I wrote, directed and edited my first short film Lockdown Love (7 minutes) in mid 2020, during the Covid lockdown. I directed the actors using Zoom and they filmed themselves at home with their iPhones, based on settings I gave them. They used WeTransfer to send me their files.

I included footage that I shot with my iPhone and edited the film on my iPad. The music was composed by the very talented Nigel Thomas. Then I put the completed film on Amazon Prime, where you can buy or rent it. The film was selected for the Mobile Got Talent online film festival in 2020 (see above).

This page updated 15 February 2024.

I made My Plastic Friend (13 minutes) in 2021. I filmed it with two iPhones and edited on an iPad Pro using the KineMaster app before uploading to Amazon Prime. Music again came from Nigel Thomas and his quintet. This film can also be purchased or rented on Amazon.

In 2022 I wrote, directed and edited my third film, Karma Waters. This time I used a professional crew but I still edited the film on my iPad Pro, using the LumaFusion app. Karma Waters runs 7 minutes.

Nigel Thomas and Simon Robinson created and performed an excellent music track especially for this film.

In June 2023 I was the runner-up in the British Comedy Guide Pro Talent award for directing/writing for this film. Details here. In July 2023 Karma Waters was selected as an official entry for that year’s Lit Laughs International Film Festival. In December 2023 Karma Waters made the semi-finals for best short film at the Lonely Wolf film festival. In January 2024 I received this note from FilmFreeway:

MOVIE SCRIPTS

Since 2019 I have completed six screenplays: three feature films and three short films. Details about the latter are shown above.

My first feature screenplay, Art of Revenge, won first prize in the dark comedy category at the Grim North screenplay festival in December 2019.

Logline: A painter instigates a chain of revenge when he reneges on a deal he made with the talking cat who created his successful exhibition.

The judge’s comments on the script were very positive: “Pablo the cat is a marvellous character – wonderfully devised, neatly developed and wholly credible … A strong voice, and a writer to watch out for in the future.”

My second feature is called Flight Home. A stressed NHS doctor working in London flees to the Australian outback after accidentally causing the death of a child. He works in obscurity as a hospital orderly until circumstances force him to resume work as a doctor.

My current project is a feature screenplay with the working title Where You Find Love. It is about the friendship between Leonard Cohen and the married Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston on the Greek island of Hydra. The Australians lived on Hydra from 1955-64. Cohen was there from 1960-7. I visited Hydra in 2022 and took hundreds of photos and videos. As an experiment I am creating the film on my iPad using a range of AI tools.

In 2023 I created three more short films using only AI tools. You can read about them in the link above. In 2024 my focus has been on telling people about these tools via workshops in England, the UAE and Australia.

For me the script remains the foundation and blueprint for a quality film. It is relatively fast (and fun) to direct, film and edit. Writing a good script takes a lot longer.

BOOKS

Between 1996 and 2011 while working as a journalist and academic I published 27 non-fiction books with publishers in Australia, the UK and the US (two were translated into Chinese).

While teaching in China in 2011 I had a near-death experience. It took me two years to process this event and change my approach. In 2013 I started writing fiction full time.

I have produced manuscripts for three novels. To date only Chaucer’s Team has been published (2014). That novel takes Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales as a model. The 12 members of a cricket team known as the Pilgrims tell their stories to team captain Jeffrey Chaucer in the team pub, the Canterbury Tales. The stories are about love, sex, death, masculinity and life. You can buy the print version from Amazon or as an ebook from Kindle.

My first book of poetry If you can be anything, be kind appeared in October 2018. You can find it on Amazon here.

My most recent non-fiction book was the second edition of my book on clear writing, CLARITY, published in August 2018. You can find it on Amazon by clicking here.

Here are details of all the books I have published, with the most recent at the top.

Quinn, S. (2018). If you can be anything, be kind (poetry). MOJO Media Insights, Brighton.

Quinn, S. (2018). CLARITY: A guide to clear writing. Second edition. MOJO Media Insights, Brighton.

Burum, I. and Quinn, S. (2015). MOJO: The Mobile Journalism Handbook Focal Press (Taylor and Francis Group), Boston. Includes companion web site and 13 videos.

Quinn, S. (2015). CLARITY: A guide to clear writing. First edition. MOJO Media Insights, Brighton. 

Quinn, S. (2013). Asia’s Media Innovators Volume 3. Crowdsourcing in Asian Journalism Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Singapore.

Quinn, S. (2012) Mojo: Mobile journalism in the Asian Region Third edition. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Singapore.

Quinn, S. (2011) Mojo: Mobile journalism in the Asian Region Second edition. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Singapore.

Kaye, J. and Quinn, S. (2010). Funding journalism in the digital age: Business models, strategies, issues and trends Peter Lang: New York.

Quinn, S. and Kierans, K. (2010). Asia’s Media Innovators Volume 2. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Singapore.

Quinn, S. (2009) Mojo: Mobile journalism in the Asian Region Konrad Adenauer: Singapore.

Quinn, S., Wake, A. and Linden, A. (2008). Australia-United Arab Emirates: Expanding trade and cultural links Focus Press: Sydney.

Quinn, S. (2008). Asia’s Media Innovators Volume 1. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Singapore.

Quinn, S. and Lamble, S. (2008). Online Newsgathering: Research and Reporting for Journalism Focal Press: Boston. Reprinted 2010 and 2013.

Quinn, S. (2006). Conversations on Convergence: Insiders’ views of twenty-first century news production Peter Lang: New York.

Quinn, S. (2005). Convergent Journalism: The fundamentals of multi-media reporting Peter Lang: New York. Published in Chinese in April 2015.

Quinn, S. and Filak, V. (editors) (2005). Convergent Journalism: An Introduction Focal Press: Boston.

Walters, T. and Quinn, S. (2003). Bridging the Gulf: Communications Law in the United Arab Emirates. Ideas Lab: Dubai.

Quinn, S. (2002). Knowledge Management in the Digital Newsroom Focal Press: Oxford. Reprinted 2003.

Quinn, S. (2001). Digital Sub-Editing and Design Focal Press: Oxford. Reprinted 2005.

Quinn, S. (2001). Newsgathering on the Net Second edition. Macmillan: Melbourne.

Quinn, S. (1999). The Art of Learning University of NSW Press: Sydney.

Quinn, S. (1999). Newsgathering on the Net Macmillan: Melbourne.