Trey Helten in “Unknown Caller”.
Film Production alum Clayton Holmes’ suspense-filled short, Unknown Caller, screens at the Toronto Shorts Film Festival, November 10-15, after premiering at the New West Film Fest last month.
Unknown Caller
Synopsis: A beautiful burlesque dancer meets her self-proclaimed, biggest fan.
Writer/Director/Editor: Clayton Holmes
Cast: Melody Mangler, Trey Helten, Clayton Holmes
DoP: Reilly Lievers
Audio Mastered: Wayne Holden
Unknown Caller Trailer: https://bit.ly/3n4Iaef
TSFF: https://www.torontoshorts.com/program3
Clayton Holmes
Clayton’s Bio:
Clayton Holmes, Film Production, 2004
Clayton Holmes has been making films under the Bull Terrier Productions banner since age ten, when he filled up a balloon with spaghetti sauce and attempted to replicate a scene from Scanners. His projects since include the feature film Breakup.com, a seven-part video magazine called EarGoggles, and a six-part web series called The Wise. His latest short film, Unknown Caller, is currently on the festival circuit and a new project, Maceration, is scheduled to begin filming in early 2021. Clay lives in Strathcona, Vancouver with his wife Niki and an old Bull Terrier named Boomerang.
Email: holmesclayton@hotmail.com
Facebook: Bull Terrier Productions
Clayton’s personalized synopsis of days yonder in the film program:
“Every time I start a new film project, I think about my fantastic, formative days in the UBC film program. I was a shy young film buff from small town Ontario, excited to gain real life skills and make real life movies. Looking back now, I appreciate how important it was to share that experience with an intimate group of fourteen other hungry young filmmakers. We were a little community of like-minded movie nerds, all with the same goal – a film to call our own. Whether learning to blindly load film into a 16mm camera, write in 12-point Courier or wrap our brains around La Nouvelle Vague Films, the overall message of the program became clear to me: film is the ultimate collaborative medium – the ending credits are always shared.
Twenty years later, as a shy, middle-aged film buff, I continue to stand by the indie film oath when the camera (or iPhone) rolls. “If you are provided with a helping hand on set – from acting to booming to the hundreds of other hats worn – you are obliged to return the favour when that person comes to you, script in hand.” Because the other lesson the film program taught me is that any indie film actually getting made is nothing short of a miracle. And when it does happen, it’s because of a supportive little community of like-minded movie nerds.”
