(Dir. Kanchi Wichmann. UK, 2011. 102 mins).

First time writer/director Kanchi Wichmann and young stars Kat Redstone and Sophie Anderson are talents to watch in this hip, lo-fi, London-set drama which brilliantly captures the end of love.

With its mouthy, self-absorbed slacker characters this film put me in mind of some recent, edgy British TV output. Liza and Sally are lovers and bandmates at the painful, destructive end of a blazing relationship, one which is dying a slow death.

Their equally messy best friends – straight rent-boy Vin and gay, soul-mate-seeking Jamie are more hindrance than help and Liza smells the whiff of indiscretion… Whatever, there’s a weekend of drunken sex, cat fights, vomit and drug-taking to be had, all leading up to Liza’s surprise birthday party.

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(Dir. Eric Casaccio. US, 2011. 18 mins).

Randall/Sophia is an out-of-work actor who’s life appears to be unravelling before her very eyes (well, ears) in Eric Casaccio’s simple but effective short film.

A zero budget calls for visual shorthand and Casaccio cleverly uses object motifs and repetition to tell a story: a piling up of messages on his answer machine as he rehearses lines for a new acting gig reveals that Randall is broke, making ends meet with dead-end jobs and estranged from his family. His increasingly emotional read-throughs betray a fragile state of mind.

Randall, dressed as a female, escapes to his balcony for some air and crosses paths with a handsome neighbour, also an actor, who’s reading through a script of his own. Randall’s friendly approach is scorned by the neighbour, who cruelly laughs and calls him a “freak”. In Randall’s face we glimpse his deep pain and are left to fill in the blanks of a rejection-filled life, one that is about to change dramatically.

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The LGBT film market is to get a brand spanking new distributor, which is always a good thing.

Guest House Films only came into being six years ago but has already produced five feature films, including Long-Term Relationship and Make The Yuletide Gay, and earlier this year moved into the distribution side of things with the release of Role/Play.

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“Entertaining and touching. A film that will save lives,” is how Milk and J.Edgar screenwriter Dustin Lance Black described documentary Lead With Love.

Lead With Love is an information tool for any parent who’s child has just come out, offering guidance and support, as well as being an entertaining and heartwarming film for anyone else.

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Writer/director/producer JC Calciano cut his teeth in the movie industry as production head for Tom Cruise’s company, helping to produce Hollywood blockbusters such as Mission: Impossible.

Last year he made his first feature length movie as writer/director, the sweet, funny, hit gay rom-com Is It Just Me? And now he follows up the sexy cowboy action with another perfect date movie, eCupid.

eCupid is about a bored, 29-year-old ad-man in a loving but stale relationship who feels he’s missing out in life. He breaks up with his boyfriend and downloads a dating app which promises to sort out his love/sex-life but delivers a lot more than sexy Marshall had bargained for, with hilarious results.

I had the opportunity to ask Calciano about both gay movie projects and whether technology like Grind is killing romance.

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