Following the success of Inside, John planned to re-visit Melbourne during April 2022 to shoot another film in the excitingly challenging environment of Filmonik Melbourne Kabaret. His script for”Pick Me” was designed with the frantic 72-hour film-making frenzy in mind. Unfortunately Covid restrictions meant that John was unable to attend the event and to direct his film – Janet Watson Kruse kindly undertook to cast and direct the film on his behalf.
It is a short story based on Sally (SAARA LAMBERG) anxiously taking her first steps into internet dating, supported by her new housemate, Kim (MIST LEONG). Filmed by DAMIEN LECLERC with audio recording by BERNARD PEASLEY, and backed by the eager crew at Filmonik, we follow Sally’s chequered progress as she increasingly wonders if True Love will ever find her.
This is a link to the Ovenden Lodge version of PICK ME. The Director, Janet Watson Kruse, subsequently re-edited the film and released it in October 2022 under the title of A PERFECT DATE.
See below for Festival successes for our film. Further details about Pick Me (2022) can be found in the IMDb Entry.
FESTIVAL SELECTIONS:
- Official Selection, Filmonik Melbourne, Australia, April 2022
- Winner (Romantic Short) Mountain View International Film Festival: Darjeeling, India, June 2022
- Gold Award (Romantic Short) Virgin Spring Cinefest, Kolkata, India, June 2022
- Finalist (Romantic Short) World Film Carnival, Singapore, June 2022
- Winner (Romantic Short) Tagore International Film Festival, Bolpur, India, July 2022
- Winner (Short) Gangtok International Film Festival, Sikkim, India, July 2022
- Winner (Romantic Short) Luis Bunuel Memorial Award organized by L’Age d’Or International Arthouse Film Festival (LIAFF), July 2022
- Winner (Romantic Short) Dhaka International Cultural Film Festival October 2023
- Finalist, Indie Short Film: Sofia Art Film Awards, December 2023
- Winner, Romantic Comedy Short: Phuket International Film Festival 2024
- Finalist, Romantic Comedy Short, Independent Film Awards, March 2024