April Phillips

This year (2020) April’s latest short film “The Last Man on Earth” will have its Los Angeles premiere at Screamfest (known as the “Sundance of Horror”) at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood. Screamfest Horror Film Festival is the largest and longest running horror film festival in the United States with an advisory board that looks like a Who’s Who of the genre including Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Eli Roth, and John Landis. It’s a highlight for Phillips who’s a Kiwi, female filmmaker making inroads into the male dominated horror/Sci-Fi/thriller genres.

Phillips’ films have also been selected for Fantasia, Montreal (North America’s largest genre festival) and Horror Hound film festival in Cincinnati (the largest horror convention in the U.S.), the London Sci-Fi Film Festival, and Fantastic Planet in Sydney.

In addition to genre festivals, other selection highlights include the United Nations “Through Women’s Eyes” section of the Sarasota International Film Festival, the Women in Film & Television International Short Film Showcase, the North Hollywood Cinefest, and the New Zealand Film Festival in China where two of her shorts were selected in a programme of 5. Her latest film was a finalist at the 2019 Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Notable awards include the Special Jury Prize at the 54th Worldfest in Houston, A Platinum Remi award at the 51st Worldfest, 7 nominations at the Short Film Awards in New York (SOFIES) where she won Best Director against the Oscar winning “The Silent Child”, Best Horror Short at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, Best Director and Best Sci-Fi at Festigious, Award of Excellence Special Mention at the Best Shorts Awards, Best Sci-Fi at the Los Angeles Film Awards (LAFA), Best Women Short at the Independent Shorts Awards, Best Foreign Short at the Hollywood Boulevard Film Festival, and the Independent Spirit Award at Fantastic Planet, Sydney.

She has just withdrawn from the Burbank International Film Festival due to Screamfest having the L.A. premiere, but was a finalist for an award there too.

April has been a client writer for Playmarket for over 20 years with a catalogue of 11 stage plays. She is one of New Zealand’s most licensed playwrights and her plays are regularly produced throughout Australasia and the United Kingdom.

She has a Master’s degree in Scriptwriting (Victoria University 2010) and has won countless awards and nominations, locally and internationally for her stage and radio plays and for her screenplays. April has reached the top cut of the BlueCat Screenwriting Competition twice for both short and feature scripts. She’s made it into the semi-finals of the Emerging Screenwriters "Shoot Your Short" competition twice. She’s proud that her films have been screened on Air New Zealand’s inflight entertainment programme and on New Zealand television.

Having written and produced 5 short films and produced and directed 3, April is at the emerging filmmaker stage of her career. She is currently co-producing a horror short (pre-production) and pitching a television series to TVNZ. She has been referred to the Shortland Street Directors Programme by DEGNZ. She is looking for a producer to help her take her career to the next level with a feature film project.

"...the conceptualization of the whole story and the integration of it through film was the work of a creative genius. I know many of us had already seen movies of human extinction and/or being cast away from the rest of the human race, but this one is different. It has a human touch. Director April Phillips tells more than just the story of someone being alone in the world..." Utah Film Festival & Awards Review

“The Last Man on Earth” – British writer/director April Phillips created this thoughtful, provoking and engaging (in every way!) short tells the tale of a woman who must make choices in the aftermath of a global pandemic and it’s clear from frame one that this is the work of a gifted and skilled filmmaker whose future works I predict will also be five star. Jason Coleman – “Why So Blu?”

“April Phillips (New Zealand), The Last Man on Earth, Disability Issues – The aftermath of a global epidemic that virtually wipes out mankind – caused by a vaccine designed to eradicate birth defects. Phillips’ exceptional take on prejudice and moral issues of our times – a thriller about the worth of people with disabilities and lesson about character. Authentic performances by Greer Phillips, Shane Bartle and Duncan Armstrong.” Best Shorts Competition, April 2020