Press Release from Pop Culture.
Cherub Pictures director, Ben Briand’s critically acclaimed short film, APRICOT (starring Ewan Leslie and Laura Gordan) has been acknowledged as an online phenomenon, by being selected as one of the top five “Best Narrative Film” finalists of the inaugural 2010 Vimeo Awards.
The Vimeo Festival & Awards honour the best in online videos from around the world in multiple categories, with finalists culled from over 6500 submissions and voted on by a group of esteemed judges from the global creative community considered the best in the industries of film, art and tech.
Judges across the various categories of the Vimeo Awards include filmmakers and artists as diverse as David Lynch (Lost Highway, Mulholland Dr, Twin Peaks); Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden); Ted Hope (legendary indie film producer of Happiness, In the Bedroom, 21 Grams); Roman Coppola (director of highly acclaimed and influential music videos and commercials, for bands such as Green Day and the Strokes and for clients such as Coke and Honda); M.I.A. (Grammy and Academy Award nominated songwriter, record producer, singer, rapper, visual artist) and many more.
Winners of the Vimeo Awards are announced on October 9.
Vimeo was named this year by Time magazine as the top website for video and moving image content.
APRICOT, which has already enjoyed considerable festival success having screened on the opening night of the St Kilda Film Festival this year and at the 32nd Moscow International Film Festival 2010, has garnered a huge online following upon release.
The online stats on APRICOT are impressive. It’s now achieved over 300,000 views online (across various websites); has been translated into over a dozen languages; and has featured on over 200 blogs across a variety of film, photography, fashion and advertising sites worldwide including prestigious UK film site Director’s Notes; groundbreaking agency Weiden + Kennedy’s influential blog; and pop culture authority, yayeveryday.com. There are also over 1600 fans of the film on Facebook.
"The response to the film online has been overwhelming,” said Ben Briand.
“Far more viewers have watched the film online than I could have ever hoped for in the traditional festival environment. The life changing career opportunities that have come from this exposure is a testament to the future of narrative films connecting directly with their target audience online."
A chance encounter between a mysterious man and a beautiful woman soon becomes deeply personal. Playful prods about the woman’s first childhood kiss sparks a series of fragmented memories. The intoxicating situation turns when the mysterious, handsome man begins to take notes on their conversation. APRICOT is produced by Cherub Pictures and Moonwalk Films.
For more information, click here.
To watch Apricot, visit vimeo.com/8076064