Following taking part in the annual Five Lamps Films 24 Hour Film Challenge, we were delighted to be awarded first place in the competition at the closing event of Derby's iD Fest! The 3 day festival culminated in the screening of the competition entries with a high level of talent on display, a testament to the quality of filmmaking in Derby. Our film Birthday Bash was voted by the judges as the best of the competition and we were thrilled to be able to accept first prize on stage at the close of the evening.

Written by Joseph Maudsley and directed by Christopher Bevan, Birthday Bash is a short comedy about a couple home alone. Jesse is in the mood for love one morning, his girlfriend Amy not so much. Convincing her otherwise turns out to be the least of his problems. Simplicity was the key in making this film, shot in just 4 hours during the competition's 24 hour time limit. As part of YSP Media's prize for coming in 1st place, we have been given the opportunity to film a future project on the RED One cinema camera thanks to The University of Derby as well as membership to the QUAD, Derby's independent cinema.

The Derby Telegraph featured the competition as well as our film Caught in the Headlights, which was also shown at iD Fest, in this article here. Read on to find out more about the competition. We also received an excellent review from film blog 'A Clockwork Orrery' who wrote:

"The grand prize (a cup) went to Birthday Bash – this short was one of the more technically impressive films and more importantly, the funniest. The best humour I believe comes from universal truths – this short was about a lad trying to get some morning sex off his too tired girlfriend – nothing more universal than that. Well shot, funny throughout and one hell of a payoff; it deserved the award.'

A big thanks goes to everyone involved who gave up their time and worked on the project. You can watch the film over at our film section here and let us know what you think!