An old woman feels threatened by a stranger trying to get into the house she's in - but nothing is quite what it seems.

‘The Prowler’ is everything you could want from a short film – witty, economical writing that delivers a singular idea, graced by just the right amount of yearning in 6 and a half minutes’ screen time.

It delights us with its clever twist and mischievous humour and is a rare find for daring to offer the lead part to an actress in her seventies – and giving us an older character who isn’t old and dying, nor overshadowed by a younger member of the cast.

Back in February 2012, my dad, Nicholas Penrake, wanted to find a script written by someone else for a change. He put out a posting on a number of newsletter sites, such as ShootingPeople and TalentCircle, asking for a script of about 3-4 minutes. It could be on any subject, but he had to stick to 4 pages or under and keep to a low budget.

He received many scripts – nearly all of them well over 4 pages long – but few he found engaging. In fact, he was on the point of abandoning the idea of directing someone else’s script when he received a 4-page script from a young Australian writer, Ingrid Elkner, and he liked it at the first reading.

They worked together to tweak the script, and nine drafts later, we were ready to shoot it!

We filmed the whole thing at my grandparents’ beautiful home in Surrey. I was the runner, keeping everything in check and using the clapperboard while my dad ran the whole thing as director/1st AD. The day at their house was coincidentally one of the most relaxing and straightforward shooting days we've ever had. After shooting, I did my editing magic.

This short was signed to Shorts International.

Cast

Old Woman Colette O’Neil
Old Woman on Bench Paula Jacobs
Policeman ♯1 Nick Kahn
Policeman ♯2 Mayson Kayne
Policeman ♯3 Nicholas Penrake

Crew

Producer/Director Nicholas Penrake
Writer Ingrid Elkner
Editor Shiona Penrake
Music Mark Delany
Sound Recordists Doug Fayers, Luis Celomundo
Camera Assistants Chris Ferguson, Ravi Kang
Director of Photography Andrew Fleming
Runners Shiona Penrake, Ralph Meacock, Kaori Ando