Photo by Jiao Chen

A short film recipient of Screen Australia’s Short Film Completion Fund, set for completion in August 2013. 

15-year-old Stella knows that she’s not like the other girls in grade ten: she’s scrawny, boobless and bespectacled, and teased mercilessly for it—mainly by Emma, the class bully whose popularity is outweighed only by her massive jugs. When Stella discovers during a sex-ed class that she’s the only girl in her grade who hasn’t gotten her period, it’s the last straw. With the help of her friends, Martin (Stella’s semi-closeted best friend) and Gabby (the token Chinese kid), Stella attempts to fit in by fast tracking her way to womanhood. But Stella doesn’t realise that growing up takes time, and when puberty creeps up on you, it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.

Stay in touch with the project on Facebook!

Director: Corrie Chen

Writer: Michelle Law

Producer: Jiao Chen

BLOOMERS was partly funded through Pozible and crowdfunding. As part of a big social media campaign (over $15,000 AUD was raised), two short and funny videos were created to help the project gain word-of-mouth traction. Check them out below.

And here is Benjamin Law and Lawrence Leung attempting to explain one of the biggest female mysteries.

Every ten minutes, someone in Australia attempts to take their own life, and the effects of each attempt are traumatic and far reaching. In KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT, three Australians take us to the heart of the tragedy. A young man who had once attempted suicide candidly recounts his journey to the brink and back while a telephone crisis counsellor must find the right words to convince another person to live. As lives hang in the balance, a suicide bereavement counsellor helps to pick up the pieces for the families of those who don’t make it back. Unfolding over the course of a day, the three extraordinary stories reveal the startling reality of this national tragedy. Honest, raw and unafraid, KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT asks the big question: what can society do keep each other safe?

KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT is a ½ hour documentary that is in production in association with the ABC. The project was conceived by a team of passionate young filmmakers who want to talk frankly about suicide – a subject that has been stigmatized for too long.

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Genre: Short Comedy, 2011

Writer/Director: Corrie Chen

Producer: Anna Kojevnikov

DOP: Shelley Farthing-Dawe

Production Design: Sally Addinsall

Editor: Lauren Anderson

Sound Design: Dane Cody

Original score: Jamie Messenger

Songs featuring San Cisco and Megastick Fanfare

With assistance from Screen Australia & Open Channel

Festival Screenings: Flickerfest 2012, St Kilda Film Festival 2012, Shorts Film Festival 2012, Surfer’s Paradise Short Film Festival 2012, Interfilm Berlin Short Film Festival ( KUKI Children & Youth) 2012, Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival 2012, BUFF Film Festival 2013, World of Women Film Festival 2013, Little Big Shots Film Festival 2013, Heart of Gold Film Festival 2013, Moviemiento Film Festival (Berlin) 2013

Awards & Nominations:

• ATOM Awards 2012 – Nominated ‘Best Short Fiction’
• World of Women Film Festival 2013 – Highly Commended, Best Australian Short (comedy)

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http://www.interfilm.de/vertrieb/short-of-the-week/08-2013.html

http://www.facebook.com/BLPBT 

It’s Chinese New Year – dancing lions, dragons, blood red firecrackers, and a beast called Nian.

But 10 year old Clancy is tired. Every Saturday he has to go to Chinese school, and it sucks. He can’t speak chinese, and his mum can’t speak English. All she wants is her only child to speak Chinese, but Clancy just wants to be like Sam, the cool kid at school.

In an act of rebellion, Clancy steals a firecracker from school to impress Sam and his friends, but he soon discovers that it will take all of his courage to discover who it is he really wants to be.

Genre: Short drama, 2010

Writer/ Director: Corrie Chen

Producer: Anna Kojevnikov

DOP: Michael Latham

Editor: Malgorata Swierczak

Sound Design: Markus Kellow

Original Score: Jamie Messenger

Production Company: VCA School of Film & Television

Festival Screenings: Flickerfest 2011, Dungog Film Festival 2011, NAFA Showfest 2011, Access All Areas Film Festival & Tour 2011, Munich International Film Festival (Film Schools) 2011, SKENA UP Festival 2011, Asian Australian Film Forum 2011, San Francisco Asian American Film Festival 2012, World of Women Film Festival 2012, Asians on Film Festival 2012, Australian Director’s Guild Awards 2012, Bayside Film Festival 2012, San Diego Asian Film Festival 2012, DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival 2012, Colourfest Film Festival 2012, Malaysia Arts & Performance Festival 2012, Boston Asian American Film Festival 2012, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2013, Equator’s WOW Film Festival (London) 2013

Awards & Nominations:

• Australian Director’s Guild Awards 2012 – Nominated – Best direction in a student film
• Colourfest Film Festival – Best Film
• WOW Film Festival - Best Student Film
• Bayside Film Festival – Best Tertiary Film
• NAFA Showfest - Runner up – Best Film
• VCA Film & Television Awards – Nominated – Best Masters Production
• Asians on Film – Honorable Mention – Best Short Drama, Best Director. Winner – Best Supporting Actress (Sofia Shen).

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wonder-Boy/120965874615849

A pregnant Chinese woman and her over-confident Chinese husband set off for Sydney by car, and discover that distance is not confined to the landscape.

Genre: Short Comedy-Drama, 2008

Writer/ Director: Corrie Chen

DOP: Josh Flavell

Editor: Ramzi Nabulsi & Corrie Chen

Original Score: Brett Cusack & Jack Stewart

Production Company: VCA School of Film & Television

Festival Screenings: Melbourne International Film Festival – Accelerator Program 2009, Cinema des Antipodes – St Tropez 2009, Australian Embassy – Paris 2009, In the Bin Film Festival 2009, International Festival of Audiovisual Programs 2010, Flickerfest 2010, St Kilda Film Festival 2010, Melbourne International Student Film Festival 2010, La Mirada Film Festival 2011, Colourfest 2011, Harmony Day Screenings 2013, Greater Dandenong Film Festival 2013

Awards & Nominations: 

• Nominated VCA Best Undergraduate Production 
• Nominated VCA Best Potential for Theatrical Distribution 
• Winner – Audience Award, Melbourne International Student Film Festival
• Winner – Panel’s Choice Award, Greater Dandenong Film Festival

• Extremely proud and excited to announce that BLOOMERS is the latest recipient of Screen Australia’s $40,000 Short Film Completion Fund! This will allow the team to complete the film at the highest post-production standard. Read more about it here.
• BRUCE LEE PLAYED BADMINTON TOO will be screening this month as part of Little Big Shots Film Festival in Melbourne, ACMI, as well as Moviemiento Film Festival in Berlin. Check out the link for details!
• Corrie has been invited by Pozible to be a guest speaker at their upcoming Pozible Melbourne Workshop on June 27th. It’s free, but book your tickets!

May 2013

• WONDER BOY is screening as part of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival this month at the wonderful DGA theatre. Check out the link for details.
• A big congrats to good friend and frequent DOP collaborator Michael Latham on the short film he shot TAU SERU being accepted to Cannes Film Festival Critic’s week. Michael shot WONDER BOY, and also a fun video for BLOOMERS.
• Principal photography wraps on KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT, with a few extra shot days scattered over the next month still to come.
• Interfilm Berlin named BRUCE LEE PLAYED BADMINTON TOO as their short of the week! Check out their wonderfully written synopsis.
• BLOOMERS is well into the rough cut, with a couple of public rough cut screenings scheduled over May in both Melbourne and Sydney. They will be announced here as they are scheduled.

April 2013

• Starting April off with the great news that HAPPY COUNTRY, a massive 5 years after completion, was awarded the Panel’s Choice Award at the Greater Dandenong Film Festival!
• Production kicks off on KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT. Over the next month they’ll be shooting around Sydney, Noosa, and Hervey Bay.

March 2013

Photo by Kate Disher-Quill

• BLOOMERS is wrapped! It was a gloriously fun shoot – here are some fabulous sneak peeks from on set photographer Kate Disher-Quill. And now, straight into the dark dungeons of the edit suite!
• Pre-production started on KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT, and a big thank you to those who helped spread the word of this documentary, as well as those who pledged to the pozible campaign.
• BRUCE LEE PLAYED BADMINTON TOO was awarded a ‘Highly Commended’ Best Australian Short (comedy) at the World of Women Film Festival!
• The Inner West Courier interviewed Corrie about the longevity of HAPPY COUNTRY and growing up Asian in Australia.

February 2013

• Production started on Bloomers! Check out the video above for a behind the scenes peek.
• ABC and Screen Australia confirms the funding of KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT.
• Corrie was featured in a Q & A  about KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT with Seen and Heard – a blog celebrating exciting female filmmakers.
• Lip Magazine interviewed Corrie (and producer Jiao Chen) about their involvement in KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT.
• BRUCE LEE PLAYED BADMINTON TOO is opening for Bernardo Bertolucci’s new film at the BUFF Film Festival, Sweden in March!
• BRUCE LEE PLAYED BADMINTON TOO has been selected to play Opening Night at the World of Women Film Festival in Sydney.

January 2013

• That time Corrie was quoted in THE GUARDIAN, 2013

• Keep Me Safe Tonight has been selected as one of only 5 projects to take part in AIDC’s Pozible Pitch, happening during Docweek in Adelaide.
• Pre-production started on Bloomers, with principle photography to take place in mid-February.

Now, fully-grown, Corrie is an award-winning filmmaker whose short films have screened at numerous festivals both locally and internationally. Her intercontinental background means she is drawn to exploring themes of dichotomy and identity, through stories that burst with offbeat humour.

Corrie’s latest work includes directing Keep Me Safe Tonight - a 1/2 hour documentary commissioned by the ABC, as well as the short comedy Bloomers – a recipient of Screen Australia’s Short Film Completion Fund.

In recent times she has turned her focus to working on feature films and television. She is currently in development to write and direct her first feature with veteran comedy producer Marc Gracie. Alongside that, Corrie has also worked in the writer’s room on the development of the comedy series ‘Family Law’, and ‘Maximum Choppage’ with Matchbox Pictures, a leading Australian production company.

Across her body of work, she has been nominated for an Australian Director’s Guild Award (Best Student Film; Wonder Boy), ATOM Award (Best Short Fiction; Bruce Lee Played Badminton Too), and came runner-up in the Film category of the QANTAS Spirit of Youth Award judged by Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde, 21). Her films have  screened extensively around the world, including Academy-accredited festivals such as Melbourne International Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival, Interfilm Berlin Short Film Festival, Flickerfest, St Kilda Film Festival and taking prizes at many others.

Since graduating from film school, Corrie has been invited to participate in talent labs as part of Melbourne International Film Festival (Accelerator), and Munich Film Festival (Film Schools). In 2011 she was a recipient of Screen Australia’s Raw Nerve Production initiative with her short film, Bruce Lee Played Badminton Too.

Corrie loves to write, but loves working with writers more. She is inspired by a diversity of stories, from The Godfather, to E.T, from Tootsie to Pitch Perfect. She hopes to one day meet Tina Fey and Ang Lee, where presumedly she would start sweating uncontrollably and eventually melt into a puddle of water.

Corrie is represented by RGM Artist group for her film and TV work.

Above: Corrie, hard at work on set, waiting for a chicken taco.

Inner West Courier Interview – HAPPY COUNTRY, 2013

Lip Magazine Interview – KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT, 2013

Seen and Heard Interview – KEEP ME SAFE TONIGHT, 2013

Melbourne Weekly Magazine – WONDER BOY, 2012

JOY 94.9fm with Amy Bastow – PROFILE INTERVIEW: Podcast, 2012

MX Newspaper – BRUCE LEE PLAYED BADMINTON TOO, 2012

Peril Magazine – PROFILE INTERVIEW, 2012

Review from Asian Australian Film Forum – WONDER BOY, 2011 

Progress Leader Newspaper – HAPPY COUNTRY, 2009

REVIEWS

Bursting with off-beat humour, this brilliantly cast short film manages to highlight the ways in which parents routinely squash their children’s confidence whilst also revealing suburban Australia’s usually hidden fear of the growing Asian populace.

- Interfilm Berlin, on Bruce Lee Played Badminton Too.

Happy Country is warm and funny and the voice is original and clear…it explores the fact that humour is often the last thing to travel across cultures. This is subtle and nuanced story telling well handled.

- Sue Brookes, Director of Japanese Story

Wonder Boy beautifully captures a child caught between two cultures, two worlds. It entertained me, made me laugh out loud several times, educated, informed me as to migrants’ difficulties and experiences in moving to and growing up here in Australia…A clever script is perfectly realised by its writer-director. The narrative has layers, meanings to it and that’s hard to achieve in a short film.

- John Ruane, Director of Death in Brunswick

Wonder boy is sweet, engaging, and assured…it is told with wit, intelligence, and a minimum of didacticism. It is warm without being saccharine and carefully and confidently structured.

- Joel Anderson, Director of Lake Mungo

Bruce Lee Played Badminton Too was so funny. But we think you can make more money if you made horror films.

- Mum and Dad

whois@corriechen.com

For additional information about Corrie, her projects, or her CV please contact: