Female directors bring comedy Horror Shorts to Sky this Halloween
David Farnor | On 11, Oct 2017
A spooky collection of comedy Horror Shorts is arriving on Sky this Halloween, directed by an all-female line-up.
Curated and produced by the award-winning Merman team of Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford (Catastrophe, Bliss), the collection brings together some of the best new and established female directing talent in a fright-fest of short-form comedy.
Ghastly ghost tours, a wedding turned sinister and mysterious strangers harbouring scary secrets make for an anthology of stories that includes: A Deal, directed by Nida Manzoor; It Should Have Been Me, directed by Emily Greenwood; and Twin Thing, directed by Kate Herron.
Sharon Horgan, Merman Founder and Executive Producer, says: “Finding strong female voices has always been important to us at Merman because there’s still an imbalance there to address. To be able to champion these women through Sky’s comedy shorts was a great opportunity.”
Jon Mountague, Head of Sky Comedy, comments: “This series of shorts has been created by a brilliant cohort of all-female directors who are bringing something new, exciting and refreshing to the comedy line-up on Sky. Through our partnership with the extremely talented Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford of Merman, Sky hopes to encourage more women to get involved with directing, writing and all technical roles in comedy.”
“We were thrilled to have the opportunity to meet just some of the brilliant female directors in the industry for this season of shorts, and the three we are working with have reaffirmed how the female gaze can result in exciting and surprising results in comedy,” adds Clelia Mountford, Merman Founder and Executive Producer. “At Merman we remain committed to exploring opportunities for female directors and Sky’s shorts are a wonderful example of this.”
The Halloween Horror Shorts were commissioned for Sky by head of comedy Jon Mountague. They will be available exclusively on Sky on demand from 23rd October and will then air on Sky Arts from 31st October. Not got Sky? They will also be available on NOW, Sky’s contract-free streaming service.
Here’s the line-up:
Horror Shorts: Twin Thing
Directed by Kate Herron, Written by Andi Osho
Kehinde & Taiwo are identical twins but chalk and cheese in every other respect. As historian Kehinde launches her guided tour, actress Taiwo seems determined to jeopardise its accuracy by vamping up the scare factor. Andi Osho, Evelyn Mok and Jackie Clune star.
Horror Shorts: It Should Have Been Me
Directed by Emily Greenwood, Written by Bex Harvey and Christian Azzola
It’s the morning of Kelly’s wedding and she has turned into the typical bridezilla. So far only one of her bridesmaids has turned up and other strange things are happening at the hotel. Phones stop working, the door is jammed shut and there are footsteps echoing down the corridor. Is something sinister afoot or is it a case of one wedding too far for Caroline? Jessica Knappett and Jessica Regan star.
Horror Shorts: A Deal
Directed by Nida Manzoor, Written by Dan Mersh
The story of Jen and her encounter with a strange woman in a pub who promises her £4m tax free in exchange for giving her scary information about her future. What does Jen do? She wants the £4m, but can she handle the knowledge this stranger will tell her? Sheila Reid, Mandeep Dhillon and Jaz Deol star.