~ TV actor Andrew Lee Potts scoops top Grand Prix prize of £10,000 for ‘Photo Finish’ ~

London based actor and director, Andrew Lee Potts, was presented with the Grand Prix prize by writer and producer Alan Cubitt (The Fall) and Filmmaker and Comedian Danny Wallace for his film ‘Photo Finish’ at the reed.co.uk Short Film Awards tonight (22^nd April) at BAFTA.

Now in its sixth year, the reed.co.uk Short Film Competition creates career changing opportunities for up and coming British creative talent to showcase their work to industry professionals and compete for the chance to win the top prize of £10,000.

Other winners on the night, awarded £1,000 each, were Norwich producer, Carolyn Goodyear who took away the Judge’s Commendation Award for ‘The Sesquipedalianist’, and Cornish director Ben Mankin, 22, who was given the accolade of Best Young Filmmaker for his film ‘Corner to Corner’. The judges also gave a special commendation to two young filmmakers from Buckingham Jamie Coe, 16, and Gabriel Steel, 17, for their film ‘The Question.’ The People’s Choice Award, which was chosen by public vote, went to Chris Cronin for his film ’Peter.’

The competition received 572 entries this year, the highest ever in its history, as filmmakers took on the challenge to create a three minute short film based on an original idea around the theme ‘The Question.’ ‘Photo Finish’, which is set in a photo booth at a wedding and depicts a heart-warming way to pop the question, was created as a gift to his sister and her fiancée who both star in the film.

The entries were shortlisted to 12 films, with the winners selected by a high profile judging panel of industry experts including Lisa Bryer, the Oscar-winning Producer of short film ‘Wasp’ and multi-award winning feature, ‘The Last King of Scotland’, Tim Bevan, co-chairman of Working Title and BAFTA winning documentary, Molly Dineen.

James Reed, chairman of reed.co.uk commented: “We’ve been really impressed by the high calibre of work submitted this year and want to wish the all winners and shortlisted filmmakers our congratulations on their achievement. As the UK’s largest job site, reed.co.uk offers the perfect platform for creative work to be seen and shared. The fact that we’ve seen record number of entries this year, combined with our fantastic panel of expert judges’ is testament not only to how successful the competition has become, but also to the respect with which it is now held within the industry.  We look forward to building on this in future competitions.”

The reed.co.uk Short Film Competition is supported by BAFTA, Channel 4, Met Film School, British Council, and Creative England.