Filmmaker — Harry Aspinwall

Hello!

I’m a Scottish-American queer and neurodivergent filmmaker. I got my BA (Hons) in screenwriting and playwriting at Brown University in 2011, and since then I've been working in film in the US and the UK, specialising particularly in historical and speculative fiction and their intersection with queerness and privilege. My work has created cult followings, and has been featured in Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, the Nerdist, Tor.com, Hypable, and Geek and Sundry (and got tweeted out by RL Stine once).

I’m the winner of Fresh Voices 2020, multiple ScreenCraft finalist, and finalist in WeScreenplay's Diverse Voices and the Sundance Screenwriting Lab, among others. I'm an former writer in residence at ArtFarm and The Studios of Key West. My first feature, Banishment, was produced in summer 2020.

‘ORCS OF NEW YORK’ Is The ‘HONY’ Parody Even Sauron Would Adore (Huffington Post)
This Humans Of New York Parody Account For Orcs Is Everything (BuzzFeed)
Making a Pandemic Horror/Thriller During a Pandemic: The Quarantine-and-Bubble Strategy of “BANISHMENT” (Filmmaker Magazine)
Interview with 2020 Fresh Voices Horror Division Winner Harry Aspinwall (MovieBytes)
‘SIDEWAYS SMILE’ queer comedy webseries spotlights Asian woman’s sexual journey (Q Voice News)
A Comedy Series To Make You Smile (LezWatch.TV)

BANISHMENT, 2021 - co-writer, co-director

Isolated in a cabin in the woods, an asymptomatic carrier of a deadly virus is studied remotely by his wife, an epidemiologist, in hopes of a cure. But when he loses contact with her, he begins to suspect they may both be prisoners. Now he must risk himself - and those he might come into contact with - to protect her.

Longtime collaborator Daniel Byers and I wrote and produced this horror feature through Dark Tower Films in the summer of 2020. “Banishment” was featured in Filmmaker Magazine as one of the very first films shot safely in the age of coronavirus.

ORCS OF NEW YORK, 2017 - writer, director

In partnership with Dakoit Pictures I wrote and directed this viral parody fantasy series, which was featured in Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, the Nerdist, Tor.com, Hypable, Geek and Sundry, and many more. See facebook.com/orcsofnewyork for more.

SIDEWAYS SMILE, 2020 - producer

Official selection at Austin Film Festival, Outfest LA, and Newfest, and grantee of the inaugural 2019 “Made In NY” Women’s Fund , Sideways Smile is a comedic series about a young Asian-American woman beginning a journey of sexual discovery after reluctantly enrolling in a class to learn how to have an orgasm.

BLOODYBACK, 2016 - producer, VFX

A plague erupts in war-torn American frontier land during the French and Indian war, threatening to overwhelm the living with the reanimated dead. Arran MacIvar, a British soldier, attempts to fight his way out at all costs.

IMDB

F acebook

THE MIDDLE DARKNESS, 2012-2014 - writer, director, DP, editor, VFX

The Middle Darkness is one of my original period projects. With no budget, and personally working in almost all conceivable roles, I used every resource available to bring to life an ancient world of magic, seafaring and subterfuge.

IMDB

DUNGEONBROS, 2015 - writer, editor, VFX

Two drunk adventurers' questing does more harm than good. Packed with healthy amounts of violence and alcoholism.

IMDB

Official website

Facebook

SCOUNDREL, 2015 - writer, director, editor, VFX

In 1770s, six petty idiots survive a shipwreck only to find themselves marooned on a desert island. In short order, squabbling, madness, duels and threats of cannibalism ensue.

IMDB

Facebook

ADVENTURERS' MASTERCLASS, 2016 - producer, writer, editor

Shylock the Rogue, riding his wave of DungeonBros fame, attempts to squeeze money out of the general public by offering them the chance to learn the skills of the fantasy adventurer.

ZUNI IN THE GRAND CANYON, 2017 - writer, editor

A:shiwi elders' annual pilgrimage down the Colorado river is documented on film for the first time – from the pueblo at Halona Idiwana'a to shrines and ancient settlements, through canyon walls carved by the petroglyphs of the ancestors.

INTRODUCING BITGOLD, 2014 - editor, AC

As part of a small, mobile documentary crew we dodged Turkish authorities, explored ancient ruins and gained access to gold vaults on a mission to uncover the origins of money.

NELP: MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR AMERICA'S WORKERS, 2017 - Editor

I edited this informational short for the National Employment Law Project: "For more than 45 years, NELP has sought to ensure that America upholds for all workers her promise of opportunity and economic security through work."

SIR ERNEST CHAPP, 2016 - writer, editor, performer

All the finest topical standup humour of 1837. The Cotton Gin is still funny, right?

Harry & Gideon, 2015 - writer, director, editor

Starring Harry Aspinwall and Gideon Bautista, this webseries follows the adventures of two good natured, innocent buffoons.

IMDB

THE FLIGHT OF GABRIELLE, 2015 - writer, director, editor, VFX

I conceived and produced this promotional short for a vampire novel by author Linda Munroe. You might be forgiven for thinking that that handsome vampire looks somehow familiar.

BECOME GOD, 2015 - editor, VFX

I was approached by New England filmmaker Evander Lang to come up with a trailer and early editing for his feature film, Become God. We're both fans of non-linear, non-traditional storytelling.

IMDB

HERO FOR HIRE, 2012 - VFX

Diane Choi approached me to create the VFX for her short, in which the protagonist has the ability to make objects disappear. All VFX work was conceived and executed after principal photography had wrapped, adding a special challenge to the work.