The Mind Job

The Mind Job is the first live action short film I made. It took two and a half years to make. And takes about 16 minutes to watch.

It’s still my biggest, longest and most expensive short film production. It’s a sort of anti-romantic comedy that delves deep into the male brain. Some would say, a little too deep. Others would say, “I didn’t know the male brain had depths to delve”.

Getting the film made was a real slog. It involved a huge crew, pulled together by my wonderful producers Linda Sapier and Jenny Lee-Archer, a big casting effort made easy by the lovely Antonia Murphy of Fountainhead Casting.

I was fortunate to have my good friend, cinematographer Dan Trapp fly all the way over from the UK to shoot it. I still love the look he created. Sal Boucher, our art director, did an incredible job creating the world of the police lab. And finally, our excellent editor, Seth Lockwood, pulled the story together, expertly.

On screen, the cast was lead by Matthew Moore, Krew Boylan, Lorna Lesley and Paul Barry, they were all magnificent and made my first experience working with actors a lot of fun.

In the end, the film was well received, screening at several film festivals around the world, including a ranking as one of L.A. Weekly’s ‘Ten films you must see’ at the 2013 L.A. Comedy Shorts Festival. Its biggest success, though, has been online where it featured on shortoftheweek.com and became a Vimeo Staff Pick.  

If you’re interested in going deeper, you can download both the pitch book I put together to help get us into production or the production book I created upon completion. Or you can order a physical copy.