For a long time a pretty standard way to try and get into Hollywood has been by making a short film that garners studio interest. However, while in the old days it was mainly about story and showing off directorial flair, now it seems the studios are more interested in those who can marshall loads of special effects for their short pic, probably because it suggests they might be able to do the same on the big screen, without spending billions of dollars.
There’s been a massive speight of Hollywood buying up the rights to CG filled shorts, most recently with Patrick Jean’s very cool Pixels. Now Universal and Working Title have snapped up another one, with THR reporting that they’ve bought Gary Shore’s Cup Of Tears, with an eye to turning it into a feature film.
The short, which you can watch below and which was obviously made as a calling card (it’s basically a trailer for a film thhat hasn’t been made yet), is set in a weird place called Spirit Town, where ninjas engage in stylised battles, everything look more than a little bit 300 and for some reason there are even spaceships and missiles.
Shore is a commercials director by trade, and has made ads for the likes of Adidas, as well as numerous music videos. He made the Cup Of Tears short between assignments, calling in favours from his friends to get the FX right. While he’s also written a treatment for a full-length Cup of Tears movie, they’re now looking for a writer to turn that story into a screenplay.