for not one, not two, but THREE awards at the festival! It’s pretty stiff competition though, so Connie better get her boxing gloves on… I certainly can’t hop in the ring and fight it out for a trophy when I’m 6 months pregnant… But being nominated gives me a lovely, glowy, warm feeling…
Finally, finishing off next week, Connie will be hitch-hiking her way to Utah for FilmQuest 2017, screening as part of Shorts Block 2 on Friday 8th September from 6pm. FilmQuest celebrates the majesty of genre filmmaking in the realms of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and beyond, running until 16th September. Connie is in great company as our web series, Mina Murray’s Journal, has also been selected for the festival! Go team Moranic Productions!
What a lot of mileage to cover in just nine days! It’s a US road trip. Sadly, I won’t be the Susan Sarandon to Connie’s Geena Davis for the journey as I enter the third trimester of my pregnancy, but she can hack it on her own. She’s a freebird… *zippo lighter overhead*
I’ve been drowning in production and post-production on Blood Shed and pre-production on Hank the last two months, so it’s been a while since I posted an update about my beloved Connie! Well, here it is… Don’t ye worry, the little diva is still making waves!
Connie continues to thrive on the festival scene, with more award wins and nominations, which is always a lovely, exciting surprise. It’s been almost exactly a year since the film was shot, and writing this kind of update fills me with glee.
Connie has won an Honourable Mention Award at The International Horror Hotel 2017, and screens at the event in June in Ohio, US. Connie has had several screenings in Ohio and has either been nominated for an award or won one at each of those festivals. Big love to Ohio! Thank you for appreciating my work.
Back home here in the UK, Connie also took the Unrestricted View Film Festival in London by storm at the end of April, garnering nominations for Best Short, Best Director and Best Actress! This was a great surprise, but sadly we were unable to attend as we were away at another film festival in Poland. Gosh darnit!
The next UK screening of Connie is currently set for August bank holiday weekend in beautiful Manchester. Manchester is very close to my heart. I lived there for six or seven years and it was the first place I lived that made me feel completely at home. The people, the culture, the architecture, the honesty – I still have a special place in my heart for the city. Yes, Connie will have her Northern UK Premiere at the incredible Starburst International Film Festival. So not only a city I love, but a magazine I love too – all in one festival. Hip hip hooray!
Before she’s let loose on Manchester, Connie will be making her way to Berlin for her German Premiere next month at Final Girls Berlin Film Festival! We’re heading over to attend the festival in person, and in puppet, and can’t wait to see the audience reaction. I love sitting amongst the crowd and watching the screenings – you can hear every giggle, roar, gasp and clap. There’s nothing like it.
Connie has also been selected as part of the prestigious Etheria World Tour 2017/18 and will screen internationally at Etheria events throughout 2017/18 at universities, art galleries, conventions, museums, independent cinemas, year-round travelling horror conventions, partner festivals, pop-up Etheria screenings, official Etheria Women in Horror Month events, and horror/sci-fi/comic conventions. Now that is BIG news – she might be coming to a town near you soon! I’m so thrilled to have my work included as part of such a great line-up and to be working with Etheria. It’s a real honour.
And finally, I’m so very proud that Connie is screening TONIGHT (26/05) at the Seattle International Film Festival! Being selected for an OSCAR qualifying festival is something that I never expected for my tiny film about a very sweary, domineering puppet. It’s a huge festival and one I definitely want to attend in future! So, if you’re anywhere close to Seattle, go along and enjoy.
In other news, Blood Shed is in the edit and we’re still aiming for a festival release later this summer, and Hank is in pre-production and casting. I can’t wait for people to eventually see these two projects. They mean a great deal to me and are a little off-the-wall, but I hope will be really memorable (for all the right reasons)!
What a week this is shaping up to be! Connie is now an award-winning film! We’ve bagged our first award from five nominations in just a few short months. Our wonderful lead, Catrin Stewart, won Best Actress at HorrorHound Weekend Film Festival in Ohio, US! Catrin is an incredibly talented actress and played both Connie and Dolly in the film, that’s thirty four scenes all shot in just two days. Thanks a million to HorrorHound for making us an award-winning film! Even Connie is bouncing around!
In other news, Connie has been accepted by more festivals, but we can’t announce these as yet! So keep your eyes, ears and puppets peeled for more news on these.
Also, we’re now into the last week of our crowdfunding campaign for Blood Shed. We’re currently 86% funded, which is amazing, but there are only 4 days left on the clock! Naturally, I’m in FULL panic mode. We’ve started with the pre-production on the film as we’re aiming to shoot in late April, and anyone who’s ever run a crowdfunding campaign knows that it is back-breaking, constant work. In many ways, it’s like having a baby for a month. BUT, it is the only way that Blood Shed can be funded.
New rewards have been added – you can have a photo of your pet appear in the film as a victim of our shed, there are very special unique retro Polaroid on-set photos available, screening tickets, signed goodies, merch! Please go and take a look. The shed needs you.. Well, I do. I mean, the film is set to star SALLY PHILLIPS and SHAUN DOOLEY. Who doesn’t want to see them and a man-eating shed in a Creepshow-style film? BARGAIN!
March is proving to be a crazy month. I’m working on three shorts at different stages – . Blood Shed, Hank: Portrait of a Serial Killer and TickTock. We’re also running a Kickstarter for Blood Shed until 27th March, so it’s non-stop and all systems go.
I’ve had some wonderful news about my last short – the unforgettable Connie. Connie has not only been selected for the HorrorHound Weekend Film Festival in Ohio, US, we’re also nominated for the Best Actress award for our superb lead, Catrin Stewart! Catrin had to play both Connie and Dolly, often in the same scenes – not just vocally, but also ‘operating’ Connie for a large proportion of the film. This was a great mental and physical challenge, and Catrin pulled it off in spectacular fashion.
Connie’s lead, Catrin Stewart, nominated for Best Actress at HorrorHound
Catrin Stewart
It’s been an incredible six or seven months so far, but Connie is still on the first leg of her film festival journey, so to get this fifth award nomination is really quite something.
HorrorHound is a convention and film festival all in one, taking place 17th-19th March in Cincinnati. It’s CRAMMED to the ceiling with special guests, including Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chandler Riggs, Tobin Bell, John Waters, Lloyd Kaufman…I am absolutely gutted that I can’t be there! The chance to meet Jeffrey Dean Morgan… I’m such a fan of The Walking Dead. I’ll be crying for months. But, you lucky people can get tickets HERE.
Connie is screening as part of the Late Night Laughs slot on the Saturday night (or technically early Sunday AM), before Space Babes from Outer Space. The schedule is below.
Also, congratulations to my pal Jamie Hooper, whose short Unto Death, which is a real must-see, has also been selected for the Sunday.
Connie is also currently also nominated for the iHorror Award for Best Short Film, which is announced at the end of the month, so it’s a double celebration… but only once I’ve slept… Which at this point, could be July.
I’m over the moon to announce that Connie has been nominated for a very prestigious iHorror award by iHorror.com This is Connie’s fourth award nomination in just a few short months.
The awards recognise excellence, hard work and determination in the horror genre. The much coveted statue is poured from solid metal from the RS Owens company, whose clients include the Oscars and the Emmys. Now that is FANCY!
Previous iHorror award winners include It Follows, Ash vs Evil Dead, Creep, Insidious Chapter 3, Bruce Campbell, Mark Duplass and Melissa McBride. It’s an incredible list of talent and I’m awestruck right now.
Though the Best Short Film category is decided by a private judging panel, you can select your winners in other categories such as Best Actor, Actress, Remake, Director, Film, TV Show as voting is now open. I voted and picked my winners, but it was TOUGH.
Winners are announced on 29th March. Fingers crossed for Connie!
Many thanks to iHorror and the selection panel. It’s an honour.
Women in Horror Month 2017 is almost upon us! Women in Horror Month (WiHM) is an international, grassroots initiative, which encourages supporters to learn about and showcase the work of women in the horror industries.
I’m very pleased to support #WHIM this year, with Connie screening at one event and I’m also part of a panel discussion at another:
WIHM: United in Blood 2017 Vol.1
Friday 10th February, 7pm, The Macbeth of Hoxton, 70 Hoxton St, London N1 6LP
Shorts:
Used: Destinie Orndoff
Halloween: Monica Demes
Beauty N’ Blood: Tapanga McCarbe
Nasty: Prano Bailey-Bond
Mauvaises Têtes: Rebekah Fieschi
8:10. WHIM Panel moderated by Wendy Rose:
Emma Dark, Cat Davies, Prano Bailey-Bond & more
9:20: Soska Sisters Massive Blood Drive PSA.
WIHM: United in Blood 2017 Vol.2
Sunday February 19th, 6.30pm, The Hen & Chickens Theatre 109 St Paul’s Rd, N1 2NA
Shorts:
Mindless: Katie Bonham
Slit: Pablo Absento
Connie: Cat Davies
A Tricky Treat: Patricia Chica
The Stylist: Jill Gevargizian
Madre De Dios: Gigi Saul Guerrero
Innsmouth: Izzy Lee
Feature Film:
Slasher House 2 (Intro + Q&A with MJ & Anna Dixon)
If those line ups aren’t persuasive enough to get you to come and support, Connie has thrown in her two cents worth in a very special video announcement made especially to promote her screening:
***NEW EVENT ADDED***
Connie will also be screening in Dublin on Sunday 19th February – our Irish premiere, as part of another WIHM event!
Acid Cane Presents: Women in Horror (Dublin)
Sunday February 19th, 6pm
The Liquor Rooms
5 Wellington Quay, Dublin 2, Dublin, Ireland
€12 on the door
I also played a nurse for director Damon Rickard for his contribution to the amazing Soska Sisters Blood Drive PSA, Bloody Nurses. It was a really fun shoot and a fantastic way to kick off 2017. For now though, here’s some behind the scenes and official stills from the shoot until the bloody video is unleashed on you all!
Playing a nurse in Bloody Nurses, directed by Damon Rickard Pic: Mike Shawcross at This Thing Called Photography
Fight to the death, with Lucy Clements & Jessica Messenger Pic: Mike Shawcross at This Thing Called Photography
3 Bloody Nurses Pic: James Moran
With fellow Bloody Nurses, Lucy Clements & Jessica Messenger Pic: Mike Shawcross at This Thing Called Photography
Fresh make-up! Pic: Cat Davies
A little light head injury… (SFX) Pic: Cat Davies
BTS shot Pic: Jack Ayers
So, spread the word about these arse-kicking events and let’s celebrate female talent in horror! Shout about them from the rooftops, and enjoy the films!
Cat Davies 