Blending dark comedy with moments of violent drama, Dan Sully’s first venture into narrative shorts, The Ellington Kid, carries on the impressive directorial work he displayed in a series of music videos earlier in his career. Telling the story of the titular Ellington Kid, Sully’s stand-out short is based on an urban legend, told to him by a musician in one the aforementioned promos.
In a typical South London kebab shop Nathan tells Beefy a story. It’s a story he’s heard about the Ellington kid, who got stabbed and found refuge in the very kebab shop they are sitting in.
Already showcased as part of the Vice shorts series, speaking to director Sully for Short of the Week, I was eager to find out how the success of his first short has affected his career and what’s next in the pipeline:
“I’ve been very lucky with the short…Off the back of it I now have an agent and it looks like it will help me get funding to make a second bigger short. I’m also meeting people in the features world at the moment too. Early days, but that is the goal that I’m working towards – making a feature film. I’m currently writing my second short, with another writer, Lewis Bowman, who is actually the frontman of a band I’ve made two music videos for – Chapel Club. It’s longer and has a bit more to it… I won’t say much more about it but I am excited about it and am looking forward to making it at some point this year.”
