HollyShorts Film Festival Casestudy
Narrative | Dramatic Features.
Film Name: The Intimacy Coordinator.
Format: Short film.
Genre: Drama/Thriller.
Date: April 2026.
Director: Louisa Connolly-Burnham.
Producer: Louisa Connolly-Burnham, Benjamin Jacob Smith and Roxane Bourges.
Writer: Louisa Connolly-Burnham.
Cinematographer: Laura Bellingham BSC.
Editor: Lesley Posso.
Production Company: Thimble Films, Raw Inventive and Curtain Bangs.
Budget: £30,000.
Financing: Crowdfunding campaign.
Shooting Format: Digital, shot on the ARRI ALEXA 35.
Screening Format: Digital, including DCP and H264.
World Premiere: Dead Center Film Festival, Oklahoma, USA, June 2026 (Oscar-qualifying).
Awards & Nominations.
-Best International Film at Copenhagen Headliner Film Festival.
-Nomination: Short Wonders, Best Acting Performance, Cinematography & Sound Design at Copenhagen Headliner Film Festival.
-Nominated for Best Actress and Best Drama Short Film at Cindependent Film Festival.
-Award nominee at The Shortest Nights. The film is also BAFTA and BIFA-qualified.
Website
A Bio of Louisa Connolly-Burnham
Louisa Connolly-Burnham is an award-winning writer-director-actress from Birmingham and founder of Thimble Films. In 2024, Louisa’s made a short film titled Sister Wives with BAFTA-winner Mia McKenna-Bruce (How To Have Sex). The short was long-listed for the 2025 Oscars and BAFTAs, acquired by Film4. It ranked #3 in Letterboxd’s global “Year in Review 2024” and won over 30 awards across 100+ international festivals.
Louisa is currently developing her debut feature, Sister Wives. BAFTA-winner Mia McKenna-Bruce will star, alongside executive producer Liz Destro (Longlegs, The Monkey). The Coppola family’s American Zoetrope (Priscilla, Lost in Translation, Apocalypse Now) joins as US producing partner. With Emily Everdee of Everdee Media leading in the UK. Louisa’s new short, The Intimacy Coordinator is at HollyShorts.
The Louisa Connolly-Burnham Interview
indieactivity: What is your film about?
Louisa Connolly-Burnham (LCB): The Intimacy Coordinator is a 21-minute darkly comic psychological thriller. The dilm is about a highly respected intimacy coordinator harboring a dangerous secret: she is a sex addict. Kate attends weekly support meetings. But, her recovery is unravelling and she is secretly sleeping with another member of the group. Then she becomes fixated on Max. A young actor under her care, the professional boundaries designed to keep him safe begin to collapse.
I was fascinated by the extraordinary degree of trust actors place in intimacy coordinators while filming vulnerable material. That led me to consider a disturbing dramatic question. What would happen if the person employed to safeguard performers was secretly the least appropriate person for the job? Through satire, discomfort and escalating horror, the film examines consent, addiction. And professional power and the danger of placing unquestioning trust in those appointed to protect us.
Tell us about the festival run, marketing and sales?
Louisa Connolly-Burnham (LCB): The Intimacy Coordinator world premiered at the Oscar-qualifying deadCenter Film Festival in Oklahoma in June 2026. Its European premiere followed at Copenhagen Headliner Film Festival in Denmark. There it won Best International Film. And was nominated for Short Wonders, Best Acting Performance, Best Cinematography and Best Sound Design.
The film then made its North American premiere at the BAFTA-qualifying Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, followed by its Los Angeles premiere at HollyShorts Film Festival, which is both Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying. Its UK premiere took place at the BIFA-qualifying Kino London Short Film Festival.
The film’s international festival journey has also included Lytham International Film Festival, the BIFA-qualifying The Shortest Nights, Cine International Film Festival, Cindependent Film Festival, the BIFA-qualifying Women X Film Festival, the BIFAqualifying Exit 6 Film Festival, Fine Line Film Festival in Serbia, Lviv International Short Film Festival Wiz-Art in Ukraine, the BIFA-qualifying Worcester International Film Festival, South London Film Festival, Stamford International Film Festival and Cannes Indie Shorts Awards in France.
At Cindependent Film Festival, the film received nominations for Best Drama Short Film and Best Actress. Its selections have taken the film across the United States, United Kingdom and Europe, with world, European, North American, Los Angeles, UK, Midwest, Serbian, Ukrainian and French premieres forming part of the campaign.
The marketing campaign has focused heavily on Kate, the film’s deeply flawed central character, and the provocative reversal at the heart of the story. Press coverage has included a Variety exclusive alongside features, interviews and reviews from Loud and Clear, Overly Honest, Top Film Magazine, 1883 Magazine and Upcoming On Screen.
The film is BAFTA and BIFA-qualified and will continue its festival and awards journey throughout 2026 and into 2027. We are not currently planning a public YouTube release until summer 2027, allowing the film to complete that journey first.
Give the full official synopsis for your film?
Louisa Connolly-Burnham (LCB): Kate is a respected intimacy coordinator whose job is to protect actors while they perform vulnerable scenes. Behind her reassuring professional manner, however, she is secretly struggling with sex addiction. Her weekly support meetings have done little to curb her compulsions, particularly because she is having a clandestine sexual relationship with Nigel, another member of the group.
While working on an intimate scene between two young actors, Max and Ella, Kate becomes increasingly fixated on Max. What begins as inappropriate attention soon develops into a serious abuse of her professional authority. She comments on his body, manipulates him into removing clothing that the scene does not require and uses a rehearsal as an opportunity to touch him. Max becomes increasingly uncomfortable and begins to recognize that the person responsible for his safety may actually pose a threat to it.
When Max unexpectedly arrives at Kate’s support group and discovers the truth about her addiction, her personal and professional lives collide. After Nigel publicly exposes their relationship, Max confronts Kate and threatens to report her. Terrified of losing her career and her access to the bodies she has been entrusted to protect, Kate follows him into the night, where her obsession reaches a shocking and horrifying conclusion.
Development and Financing?
Louisa Connolly-Burnham (LCB): I originated the story and wrote the screenplay myself, so there were no underlying rights to acquire or external material to option. The concept began with my interest in the unique power dynamic between an intimacy coordinator and an actor. Performers are expected to place enormous trust in the person overseeing their most vulnerable scenes, which created fertile territory for a psychological thriller.
The central idea was to invert the audience’s expectations of a safeguarding professional. Kate understands the language of consent, safety and boundaries perfectly, but gradually weaponizes that language to disguise and facilitate her own misconduct. As I developed the screenplay, the story evolved from an uncomfortable workplace satire into something much darker. The tonal escalation mirrors Kate’s deterioration: what initially appears inappropriate or darkly comic eventually reveals itself as predatory and dangerous
The film was developed as an independent production through Thimble Films in association with Raw Inventive and Curtain Bangs. We raised its £30,000 budget through a crowdfunding campaign and private investment, which allowed an audience to become part of the project from its earliest stages. That support enabled us to assemble an ambitious cast and creative team and bring the film to the screen while retaining our independence.
Production?
Louisa Connolly-Burnham (LCB): Pre-production involved building a team capable of handling the film’s demanding tonal shifts and sensitive subject matter. I directed, produced and played Kate, working alongside producers Ben Jacob Smith and Roxane Bourges. The cast included Kieron Moore, Lindsay Duncan, Sophie Simnett, Alexander Arnold, David Mumeni, Toby Williams and Darcy Willison-Sloan.
Our key creative collaborators included cinematographer Laura Bellingham BSC, production designer Harrison Clark, hair and make-up designer Hannah Gallery and intimacy coordinator Rosie Fletcher. The wider production team also included First Assistant Director Issy Humphreys, Script Supervisor Amy Upchurch, Sound Recordist Fynnlugh Greenfield-Brown and Stunt Coordinator Lydia Fitzwilliams.
Principal photography took place across London over four days in November 2025. Laura shot the film digitally on the ARRI ALEXA 35 in a 16:9 aspect ratio.
One of our central challenges was maintaining the correct balance between psychological realism, dark comedy and horror. The opening needed to feel like a convincing professional film set, while Kate’s behaviour had to become steadily more transgressive without revealing the full extent of the story too quickly.
Directing while playing the lead required a great deal of preparation and trust. Because I could not remain behind the monitor during my own scenes, close collaboration with Laura, the producers and the rest of the creative team was essential.
Editing began in January 2026, with the first cut completed in March. Post-production continued through April, and the finished film was completed In April 2026. Lesley Posso edited the film, with Karol Cybulski completing the grade. Rachel Scott and Tom Keats created the sound design and mix, while James New composed the score.
ADR was used for the telephone conversation between Kate and her mother, allowing Lindsay Duncan to record her performance as Denise, Kate’s mum.
Festival Preparation and Strategy?
Louisa Connolly-Burnham (LCB): Our festival strategy was built around finding festivals that would respond to the film’s distinctive combination of dark comedy, psychological thriller and horror, while also targeting respected qualifying festivals that could support its longer-term awards journey.
We prepared a full package of materials, including a DCP, H.264 screening file, stills, posters, subtitles and electronic press materials. We also developed social assets and laurels for each announcement so that every selection could become part of a continuing campaign rather than an isolated post. The trailer remained in development during the opening stages of the festival run.
The world premiere at deadCenter gave the film a strong international launch. From there, selections at BAFTA, BIFA and Academy Award-qualifying festivals, including Rhode Island International Film Festival, HollyShorts, Kino London Short Film Festival, The Shortest Nights, Women X Film Festival, Exit 6 Film Festival and Worcester International Film Festival, helped strengthen its visibility. Copenhagen Headliner Film Festival provided an important early endorsement when the film won Best International Film and received four nominations.
PR was coordinated around major announcements, screenings and awards recognition. The Variety exclusive provided the campaign with an early industry-facing platform, while interviews, reviews and social coverage allowed us to continue presenting the film to audiences throughout its festival run. As an independent filmmaker with an established online audience, I was also able to communicate directly with viewers and bring attention to individual festivals, screenings and collaborators.
The Release?
Louisa Connolly-Burnham (LCB): The film began its public life through festivals, premiering at deadCenter before continuing to screenings across the United States, United Kingdom and Europe.
Our priority is currently the film’s international festival and awards campaign, which will continue throughout 2026 and into 2027. We are not planning to release the film publicly on the Thimble Films YouTube channel until summer 2027. Holding back the online release gives the film time to complete its festival journey while allowing us to retain control over its long-term availability.
Once the film is released online, direct distribution through YouTube will allow us to access audience data, build a community around the film and make it widely available to viewers around the world.
Advice from the Filmmaker?
Louisa Connolly-Burnham (LCB): The greatest lesson I took from this project was that tone has to be treated as seriously as plot. If a film moves between comedy, drama and horror, every department needs to understand exactly where the audience should be emotionally at each moment. Those shifts cannot be left entirely to the edit. They need to be embedded in the performances, cinematography, production design, sound and pacing from the beginning.
I would also advise filmmakers not to mistake a low budget for a reason to lower their ambitions. Restrictions can force you to identify what is truly essential about a story. Surround yourself with collaborators who understand the film you are trying to make and give them the space to bring their own expertise to it.
Finally, prepare your festival strategy and marketing materials before the film is finished. A strong film still needs clear positioning, reliable deliverables and sustained communication if it is going to find its audience. The work does not end with the final export. In many ways, that is when the next stage begins.
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