MWS Media, the makers of Matthew’s new film The Sweet Shop, have won an award for Best Sci-fi/Horror Feature Film at the London Independent Film Festival for “Nuryan”, their first feature length film. The Sweet Shop will be their second film, so we are all expecting the same great results 😉 According to the press release:
MWS Media, a film and video production company based in Newbury, Berkshire, premiered the film in September of 2009 receiving praise for its adventurous approach to filmmaking. Bertie Stephens, the Producer of “Nuryan” and a Director of MWS Media said “Not only was the film made on an extremely low budget, we also decided to push ourselves creatively by making an entire film in split screen.”
The film was competing against entries from all around the world, including films with budgets of more than £1 million, a hundred times the budget of Nuryan.
Ben Myers, the Writer and Director of the film added “With practically no time or money to play with, this was always a daunting challenge, and although it was an enjoyable experience it was also one of the hardest things any of us have ever done in our careers. Therefore winning this award makes it all the more worthwhile.”
MWS Media’s Phil White, who came up with the split-screen concept for the film, was quick to praise the local community. “We received a lot of support locally in using some fantastic locations, and this award was only made possible through the co-operation of a lot of people. From cast and crew down right through to all those who helped us, this was a real team effort.”
MWS Media are currently gearing up to shoot their next film, “The Sweet Shop”. With a slightly larger budget and a cast including Gemma Atkinson well known to British audiences from her time on “Hollyoaks”, Vanessa Haywood from recently Oscar nominated “District 9”, and Matthew Lewis, who plays Neville Longbottom in the “Harry Potter” films, “The Sweet Shop” is a romantic comedy/drama about a famous musician and a girl who runs a sweet shop.
Tom Furr, the company’s marketing manager said; “This award is a great achievement that puts us all in a great frame of mind for shooting “The Sweet Shop”, which begins in May. We’re using many of the same crew members that worked on “Nuryan” with us so that will really help the atmosphere on set.”
Congratulations!