Twenty of the West Midlands’ new and innovative filmmakers have just been shortlisted for Screen WM’s highly esteemed digitals shorts scheme while last year’s achieve international recognition.

Each year digital shorts gives eight of the freshest filmmakers the chance to produce their short film with a budget of up to £9,000. The twenty lucky shortlisted applicants will work with industry development specialists before pitching their final script to a panel of industry experts who select the final eight which are awarded the funding.

The shortlisted projects are: ‘Freon’ by Jordan Cadby, ‘The Apology Line’ by James Lees, ‘Modern Paranoias’ by Iain Smith, ‘Small Thoughts’ by Robert Green, ‘The Beloved Ones’ by Samantha Moore, ‘The Animal Book’ by Second Home Studios, ‘If I Live For A Thousand Years’ by Joe Wihl, ‘The Gingerbread Man’ by Second Home Productions, ‘A Seed Of Doubt’ by Lee Carnighan, ‘Picture Perfect’ by Tom Hall, ‘Hope’ by Deborah Aston, ‘The Second Coming’ by Tanya Bullock & Kaush Patel, ‘No Matter What’ by Sian Hirst &Geetika Lizardi, ‘Axeman Cometh’ by Matthew Barker, ‘Life Expectancy’ by Darren Lee Kemp, ‘Anish’ by Ranjit Khutan, ‘Close At Hand’ by Jez Alsop, ‘E’x'Presso’ by Kevin Powis, ‘Dark Room’ by Yvonne Brissett and ‘Shattered Lives’ by Nicholas Hatton Jones.