Bunking Off

Logline

A teenage girl hooking in order to make money for her mum’s much needed medical treatment takes in a customer who used to date her mum.

(Password: scarlet)

This short was produced and directed by Nic Penrake in 2012 and features very strong performances from all the cast, especially newcomer Alexa Davies as Scarlet, the female lead.

Distribution

As the film is now with Short International we cannot stream it freely via YouTube or Vimeo. However, as there is a high probability that you are visiting this site as a film professional, creative or friend, you can view the film by clicking on Bunking Off and entering the password ‘scarlet’.

I had the short script in my proverbial bottom drawer for some time before getting it ready for production. One of the reasons I chose to produce this script over several others also sitting in that drawer was that I wanted to direct a short which could grow into a feature and therefore a short that would also serve as a sort of trailer for that larger project.

Reception from other filmmakers to Bunking Off has been unanimously favourable. So I have to assume that it’s the subject matter and the length of the film that have worked against it on the festival circuit.

That said, the short script has since grown to a poignant and hard-hitting feature length story that is currently part of a slate of films in association with Film Engine. We have a realistic expectation of being fully funded by 2014.

Credits