Short Com is a short comedy film programme that has toured throughout the UK, playing in cities such as Manchester, Bristol, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Short Com supports the best in new independent comedy filmmaking talent and the suicide prevention charities CALM and SAMH.

Our very homemade website can be found at http://www.shortcom.co.uk

Matthew Toffolo interviews creative director Chris Aitken:

Matthew: What is the goal of your film festival?

Chris: Well there are a few. The long term aim is to become the primary and most well respected comedy film festival, I’m hoping to expand it so that it becomes an international feature and short film festival during the Edinburgh August Festivals. It’s a crazy time of year but I think most visitors and residents will welcome a film festival back at this time. And it might attract back visitors who stopped coming to the festival when the Edinburgh International Film Festival moved outside of August. I think comedy is a vastly under appreciated art form and many films fall victim to the snobbery of major film festivals. Ideally I’d like to think the festival I hope to run in the future will give films a badge of appreciation. The other goal is to try and improve the productivity of Scottish comedy filmmaking, via running networking and work shop activities.

Matthew: How has the festival changed since its inception until your upcoming 2015 festival?

Chris: My principals have largely been the same. We pick content over production value. We very much value the spirit of independence, or DIY. Independent is a slightly loose and undefined term, I’ve yet to narrow it down myself. I think it’s a bit unfair to have films in a selection put up against a film that’s been giving a big budget from a national arts funding body for example, so I sometimes tend to overlook them. We also support the mental health charities CALM and SAMH via giving our profits from the screenings or voluntary donations to them. But it’s changed quite a bit, apart from the website, which I know is pretty crap, I made it, but hoping to solve that at some point. We now charge for submissions, before it used to be voluntary but it wasn’t very sustainable and now people can submit to us on online platforms such as Filmfreeway and Festhome. That’s seen a big increase in international submissions, which I hope to expand upon. We also try our best to give feedback to those who were unsuccessful in being selected, so they at least get something for the money they paid for. We now have prizes for some of the awards, Blackmagicdesign have been really awesome in donating some technology to us as prizes.

Matthew: How many films are you showcasing at your Film Festival?

Chris: It’s around 25, some films feature in other programmes.

Matthew: Can you give us a sneak peak of what to except for the 2015 Festival?

Chris: This is the point I wish I had a trailer but unfortunately my regular volunteer who put together last year’s trailer has a pretty demanding job. You can see a trailer for our last year’s selection that will give you a bit of an idea of what we show. http://shortcom.co.uk/Shortcom/Home.html I think this year’s programme might surpass last year’s, which would be a bit of a feat. This is also the first time we are running an animation programme and international programme. We’ve got Greg Hemphill hosting this year’s best of screening. Greg is a bit of a comedy legend in Scotland, particularly to me as he co-created one of my favourite ever sitcoms, Still Game. So delighted to have him on board. The screening at the Glasgow Short Film Festival last year was our biggest ever turnout and I think this year it can be bigger.

Matthew: Is there going to be an overall theme for the 2015 festival?

Chris: No. I tend to find themes, although good for narrowing things down and focus, can make it difficult for filmmakers to submit their films. All I want from a film is it’s ability to make an audience laugh or smile.

Matthew: Where do you see your festival in 5 years?

Chris: I think I want to run a bi-annual festival, one in Edinburgh during the Fringe and one during the GSFF in March. But we’ll wait and see.

Matthew: What’s the current status of the Film Scene in your city?

Chris: Well I now live in London as it’s a lot better for me as a screenwriter to get stuff made and have meetings etc. So the film scene is pretty good for me anyway. The Scottish film scene to be brutally honest is has not been at it’s best for sometime. There are a lot of reasons for this but it’s a whole essay I’d have to write plus it’s best I don’t upset people.

Matthew: What film have you seen the most in your life?

Chris: Probably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I watched it countless times for my dissertation, but also because it’s an utter masterpiece and one of my favourite films of all time.