Son (2008 film)

2007 British film

Son

Directed by| Daniel Mulloy
Written by| Daniel Mulloy
Produced by| Ohna Falby
Starring| Natalie Press
James Wilson
Glenn Doherty
Cinematography| Robbie Ryan
Edited by| Dan Robinson
Music by| Fanfare Ciocărlia

Production
company

Sony & Sister Films

Release date

* 2007 (2007)

Running time

| 16 minutes
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English

Son is a 2008 short film starring Natalie Press. Financed and commissioned by Sony Vaio it was a branded content short that would become Viao's first branded content film. It went on to win multiple awards including Best Film at Edinburgh International Film Festival and Best Film at Slamdance Film Festival, becoming both a commercial hit and critical success for Sony Vaio.

## Plot

[edit]

A mother and son spent time in an underground theater. They work on a film production that seems slowly to consume them - but the ingenious drama turns out to keep twisting.

## Branded content

[edit]

Sony Vaio commissioned three artists: musicians Plan B, DJ Norman Jay and filmmaker Daniel Mulloy to each create branded pieces of content for Sony Vaio.[1][2]

Son was commissioned as a marketing tool for the Sony Vaio computer and actress Natalie Press was cast in the lead role. In the filmmaker's hands a narrative was created in which the relationship with Sony Vaio became more subliminal to audiences than traditional product placement.

After winning Slamdance Film Festival Son was invited to become one of the first short films to feature on YouTube's newly opened Screening Room. Son's subsequent success led YouTube to promote Son on its US home-page as a featured video.

## Trilogy

[edit]

Son is the second in Mulloy's acclaimed trilogy Dad, Son, Baby that followed Mulloy's BAFTA winning Antonio's Breakfast and led Brandon Harris of FilmMaker to cite Mulloy as "one of the world's most well regarded short filmmakers."[3]

The characters in Son where continued from those that initially appeared in Kraków Film Festival Golden Dragon winning Dad[4] and would go on to be features in the British Independent Film Award winning Baby.[5][6]

## Edinburgh Film Festival

[edit]

Son won Best short Film Award at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2008 as did Mulloy's next short film Baby in 2010, making Mulloy the first director to win the world's oldest continually running film festival[7] twice.[8]

## Awards

[edit]

* Alpinale European Film Festival 2008 won Best Film Golden Unicorn
* Alpinale European Film Festival 2008 won Best Sound
* California Independent Film Festival 2008 won Golden Slate Award for Best Short Film
* Chicago International Film Festival 2008 Nominated Gold Hugo Best Short Film
* Edinburgh International Film Festival 2008 Won Best Short Film
* George Lindsey UNA Film Festival 2008 Won Best Short Film
* Lille International Short Film Festival 2008 Won Best Short Film
* Slamdance Film Festival 2008 Won Best Narrative Short [9]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Jones, Gareth, (26 February 2007) Marketing Magazine - Sony enlists DJs, directors for VAIO social networking community, Marketing magazine. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
2. ^ (30 April 2007) Win VIP tickets to launch of Vaionation – Evening Standard, Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
3. ^ Brandon Harris, (13 June 2011), "The 2011 Krakow Film Festival", FilmMaker. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
4. ^ Krakow Film Festival 2007 Awards Archive Retrieved 23 November 2020.
5. ^ "BIFA 2010: Winners List". British Independent Film Awards. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
6. ^ (27 January 2011) Short Shot: Daniel Mulloy Sundance Institute by Landon Zakheim. 6 Retrieved December 2014.
7. ^ "Scotland Hosts the World's Longest Running Film Festival". Scotland.com. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
8. ^ "Edinburgh International Film Festival". Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
9. ^ *IMDB Son (short film) Awards page Archived 8 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 6 December 2014.