Twin Australian writer/ directors, Chris and Robert Smellin, have two short films competing in the oldest independent film festival in the world, the 46th Annual WorldFest- Houston International Film Festival, which is taking place from the 12th to the 21st of April. It is a remarkable achievement for the two as each year the festival receives over 4500 entries and screens just over 100 films. The festival gave first honours to Steven Spielberg, Ang Lee, George Lucas, Ridley Scott and the Coen brothers.
“We’re sort of like the Coen brothers,” Chris says of his working relationship with Robert. “We direct and write together, we went to film school together…(Making movies) is something we’ve done from a young age.” Robert elaborates, “Chris is stronger as a writer. I’m stronger as a director – in visualizing the idea”.
Chris and Robert Smellin hold a Masters in Creative Media (film and TV) from RMIT University and a Bachelor of screen production from Holmesglen. Together as writer/directors they have completed a number of short films that have screened at over 60 film festivals around the world including WorldFest- Houston International film festival (where they have won three REMI awards), Dungog film festival, Fright Night film festival, Shriekfest film festival, Tallgrass film festival, West Chester International short film festival, Shockerfest and Atlanta, Melbourne and Denver underground film festivals. Furthermore, they have done countless corporate videos and wedding videos for a number of years and have both lectured at RMIT and Holmesglen.
Screening in WorldFest this year are: ‘She’s having a Baby’, an erotic thriller about a middle aged woman that will go to any lengths to get pregnant, as well as ‘Last Night’, involving a seemingly perfect newly wed couple that are terrorized by two strangers in the middle of the night. ‘Last Night’ marks the twins’ first collaboration with the Howard Fine Acting Studio. The school approached the Smellin brothers after seeing one of their short films. “They had the great idea of producing a number of short films for their students to act in…working with a professional crew”, Chris explains.
Their next project with the school will be a 15-minute zombie flick. The brothers also have an 85-minute feature film in development.
Official facebook page 'She's Having a Baby':
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shes-Having-a-Baby-short-film/179034068858772?ref=hl
Trailer link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NooH7SSLKo
Official facebook page 'Last Night':
https://www.facebook.com/LastNightShortFilm
Last Night – Trailer from patrick on Vimeo.