Now that the film has completed its festival run, we present George Jones online for your viewing pleasure. Prepare to be touched … by a tentacle.
Category: George Jones and the Giant Squid
George Jones and the Giant Squid has been awarded Best Film at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, with judge, veteran TV writer Michael Reaves, praising the film:
“I’ve written, produced and otherwise been responsible for nearly half a thousand TV episodes… This film surprised me. It’s laugh out loud funny. The acting’s spot on. People don’t realise what a tightrope walk something like this is.”
Following on from the win, the film will also be screening at LosCon 39, the Los Angeles Science Fiction Convention in late November.
Our short films George Jones and the Giant Squid and This is Perth will be screening at the Wave Rock Weekender this weekend. Over two days and nights the festival features a line-up of about 20 Australian and international music acts; 10 or so feature films and documentaries; cheap food and drinks; a 50m round, 6m deep therapeutic salt pond, plus more. If you’re there, check out the Old Bertie double-header in between some great acts, including a personal favourite of ours, Mr Tim Rogers of You Am I.
Old Bertie in LA
George Jones and the Giant Squid hits Los Angeles this month as part of the HP Lovecraft Film Festival. It screens on Saturday 29th at The Warner Grand Theatre. Festival schedule can be found here.

Old Bertie is set to take Manhattan! George Jones and the Giant Squid will screen at the New York City International Film Festival in August. The festival aims to provide a high-profile platform that showcases creative works to a vast and diverse audience. Festival details can be found here.
This continues an exciting festival run for the film, having already screened at Perth Revelation Film Festival, Flickerfest, Palm Springs International Film Festival and most recently at the 66th Edinburgh International Film Festival where it was nominated for Best International Short Film.
Just a quick update with the news that George Jones and the Giant Squid has been nominated for Best Film in the International Short Film Competition at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Old Bertie is appeased.
We’re delighted to share the news that George Jones and the Giant Squid will have its US premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
The film will screen as part of the 2012 International ShortFest programme, which runs from June 19-25. Palm Springs is renowned worldwide for the extraordinary community of filmmakers it attracts, and for the quality and scope of its programming. Festival details here: http://www.psfilmfest.org and here: http://www.psfilmfest.org/festival/film/georgejones
We’re pleased to announce that George Jones and the Giant Squid will have its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival which runs from 20 June to 1 July. The festival is renowned around the world for discovering and promoting the very best in international cinema. As Scotland is no stranger to mysterious underwater beasts, we feel it will be a fitting locale for Old Bertie to make his UK debut. Check the website for details: http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/
Old Bertie continues his tour of the West as George Jones and the Giant Squid screens during Flickerfest’s WA run. It’s showing along with Best of International 1, hitting Broome on Friday the 9th and Margaret River on Saturday the 10th. Local townsfolk can catch a glimpse of this normally elusive beast by checking details here for Broome or here for Margs.
George Jones and the Giant Squid will screen in Perth when Flickerfest hits WA in March.
The film plays with the ‘Best of Australian (on tour)’ programme, on Thursday, 1st of March, at Camelot Outdoor Cinema, Mosman Park.
The screening starts at 8.15pm, and includes a range of great Australian short films. We’ll be there at the bar, so come on down and buy us a drink!
Our short film George Jones and the Giant Squid has been officially selected for the Flickerfest International Short Film Festival 2012 Australian Competition.
Flickerfest is Australia’s leading and only Academy® accredited and BAFTA recognised international short film festival. This year an unprecedented 2200 entries were received. 45 Australian films have been chosen for official competition representing the most innovative, creative and cutting edge short films that Australia has to offer.
The festival runs from 6th to 15th of January at Bondi Pavillion, Sydney, before touring nationally. Come on down and check it out.
Here’s a little preview of George Jones and the Giant Squid, our new short film.
George Jones and the Giant Squid will have its Australian premiere on Thursday July 21 at the Revelation Perth International Film Festival.
The film draws on the legend of Old Bertie, a fearsome gargantuan squid, and tells the tale of a young boy who, after the disappearance of his mother, risks everything to hunt for the beast.
The screenplay was awarded $70 000 in production funding through the ScreenWest/FTI Hyperlink initiative. Shot in and around Fremantle in January, the film was produced by Ella Wright and features a stellar cast of WA’s top actors including Geoff Kelso, Luke Hewitt, Alison Van Reeken and Greg McNeil.
The film will screen along with other Western Australian shorts as part of Revelation Film Festival’s Get Your Shorts On! programme. The screening, usually a sell out event, kicks off at 7pm on Thursday July 21 at the Astor Cinema. Tickets are $17 / $14 Conc and can be purchased through all Bocs outlets (including the Astor) or online at http://www.bocsticketing.com.au/
We’ve been busy in the last few months, completing principal photography and post-production on our new film George Jones and the Giant Squid. The film was funded through the highly competitive ScreenWest/FTI Hyperlink initiative, and will screen later in the year.
Many thanks to our excellent cast and crew for their great work.
To those of you who have been wondering where we have been for the last few months, we wish to thank you for your many letters of enquiry and support, and also for the countless parcels of rations and dry biscuits that you have sent. Your generosity has sustained us during our often fraught attempts to repair our badly damaged steamboat. We are happy to announce that we have made good progress, and that the vessel is almost sea-worthy.
However, our records indicate that some citizens have been inconsistent with their offerings to Old Bertie. While sightings of the squid have been few in the past year, we remind each of you that complacency will lead only to ruin. Bertie may yet again reveal himself, and so we leave you with this one vitally important question:
Have you made your offering to Old Bertie today?
—
Photograph by Miles Noel ©2010
Hyperlink Funded
We are pleased to announce that our screenplay for George Jones and the Giant Squid has been awarded the annual HyperLink grant from ScreenWest and FTI.
The highly competitive fund is offered to one project each year, and aims to assist a Western Australian creative team to develop their skills to professional industry standards.
George Jones and the Giant Squid will be produced by Ella Wright, with principal photography scheduled for January 2011. The team are looking forward to getting nautical.