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BBC NEWS | Entertainment | British shorts make a big splash

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Last Updated: Saturday, 4 March 2006, 13:13 GMT
British shorts make a big splash
By Jason Korsner
BBC News, Los Angeles

Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager
Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager mingle at the nominees luncheon
With high profile Oscar nominees like Dame Judi Dench, Keira Knightley and Nick Park, it is easy to neglect the fact that it is another good year for British film-makers at the start of their careers.

For the second year in a row, three of the 10 films nominated in the short film categories are British.

Cashback and Six Shooter are in the running for the best live-action prize, while Badgered is up for the best animated short.

The past few weeks have thrust all three sets of film-makers from relative obscurity to the glitz and the glamour of Hollywood's most famous red carpet.

At a luncheon for this year's Oscar nominees Sean Ellis, writer and director of Cashback, expressed his surprise at the relaxed atmosphere.

The event revolves around the group photo, with all the nominees piling into the bleachers - the ceremony stands - before being called down, in alphabetical order, to receive certificates from the Academy.

'Waiting'

"This little girl came up to me and asked my surname," recalls Ellis. "When I told her, she said was I was lucky - she had to wait until 'W'. Poor Reese Witherspoon was waiting up there for 45 minutes."

Sharon Colman
We've all become so close, that the big night doesn't really matter
Sharon Colman, director of Badger

Lene Bausager, the producer of Cashback, was thrilled to find herself at the same table as the producer of Capote.

And Mia Bays, one of the producers of British short Six Shooter, was seated with actress Felicity Huffman, who is nominated for her role playing a transsexual in Transamerica.

"It's very focused on being a nominee," explains Bays. "So I didn't feel it was hugely appropriate to network and swap cards."

Star-struck

British film-maker Sharon Colman, who is nominated for her short animated film Badger, confesses to being star-struck after meeting John Lasseter, a boss at Pixar.

But the young film-maker is feeling less nervous than she would have expected, not least because the official screening of her film is apparently the first chance she has had to think about her nomination since the initial shock.

"We've all become so close, that the big night doesn't really matter. We're having so much fun. I'll be happy for whoever wins, because it's been such a nice build up."

As a result of her nomination, Colman says she is "meeting all the right people", but remains modest, stressing that she still has a lot to learn before embarking on her first feature film.

Mia Bays
Film industry veteran Mia Bays is making her debut in film production

The team behind Cashback, however, have already made their debut feature - a full-length version of their short about a supermarket worker getting through his nightshift.

While they complain of having had little backing from the British film industry, Bausager hopes this nomination will help them get the feature into cinemas.

"It makes us feel validated," Ellis observes. "People take notice of us now."

Film industry veteran Mia Bays might be less in need of a career boost, having spent more than a decade working in distribution.

But she is understandably proud of the nomination buzz surrounding her first film as producer. "I've set the bar very high," she remarks.

As Bays notes, having those extra connections in Los Angeles "doesn't hurt". And there is still Sunday's ceremony to look forward to.


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