Ickwell film producer in the running for a BAFTA

Michael Berliner, who now lives in London and runs his own company Pico Pictures, shot a comedy short film called Emotional Fusebox last January.

The film has received many plaudits since premiering at the London Film Festival in October.

With the winner set to be announced on Sunday, February 8, Michael is understandably excited.

He said: “I find out most of my film news through Twitter and Facebook – and this was no different!

“They made the announcements at 7:30am, but I’d slept in, and so I found out through a deluge of Twitter notifications from friends when I woke up.

“It feels surreal and exciting! It’s a ‘wildest dreams’ thing where you feel so grateful, when there are so many other amazing and deserving shorts out there.”

The short film was funded by the British Film Institute and Creative England and starred Jodie Whittaker who has appeared in ITV hit show Broadchurch.

Since premiering Emotional Fusebox has also received a British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) nomination.

The short film acted as a pilot for a feature version, called How To Live Yours.

Michael added: “We shot that last Autumn, and it’s currently in post production.

“There’s no greater pick-me-up from the depths of the edit than a BAFTA nomination.

“We’ve got a UK cinema release guaranteed through distributors Koch Media so watch out for it in 2016!”

Michael used to live on Northill Road in Ickwell and studied at Pembroke College in Oxford.

He has previously won a BAFTA Award for his short film The Beachcombers in 2008 which told a heartwarming story of love and friendship set against the backdrop of modern day London.

He was given the award by acclaimed international director Gurinder Chadha.

In total Michael has produced seven films but How To Live Yours will become his first cinema release of his career in 2016.

You can find out more about Michael and his film work by following him on Twitter @michaelberliner