James Whitelaw Animation

One of my shorts, "A Man Walks Into A Bank" has been a huge surprise and quite an unexpected  success, gaining 21 laurels at film festivals to date. That includes 3 finishes as a semi finalist, one finalist and two wins, one in the COFFI film festival in Italy, which was quite an honour indeed! Quite extraordinary for a film that only took a few weeks to produce during the height of Covid in 2020.

I never expected it to be the success that it has been. 

Another unexpected surprise came from another Covid related short, Episode #3 of my "The Painter" series that I ran for a short time in 2020. This went on to win the Jury Award at the International Coronavirus Short Film Festival in Mumbai, India - a great surprise and honor. It also garnered 2 semi-finalist places and 3 finalist finishes among it's 13 selections.

I released "The Painter In Paris" late in 2020, and so far it has received a good reception, winning entry into 12 film festivals and making it into the finals of no less than 4 of them and finished as a semi-finalist in one.  I think it should do well over the course of its run in the festival circuit, and I have high hopes for it.

One of the earliest shorts I created in 2020 was "Trainspotter", but it was not finished until later in the year as I pushed other production ("The Painter" series and "A Man Walks Into A Bank") ahead of it. 

It finally got released late in October 2020, and has won entries into 8 film festivals so far, collecting a finalist and 2 semi-finalist finish along the way. I am quietly confident that this one will end up doing quite well.

The short film that I am currently working on, "The Painter On Safari", is going well, and part 1 of the 7 part film has been completed. It will be a 15 minute short by the time it is completed early in 2023, but the first part has already been launched onto the international film festival circuit, and is gathering some attention, receiving 5 selections and finishing once as a semi-finalist. 

By the time it is completed next year, I hope it will do well in the festivals as a 15 minute short. And if it does, there is a second "Painter" short that I have in mind, to follow. So, fingers crossed it does well.

I have a few earlier shorts of "The Painter" that have barely been featured on any film festivals.

 I may have to rework some parts of them as they are not up to scratch with my later work, but they are still shorts in their own right, and one day they will hopefully get their chance to share some of the spotlight."The Painter" is a character I have developed over time, and want to take him further. How far I can take him remains to be seen.

But from these humble beginnings, he has developed into a character that is now starring in his own 15 minute shorts. What will the future bring with him?

I honestly don't know, but if "The painter On Safari" is the success I truly believe it may be, then at least another short movie will come out with him starring in it, as mentioned earlier. I have some of the story and scenes already set out, I will just have to finish the Safari movie first, and then we will see.

Time will tell, and at the moment, I am just enjoying the process. The current film of his "The Painter On Safari" is my main focus for the next 12 months or so. - to early 2023. After that, we will see what the future is to be for this character and the world he "paints".