Public Vote Selects Classic Children's Story In On-line Film Competition

A North East short film adaptation of the children's classic 'Alice in Wonderland' has won the public vote in an on-line competition run by Regional Screen Agency, Northern Film & Media.
One-minute film Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland from North East Writer/Director Mark Lediard beat off stiff competition from four other short films to win the Micro Movies Classic public vote.
Lediard said: "I'm very pleased to have won the Micro Movies Classics audience vote. I've been amazed at the number of people who have watched all the films on the website and took the time to vote. I thought all the entries were strong, but I though we had a good chance as the Alice in Wonderland story was a popular choice."
Alienated from the world around her, Alice uses her imagination to escape the confines of a psychiatric ward. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland starred Villing Chong, Jason Savin and Julija Zablocka.
Micro Movies Classics asked filmmakers to adapt a classic children's story into a short film format. Almost 600 votes were cast by the public.
A second winning film came in the form of Rabbit Hole. It was specially selected by a jury from Story Engine, the team behind the North East's hugely successful Screen Writers Conference. Rabbit Hold also used Alice in Wonderland as its inspiration. Written by Natalie Adams and directed by James Cook, Rabbit Hole takes a man who is used to looking up at life and forces him to begin to look down. Rabbit Hole stars actor Paul Grant.
Other films in competition were The Piper at the Gates, Arrival and Touch of Red, All of the films can be viewed under the Micro Movies Classic series on the multi-award-winning North East Movies website: www.northeastmovies.co.uk. North East Movies is an online digital platform for North East short film makers run by Northern Film & Media. It showcases over 200 short films made by North East talent. Over 450,000 films have been watched since its launch in 2008.
North East production company Shudder Films was selected by Northern Film & Media to produce all five short films in the Micro Movies Classic series.
The prizes won by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Rabbit Hole include free passes to next year's Story Engine conference, lunch with screenwriter Lisa Holdsworth, a subscription to the online magazine twelevepoint.com and camera and editing packages offered by SteadiRed and Superkrush films.
(KMcA/BMcc)