Dene Films' new nerve-shredding short film 'Ghost Street' has hit TV screens and newspaper headlines as the delighted client Newcastle Council launched its road-safety themed horror beastie upon an unsuspecting public. You can watch the film’s trailer here: Ghost Street Trailer

The Tyneside Cinema was the location for the big press launch on Monday 2nd November - the story was duly featured at length on ITV1 Tyne Tees that evening on North East Tonight. The next day, the Evening Chronicle ran an extensive article on the film and its memorably grisly look.

The short film - which tells the harrowing and vivid story of a teenage girl knocked down on an average street, only to wake up on the same road surrounded by the walking talking corpses of all the teens to have ever died there - was directed by Dene's Steven Boyle, written and produced by Chris Chapman and edited by ImagineTX’s Mark Lediard. Ghost Street was commissioned by a partnership of Safe Newcastle and the city council’s road safety department – intended as a video tool to screen in high schools to 12-16 year olds to convey a dynamic road safety message.

'Ghost Street' follows in a fine tradition of Dene turning a traditional video communication brief into a memorable short film which conveys its client’s messages in a manner which is extremely original and memorable. In 2007, Steven, Mark and Chris collaborated on 'The Conkerers' - a short film which went on to win the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama, the Mexico International Film Festival Bronze Palm and an IVCA Bronze Award for Best Direction before being selected for film festivals around the world.

Writer-Producer, Chris Chapman commented: "We're extremely passionate about this project and have a real optimism that it may find a large audience, not only when it is screened in schools, but when the full film goes online – it has all the makings of a massive viral hit."

Director Steven Boyle said: "The idea is that the young people will remember it and spread the word. I think it has to be a bit close to the bone and shock people to get the message across."

Councillor Anita Lower, chair of Safe Newcastle, said "Previous road safety films have raised the bar in what’s expected from this type of educational film, and I think Ghost Street meets this level."