Toronto writer/director/assistant editor Tad Seaborn of Inamorata Productions says he felt surprised, overjoyed and then dreadful when he heard he had been awarded $10,000 worth of film stock and camera equipment as the winner of the Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival Screenplay Giveaway Contest. ‘I thought great, I’ve got $10,000 to put towards shooting this script, but then I realized that I might have to make an acceptance speech.’

Seaborn won the prize for his script Necrology, which the contest judges cited as ‘bold, original and visually focused’ when stating their reasons for the unanimous selection. Seaborn’s goal now is to attract a seasoned producer and more investment in the film.

Necrology follows the ’emotional entanglement of a cemetery groundskeeper and a female escape artist, as their unlikely realities collapse against a backdrop of death.’

Seaborn says he drew inspiration for the script from a wide variety of sources including his recent interest and research on the life of Harry Houdini, 19th century sideshows and past visits to old cemeteries in Glasgow, London, New York and Toronto.

Necrology is a dark and richly image-oriented short script with sparse dialogue, and Seaborn credits his work as an assistant to Toronto editor Ron Sanders (Crash, Dead Ringers) for the past two years with having a significant effect on his writing style.

‘Writing is the first stage of editing,’ says Seaborn. ‘In the cutting room, you get to see a film in a form that is similar to how you deal with the material in the writing process.’

After finishing a university degree in film and English literature three years ago, Seaborn began working in the industry on set hoping to learn the craft of directing. ‘I’ve found that the only place to learn directing without actually doing it is in the editing room. I started off in the camera department as a trainee, but I found that everyone on the set was so busy doing technical things that I had more chance of learning about filmmaking being in craft services.’

Seaborn feels he still has a lot to learn about all aspects of the industry and says his winning script is the culmination of many previous failed attempts at the art of writing for the screen. He has just wrapped shooting his first short film, a comedy entitled Anniversary which he wrote, directed and coproduced.

The diametrically opposed styles of Anniversary and Necrology should benefit Seaborn as an example of his depth as a filmmaker. ‘If you’re trying to increase your range as a developing filmmaker it’s better to have two very different samples of your work,’ says Seaborn. ‘Some people make the same film over and over again, maybe they were traumatized and have something to get out of their system.’

Speaking of getting things out of their system, Seaborn is currently developing his first feature script about ‘a present-day P.T. Barnum practising self-promotion in the talk-show, tabloid reality of ’90s media.’