Critical Mask Pictures

19/08/2025

Coverfly, the international screenwriting competition platform, has been extremely good to us over the years - placing "Dig. Dig. Dead!" in their Top 9% and "Symptoms May Include Teleportation" at their Top 6% via the scripts' competitive performance worldwide - so we are very sad to hear that the platform has been closing, the competitions finding new hosts and channels to connect writers, readers, and filmmakers in future.
Thank you so, so much for being such a great encouraging resource and championing indie projects such as ours, Coverfly, our project teams are immensely grateful for your recognition and the ongoing support it has provided ❤️

09/08/2025

The wonderful Cr38ives - The Business Club for Creative Professionals are hosting their delightful in-person summer networking day at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Marlow this coming Friday (August 22nd, 10am BST)! Tickets are still on sale until MIDNIGHT August 10th - that's tomorrow, folks!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cr38ives-big-summer-networking-event-tickets-1425155401169?aff=oddtdtcreator

Honestly, I can't recommend this group enough; Melanie Perry of Poppy Perry Media and Julie Hyde Mew, the founders and hosts, really took me under their wing in helping me get established and confident in my own creative career. Through them, I met such marvellous artists as NUX Photography by Brigitta Scholz Mastroianni, screenwriter and consultant Elie de Rosen, been able to work on projects with people like the talented Jade Vincent of Poisoned Skull SFX, and it's been hugely reassuring to speak to such supportive people as therapist Gloria Prest, coach Khalid Abdullah of Planet Village, and accountant Sarah-Jayne Slocombe of Amethyst Raccoon, mentor Lisa Birtles, actor Kathleen Shaw, and encourage each other's concepts with Sean Antony and James Davison of Progressive Play, among many others!

29/06/2025

The magnificent cast and crew of Dig Dig Dead, courtesy of the fantastic Daniele Roversi!
Following the ongoing positive progress on the international script competition scene, our crowdfunding page on Greenlit is now live!
"Dig. Dig. Dead!" is an original new short horror film about men's mental health in the context of addictive behaviours - we aim to raise awareness and encourage more open discourse on these important social matters, so if you would like to be part of supporting this project we are awarding signed photos, premiere invitations, as well as future watch access, signed copies of the script, and soundtrack downloads.
https://greenlit.com/project/dig-dig-dead
Let's make great independent British horror cinema for a good cause

12/06/2025

Hello all, from a peaceful staycation in South London with an adorable playful cat.
I retired from social media over recent months following a long series of unfortunate circumstances and events that finally came to a head earlier this year, and it's been a case of getting through the days and weeks in minimal survival mode ever since. The time has blurred by in a haze of quietly tackling each most urgent task and deadline behind the scenes as they arise and then suddenly it's June, living at a new address.
Much has happened within the blur and we've got many updates across several projects to share with you over the summer, but for anyone who hasn't had a reply from me in a while - I deeply and sincerely apologise. I'll be catching up with you all as soon as possible, but thank you for bearing with me while the days have been a challenge to get through.

On a happier note to start on those catch-ups: I was long overdue some new shots and NUX Photography by Brigitta Scholz Mastroianni really, REALLY delivered. We had a wonderful day roaming some of London's eclectic and macabre environs, including the Old Operating Theatre here. Thank you so much for your skill, time, company, and patience, Nux, and thanks also go to Tajona and Hannah for the rings (and the latter also for restoring one of my favourite ties).

-Max

01/03/2025

We're with Lift-Off Global Network again in Berlin! Thank you so much to the team for selecting "Nighthawks" in their "Judges Select Shorts: Berlin Lift-Off 2025" programme alongside some other really fantastic short films, available to watch online now! 🎉 !

https://liftoff.network/berlin-lift-off-film-festival-2025/

Synopsis:
Grace and Jonathan couldn’t be more different - one quiet and calm, the other brash and over-confident - but they are both artists. Finding themselves stuck together at school late one night, they are forced to confront the limits of their artistic ability, their motivations, and unspoken familial tensions in a frisson of personality and paint…

BTS Photo Credit to Sotirios Rounos, featuring Sam Toocaram, Jadie Rose Hobson, and Jenni Bowden.

09/01/2025

Something wicked this way comes...

The official teaser poster design is here!

Designed by the talented , this marks the next step in bringing 'Dig. Dig. Dead!' to life.

Let us know what you think👇

08/01/2025

While we've been busy working in post across "World 42", "The Bronze Abstraction", and "coffee+cig" in 2024, Critical Mask Pictures has also had a new project in development... one that has rapidly picked up momentum thanks to the fantastic talented and enthusiastic team that has assembled around the fascinating original idea from writer and director Alexander Cox - "Dig. Dig. Dead!" is a short proof-of-concept horror exploring themes of men's mental health in the context of coping with addiction, told through a surrealist lens in a setting evocative of iconic British folk horror films.

We're very excited to say that after positive feedback we've made it to the Short List for Barnstorm Fest!
Not only that, but we're in the Top 24% on Coverfly, placing as the No.5 Horror Short in December which means the script is available on The Red List!

If you'd like to support the production of this socially important story, please follow and share our Instagram page as we're still in the process of raising funds to meet our budget.
In the meantime, thank you SO much Barnstorm Media and Coverfly!

04/01/2025

Happy New Year 2025!

Feeling the comedown/January/sudden cold winter blues and don't know what to do this weekend? Head on over to the January Filmmaker Sessions for a wide selection of indie films to rent, including our latest short film "Nighthawks" in the New Voices Shorts P1 Programme!
And did Max spend too long trying to recreate the Dean McCoppin meme with the festival mug? Yes, yes he did.


Liftoff.network/lift-off-sessions-january-2025/

24/12/2024

Christmas has arrived a little early here this year!
You can now watch "Nighthawks" online in the "NEW VOICES P1" programme of with the ! Not only that, but we're now also a nominee in the 😮 Thank you SO much to both festival teams for having us onboard!

We're full of festive spirit this season and we hope you enjoy our evocative film of liminal teenage experience - and if you do, please consider voting for us in the global social crowd round open now until January 5th!
We would love to take our work to screen with Lift-Off at Pinewood Studios and Paradiso, and your support means so much to us, not to mention there's a whole host of other fantastic indie short films available to rent this season 🎉 !

From Max here and Critical Mask Pictures, Merry Christmas everyone!

www.liftoff.network/lift-off-sessions-january-2025/

14/12/2024

We've had our first festival selections for Nighthawks!
Thank you so much 4th Dimension Independent Film Festival for having us back in the next edition, and huge thanks to Lift-Off Global Network for including us in the next round of the Filmmaker Sessions!
Watch this space and please check out these wonderful festival pages for more details coming soon about when and where you can catch our new short film online - and if you particularly enjoy it, please consider giving us a vote in the Filmmaker Sessions! We would absolutely love to be back at Pinewood for the annual awards evening 😘
In the meantime, here's wishing everybody a great weekend!

05/03/2024

It was a pleasure to be back at Pinewood Studios the other day for the 2023 hosted by the - meeting so many talented actors and filmmakers was both immensely inspiring and humbling.

Congratulations to all the winners, especially Elias Suhail for winning not one but two awards for his first film, "Beneath A Mother's Feet" executed with great direction.
"Winner Fights The Moon" also had me in tears, and it was great to see Helen Monks on screen again in the delightful "Short Stay, Long Stay".
Shout out to Mia Gill for a genuinely unsettling performance in "Paws", and for any fans of films like "MirrorMask", "Prisoners of Ghostland", or "Repo! The Genetic Opera", I strongly recommend you check out "Phi 1.618"; bonkers, creative, and inventive in all the best ways, and such great locations, costumes, and music.

Huge thanks to the Lift-Off Global Network for hosting a wonderful evening!

23/01/2024

Filming this year has begun with a bang!

It was a delight to step in to model some smokey post-inferno makeup for the upcoming short disaster comedy, "Coffee & A Cigarette". The whole shoot was a hoot over this weekend with the tight cast and crew coming together to engineer some technically ambitious oners and full-scene wide shots that played out beautifully. Really excited to see how it turns out in the edit, we reckon this one will be a crowdpleaser and it's just so nice to be out filming again :')