Mum is festival hit ... and runs off with prize
ASTOCKPORT mum who wrote, produced and directed her own film has walked away with one of the top prizes at the London Independent Film Festival.
Hannah Pike shot Hit & Run, which stars Manchester actors Jack Deam and Katie West, in Stockport and New Mills last year – and it took the Best Short Film gong at the festival.
She was presented with the award by festival director Eric Schultz on Sunday April 24.
Hannnah, who is mum to one-year-old Betty, said: “A year ago I dared myself to take the leap and try to make this film. I’m so chuffed I did.
“Getting the award feels brilliant.
“The team, who are all local, totally deserve this after working so hard and for free.”
The film is a dark comedy about a suicidal alcoholic who hires a straighttalking prostitute for one last night of passion before he ends it all.
Jack Deam is known for his roles in Father Brown, DCI Banks and Shameless, while Katie West has impressed on the stage in productions of Hamlet and Blindsided at the Royal Exchange.
Hit & Run was selected from hundreds of entries to be screened at the festival and was among 60 entries vying for the top spot in the short film category.
It also beat off thousands of entries to be screened at the Vail Film Festival, in Colorado in the United States, earlier this month.
Hannah, a former pupil at Marple High School, studied for an MA in scriptwriting at Salford University and won a BBC future talent award.
She originally wrote Hit & Run as a full-length feature and decided to make it as a short herself in the hope of attracting interest from the film industry.
“As a newbie writer and first-time director I knew I would struggle to get funding from the usual bodies, but I knew I wanted to tell this story regardless,” she said.
“I hoped Stockport would get behind me with the funding, and four local companies and a load of mates chipped in so we could do it.
“Stockport Council and 3Sixty Media at Media City were really generous too.”
For more information about the film visit hitandrunfilm.com.