Homespun, the video and content division of Stitch Editing, has announced the finalists for their fifth annual film competition, Homespun Yarns.

Following an entry process, where entrants responded to this year's one-word brief - 'If' - by sending their pitches to make a short film, four directors have been chosen by the Homespun panel: Steve Moss, Daniel McKee, Stroma Cairns, and Loveless, Stickley & Wood.

The directors will now receive funding to make their films, work with Homespun editors in post production and have further support from Homespun Yarns sponsors such as Kodak and Panavision. 

Homespun EP Alice Clarke says this year’s entries were of an overwhelmingly high standard, but the finalists impressed the Homespun panel with their interpretation of the brief as well as their pitches. "As usual we had our work cut out, especially given the ambiguity of the brief, If," she says. "We have four outstanding finalists and we’re looking forward to seeing how their films develop.”

Steve Moss is a copywriter at Publicis who has been working on longer form content with a script editor at the BFI for the past eighteen months. He describes his day job as "devising cunning ways to make the nation fatter and poorer", and sees Homespun Yarns as the perfect opportunity use his creativity to make a film without a logo.

Daniel McKee graduated from Bournemouth in 2014 with a BA Film Production and has since been working as a filmmaker and visual artist. His video ‘Mona Lisa Selfie’ won a Vimeo staff pick and last year he launched the Directors Library, an online platform featuring curated selections of videos.

Stroma Cairns is a London based director and photographer represented by Prettybird UK. With an intimate and honest filming approach Stroma’s British aesthetic comes from a childhood growing up moving around England, and she is drawn to stories revolving around youth and family. Her latest video for Drones Club features fellow several family members in the cast.

Matt Wood, Tom Loveless and Billy Stickley are three friends who’ve been working for the past seven years "expanding on each and every thought they have ever had." The trio are each other’s outlet to make all the exciting stuff outside of their day jobs as agency creatives.

This year's Homespun Yarns finalists will be given the chance to shoot their films on 16mm film supplied by Kodak, who are also offering processing and transfer of the shot film, while Panavision are providing a 16mm film camera.

Julia Taylor-Butt, senior marketing manager at Kodak, says: “At Kodak we’re passionate about supporting new talent and Homespun Yarns provides a fantastic opportunity to help new directors and editors produce outstanding, original short films.”

Kodak and Panavision are joined by other partners in the Homespun Yarns project, including Wave Studios,   Direct Digital, Freefolk, MPC and The Mill. Stitch co-owner and editor Leo King says: “The idea this year is to educate young filmmakers through our associations and supporters. We are incredibly lucky to be working with Wave Studios, Panavision, Direct Digital, Kodak, Freefolk, MPC and The Mill, who will all be involved from the pre-production stages to advise our directors and guide them through their areas of excellence.

"Performance Film and Media Insurance are involved for the first time. They will be on hand in relation to the film insurance process. We want everyone involved to establish contacts they can build relationships with for the future.” Sohonet and Slingshot are sponsoring the competition for the second year running.

The awards night will take place in October when the films will be screened and judged by the audience. The overall winner, chosen from the four finalists, will receive a £500 cash prize and great kick-start to their filmmaking career.