Most Recent 50 Kisses Updates

Filming a Kiss Goodbye by Baz Hodson
Every now and then an online competition arises which allows you to push your creative abilities on a self funded production. It’s always a welcome change from the day to day grind of making a buck, which doesn’t get any easier when you actually rely

50 Kisses Masterclass 1 – recutting your film
As part of 50 Kisses we have invited filmmakers to act on our feedback and that of the community. Already, one filmmaking team, Sweet Home Films in LA has made their film over 20% shorter, fixed some audio problems and overall radically improved their work.

‘Colton’s Big Night’ – a production designers view
A month ago a friend of mine, Sebastian Solberg, asked me if I wanted to be production designer on his next project, Colton’s Big Night, and of course I said yes. I wanted to be a part of this production for a number of reasons.

And the screenplay award goes to…
Amidst the excitement and exhilaration of this weekend’s London Screenwriters Festival, we announced the winner of the 50 Kisses Screenplay Award to a packed Hall in the Keynote speech. Who won? “Enough” by Kirsty McConnell (Read script here) Screenwriting Legend John August said of the

Bringing the Script to life- an Actors opportunity too by James Kirk
“Some people want it to happen; some wish it would happen, while others make it happen.” I came across this quote only months ago in between another sales call at a very corporate company where I was doing my day job, selling my soul to

Coltons Big Night by Sebastian Solberg
I first heard about the 50 Kisses competition through Chris Jone’s blog. I loved the idea of making a crowd sourced feature film and was looking for another project to sink my teeth into. A two page script, I thought ‘how hard can it be’?

Unbearable…
“What was I thinking?” “Why did I think we could pull this off?” “I need to be at back work in 6 hours…” “I wonder if they’ll have bagels on set tomorrow morning? All these things were rattling through my head going into the 14th

Enough by Simon Straub
The first desicion we had to make was choosing a script. It was rather easy because we had certain limits, no money, not much time to prepare and the cast had to be easy available. “Enoungh” gave us all that. A simple but strong story,

Close Encounters at 1.15am…
So it’s 1.15am and I look over to see the shop manager looking sleepily at the clock. I had told him we’d be finished filming by 11pm and we’ve still got a couple of shots to do. I look at the crew but they’re working

Shooting ‘A Ghetto Punk Romance’ on RED Epic
I heard about the 50 kisses competition through a friend and decided to read a couple of scripts out of curiosity. When I read Lloyd Morgan’s “Ghetto Punk Romance” I instantly felt inspired. It was one of those moments that you can’t quite descibe. To

And the winnner is…
So the votes are in and we can now reveal the top ten scripts for 50 Kisses. The winner will be revealed at the London Screenwriters’ Festival next week. So to be clear, this is just the best screenplay award. There will still be awards

A German Dream Date
We chose Dream Date because we found the script charming and witty. We could relate as parents to the storyline, and as filmmakers, well, we are all about the humour. So far in our films, we tend to stretch ourselves and try new things. So

What Do Writers Do? By Peter Carruthers, writer and filmmaker for ‘Never Forget’
As soon as my girlfriend told me about 50 Kisses, I knew I was going to go for it. I’d never entered a writing competition before but this seemed like a no brainer to me. 2 pages? Anyone can write 2 pages in a month,

Standing with giants: Guest Blog by Shaun Bond
I have seen a worrying trend in some of the short film competitions I’ve seen over the last few years, where creativity loses out to high production values and polish. Often this is because the competition is held by a company looking to use the

Q and A with Sweet Home Films’ Evan and Kerry Marlowe
How did you hear about the 50 Kisses Competition? Kerry: I met Chris Jones back in 2004 at a barbeque at Ealing Studios. He was talking about his book ‘The Guerilla Film Maker’s Handbook’ and how to be an independent film-maker, this information has stayed

No Excuses
Maureen: For a filmmaker, I always find myself making up excuses not to make films. ‘I don’t have money’, ‘I have to work a full time job’, ‘I don’t have time’. I went to film school thinking: ‘I can write, but I can’t direct’. I

Jo Buckman on her RomZom ‘You Used to Bring Me Flowers’
It’s this funny thing being known mostly as a Producer rather than a writer. Truth is I write a lot. I’ve got a drawer full of short film scripts ready to go, a TV pilot, a documentary and a feature outline. It’s just that while

The 50 Kisses competition changed my life by Nathan Gower
There. I said it. In all its seemingly hyperbolic glory, that first sentence is completely valid and one that I will stand by, regardless of whether or not I ever have the pleasure of seeing another of my scripts make it on the “big screen.”

How I Learned To Love Again by Baz Hodson
So, where are we at these days?! It’s 18 months down the line from the wrap on my short film ‘A Kiss Goodbye’ and we’re now on the final PR push for 50 Kisses, which after a long haul has got its BBFC 15 certification along with the wonderful DCP drive required for the projection

Brazilian filmmaker Carolina Rodrigues shares her 50 Kisses Journey on Youtube – WATCH VIDEO BLOG
How one filmmaker made their first film, against all odds, and it was part of 50 Kisses! Carolina shared in an email ‘“50 Kisses” and “Never Forget” not only reminded me of how much I really love bringing images to life, but also taught me the responsibility of creating art. It showed me that with hard

Do you as a filmmaker or writer involved in 50 Kisses want to see it play at festivals?
What Shall We Do With 50 Kisses AFTER the Premiere? An open question and a few words of tough love. We have a number of things we can do with 50 Kisses after the premiere. First, we could release it on the internet free. This would mean anyone can watch it, anyone could embed it

How 50 Kisses Gave Me My Filmmking Mojo Back
I had decided to give up. Movies. Filmmaking. Writing. The lot. I was spent – in every sense of the word after a feature film that I had been working on passionately for several years as the writer/director crashed and burned 3 weeks before shooting was to start in the USA – leaving me broken

50 kisses – The Moment… by screenwriter Stephen Cooper
I still find it crazy that ‘The Moment’ has created so many different opportunities and previews of life ahead. Through this little two minute script and the 50 kisses competition I have seen my idea come to life through a number of fantastic and exciting film makers, I have networked with producers, wrote a pilot

50 Kisses on BBC London with Sunny and Shay
Last night I spent an hour on BBC London with Radio hosts Sunny and Shay, discussing film, music and of course 50 Kisses. This came right off the back of 50 Kisses Training Day on Saturday. Around 60 filmmakers and writers involved in 50 Kisses, gathered at Ealing Studios to focus on how we, as

The Final Cinema Version of 50 Kisses Is AMAZING!
This afternoon I headed into Soho to watch the final DCP (Digital Cinema Package) at SDC for ‘50 Kisses’, alongside a journalist friend who writes for, and reviews films, for the broadsheets. His reaction? ‘50 Kisses significantly exceeded my expectations…’ I won’t say more till reviews begin to appear. And I have to tell you,

Writing Love Songs by a Hopeless “Realist”
I wrote the song “Good” while living in NYC, with most of my thoughts and songs ranging from the love-lost scorn to the revengeful strong woman to the forever young anthem of taking on the world. When I wrote “Good”, however, I let myself wonder again about love, just pure, simple, happy love. Nothing perfect,

50 Kisses: Making The DCP part 2
I have just retuned from a visit to the office of the lovely people at SDC who are making the DCP for 50 Kisses. I know a great deal more about the process of making one now and plan an extensive blog on the matter post 50 Kisses premiere (as it is so essential for

From London to New York with 50 Kisses
I little expected, when filming Rob Burke’s LOVE script in the London Underground, that nine months later, I would be on the New York Subway on route to see our film screened at the Tribeca Film centre. Also our little film, shot guerrilla style in a day and a half, helped in my selection by

50 Kisses Final Mastering: Making The DCP
To screen 50 Kisses in a cinema, we need to make a DCP. This is a specific file supplied on an industry standard drive. We could make our own DCP using OpenDCP (low budget and a little risky), but the lovely people at Soho Digital Cinema are helping us out. I have always been in

Don’t miss out on the big publicity opportunity at the 50 Kisses premiere
Are you trying to build a reputation as an independent filmmaker, writer, actor? Are you on social media? If you are, then you’ll know the currency that photographs have – especially pictures of you and your friends/family at your premiere would have. We will have an official photographer there to take photos and make you