Filmmaking
Written & Directed films
‘TO TELL A VISION’
- 2021 Short
To Tell A Vision was a short film and final project as part of film school. Theo wrote the film early in 2021. It went into production in October of 2021. Theo directed an entire crew of budding filmmakers and actors but more importantly centered the story around black people on screen.
“I had the challenge of directing kids for the first time and they really were the most exciting troublemakers to create magic with.”
- Theo.
‘Your Vomit’
- 2020 Short
In 2020 Theo went into production on his second independent short film ‘Your Vomit’. He worked with a professional crew to pull off an intense two day shoot.
‘Your Vomit’ was selected for multiple festivals across the world and gained over 30,000 views on YouTube.
‘Bygones’
- 2019 Short
At the young age of 16 Theo began creating his first independent short film ‘Bygones’. Working with an entirely adult cast and crew he directed the film across two challenging night shoots. The film had great success in festivals across the world and was nominated in 4 categories including Best Film and Best Director at the ‘All American Highschool Festival Festival’, the largest student film festival in the world.
“Hollywood Director David Lowery (The Green Knight, Pete’s Dragon, Ghost Story & Old Man with a Gun) describes ‘Bygones’ as “Terrific! The acting is great; the pace and imagery are just right. In short, I’m jealous - I wish I’d been as far ahead as you are when I was your age.”
48 Hour Film Festival
Theo has written and directed seven Short Films as part of the New Zealand 48 hour film festival between 2015 and 2022. Here are two of his more recent shorts.
‘Of All The Worlds’ 2022
‘By Three’ 2019
WORK
IN DEVELOPMENT
‘Dark Gaze’
- A feature length screenplay written by Theo Shakes.
Dark Gaze is a feature length film currently in development. A table read was held in September 2022 with professional actors who were able to bring the story to life. The additional insights from the session enabled Theo to enhance the plot and character development. Dark Gaze was introduced to the market at MipCom 2022.
