Time

A vicious riot rips through the secure wing of a British Prison. As the violence closes in, Joyce, an inmate with a target on his back makes one final call home to impart some wisdom to his young son, and in the process is forced to confront the choices that led him there before his 'Time' runs out.

  • Neil Linpow
    Director
  • Greg Francis
    Director
  • Neil Linpow
    Writer
  • Neil Linpow
    Producer
  • Neil Linpow
    Key Cast
    "Joyce"
    War Games, Slumber, Eastenders, Dream Team, Hungry
  • Russell Barnett
    Key Cast
    "Guard"
    Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Black Mirror, Entebbe
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, crime, thriller, family
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 6, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    500 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Alexa Anamorphic
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Cambridge
    Cambridge Film Festival
    United Kingdom
    October 18, 2019
    UK
    Best Short
  • Kinsale Sharks
    Kinsale
    Ireland
    September 18, 2019
    Best Short, Best Acting Performance
  • Los Angeles International Film Festival
    LA
    United States
    Best Thriller, Best Actor (WINNER)
  • Discover Film
    London
    United Kingdom
    Best Film (WINNER)
  • London X4
    London
    United Kingdom
    October 14, 2019
    Best UK Short (WINNER) Best Male Performance (WINNER)
  • Illume Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    August 19, 2020
    Best Cinematography (WINNER)
  • London International Motion Picture Awards
    London
    United Kingdom
    December 2, 2020
    Best Short film
Director Biography - Neil Linpow, Greg Francis

Neil Linpow is an actor and producer who makes his writer/director debut with Time.
Having previously starred in War Games (Universal Pictures), Hungry (Netflix), Eastenders (BBC) and Dream Team (SkyOne), Neil has spent the last 3 years working for London production company HunkyDory as an exec producer on commercial projects for directors including Sam Miller (Luther, Fortitude), Bobby Farrelly (Dumb & Dumber, There's Something About Mary) Damien O'Donnell (East is East) and Jack Clough (People Just Do Nothing, Skins).
Combining this experience creating short form advertisement with a passion for narrative story telling, Time has been the perfect vehicle to explore his ideas and take his first steps towards longer form film making.

Greg Francis is a film director and content maker from South East London. He began his career as a runner for some of the biggest production companies in the UK, including Working Title (“Atonement”, “Frost/Nixon”, “Bridget Jones Diary”) and Ridley Scott Associates (“American Gangster”, “Alien”, “Gladiator”) to name a few.

Having learned the mechanics of the industry at the highest level, Greg purchased his own camera and kick started his directorial career by shooting zero budget music videos for up and coming artists around London, before going on to work in collaboration with acts such as Little Mix, Dizzee Rascal, Skepta and Lethal Bizzle.

Time marks the first collaboration between the pair.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The goal was to make a film that feels tense and claustrophobic, and explores the themes of loyalty, regret, loss and responsibility.

The aim was to keep the narrative lean and the running time tight. A brief window into a bigger picture. To tell a story that requires no exposition, but creates a sense of backstory in inference.

By forcing the viewer into the cell with our central character and never allowing them to leave again, we hope to elicit the sense of desperation that our character feels.

We wanted to play with the pace at the front end and employ a frenetic and violent sound mix so that we could ratchet up the anxiety levels before allowing our character and the viewer some brief respite. If only for a moment.