Former Olds residents and current filmmakers Tyler MacIntyre and John Negropontes are at it again.
After garnering attention last fall for declaring their intention to turn murderer Mark Twitchell's story into a movie, they have just announced they are competing in this year's edition of the CBC Short Film Face Off competition.
Their award-winning short film Secret Identity was chosen from a pool of hundreds of applicants and will represent Alberta in the competition.
“There are four episodes. The first three episodes will each show three shorts,” said MacIntyre.
“The final episode will be a special with the judges and the finalists as well.”
The competition is filmed in Halifax and broadcast on CBC Saturdays at 7 p.m.
The duo's short opened the series and was screened last Saturday.
The 2012 CBC Short Film Face Off winner will get $30,000 from Telefilm Canada, as well as $10,000 in equipment rentals from PS Production Services.
Secret Identity tells the story of a granddaughter that visits her grandmother before her marriage to ask the latter if she can use her wedding ring.
“Her grandmother tells her she had a romantic tryst with a superhero back when she was her granddaughter's age,” said MacIntyre.
The short was filmed in Los Angeles at the end of 2010. It was written and directed by MacIntyre, while Negropontes was the producer.
The short premiered at the 2011 ComicCon International Independent Film Festival, where it won a Best Film Award. It also received the Best Sci-Fi Short award at the 8th Annual International Horror and Sci-Fi Film festival in Phoenix.
“It's been picking up a few little accolades here and there,” said MacIntyre.
Then in May, MacIntyre picked up a Rosie for Secret Identity at the Alberta Film and Television Awards in the category Best Director – Drama Under 30 Minutes.
MacIntyre says he feels pretty good about winning his first Rosie. Both he and Negropontes were nominated a few years ago for another short but they didn't win.
MacIntyre and Negropontes will learn in July if Secret identity makes the cut in the CBC Short Film Face Off competition. Until then, they will be hard at work on many projects, including the Mark Twitchell project.
