Short Films
Martin’s shorts have won many awards, gone on to play at numerous festivals around the world and picked up international distribution.
KAFKA'S APPRAISAL
Be Appraised. Be very appraised.
Genre: Dark Comedy
In an odd, Orwellian world where history took a turn for the worse, a work appraisal descends into an absurdist nightmare. The employee’s name? Franz Kafka.
KAFKA’S APPRAISAL is a snapshot of life in an absurdist dystopia. 1913 meets 1983, a totalitarian corporate bureaucracy in decline.
The Office if it had been written by Philip K Dick. George Orwell via Dick Clement and Ian la Frenais.
Currently in Post-production.
Writer: Kek W
Director: Martin Gooch
Starring: Paul Ready and Alix Wilton Regan
Death Loves Her Raven
Murder, Magic, Revenge
A short film by Martin Gooch, Sierra Callaghan, and Eleanor Watts
Stricken with grief for her murdered lover, a witch is pursued through the forest by dark forces before unleashing the full extent of her magic when confronted face-to-face with her lover’s murderer.
Director's Statement
Death Loves Her Raven is a film about beauty. I wanted to film in the summer in England and really make it look fantastic, filtered dappled light coming through the trees, timeless costumes that evoke a folk horror witch feel but also non-specific which year it is.
Also, it was all shot with available light; no electric light was used at all, and I think when you watch it, you’ll really appreciate the cinematography. I wanted to create a world where two witches could have a life together, but inevitably, evil creeps in…
Dawn's Demon
TV/Web Series
Starring: Sierra Callaghan, Jon Campling
Director's Statement
Dawn’s Demon was a lot of fun. When I first read the early draft I just really wanted to make it – it’s prescient, powerful and partially possessed! I just loved the simple concept – what if someone was possessed and it made their life better? I was also a volunteer at a local city farm in kentish Town london and they let us film there – so the whole thing was a delight to make and work with – I wanted to give it a very normal clean look, so her everyday life it totally normal – then when Asmodius the demon is around the lighting changes we use more smoke and effects and change the camera angles when she switches between Dawn and the Demon. All quite subtle changes but essential when you are working with a (very) limited budget.
We had lots of laughs on set and I hope that is reflected in the movie.
The multi award winning one-shot short film, A Midwinter Night’s Dream (2019), was a winner with the inaugural Trinity Challenge by ARRI Media and Director’s UK.
Since 1994 martin has been making short films including:
- The Orgasm Raygun (1999) Featuring Leslie Phillips,
- Arthur’s Amazing Things (2002) with Lindsay damn McKenzie, Emily Booth and Leslie Phillips,
- Don’t Even Think it! (2005) with Miranda Hart,
- the epic fights scene that is Popping Round (2009)
- and At The Cheap End (2019) with Jonathan Hansler and Barry Cryer.
Most recently the multi award winning one-shot short film, A Midwinter Night’s Dream (2019), was a winner with the inaugural Trinity Challenge by ARRI Media and Director’s UK (featured above).
