Director's Works
Gan Canny Lou & Aaron Burns
Lou Burns (Writer & Creative Director)
BA (Hons) English Language & Literature, PGCE, QTS
Lou is a disabled, over-40 writer and filmmaker passionate about socially realist drama with strong northern roots. Her work explores themes of poverty, injustice, corruption, inequality and community. In 2022, her pilot 'RIOT' placed in the top 3% of 4,718 submissions to the BBC Writersroom and earned her a place on BBC Voices 2023/24. She has also been a finalist for the Northern Writers Award and Channel 4’s 4Stories talent scheme. Alongside her role as Creative Director at Morning Sir Productions, in 2025 Lou completed a further development programme under the BBC Writers Access Group, a scheme designed to remove barriers for disabled writers. She has developed a TV Pilot of a returnable, procedural drama as part of that initiative.
A darkly comic, working class, North Eastern family comedy/drama. Siblings Tyler and Paige don't agree with the way their estranged mam has arranged their Nana’s funeral, and impulsively take matters into their own hands. What follows is a clumsy grand theft hearse as the siblings decide to take Nana on one last road trip before saying their final goodbyes. What could possibly go wrong?
Gan Canny is a dead funny tale of grief, grudges and Geordie culture. It's heartfelt, it's hilarious, and it's deeply disrespectful in the most joyful of ways. What's not to love?
This film began with a question that wouldn’t leave us: what do we owe to the people we love, once they’ve gone? From that question and idea by Aaron grew a story brilliantly written by Lou, about two siblings who can’t agree with the way their estranged mum has arranged their Nana’s funeral, and take matters into their own hands by stealing the hearse. After all, it was Nana who brought them up, not their mum, so they knew her best.
We were interested in how moments of loss can bring out both the absurd and the profound. Families are complicated, messy and often hilarious in the strangest of moments. By framing this story as both a comedy and a drama, we wanted to capture that contradiction — the way humour and grief can, and often do, often sit side by side.
Ultimately, we hope audiences will laugh, cry, question, and reflect on their own family dynamics. This is a story about rebellion, love, and the ways we try to hold on to those we’ve lost We want the film to spark conversations about how we celebrate lives — and who gets to decide how we remember those we love. This became personal when Lou and Aaron lost their Dad/Grandad, which all formed part of the creative process when making this film.
As a self-funded project, Gan Canny was made with very minimal budget (under £750). Our cast and crew worked tirelessly and with endless energy, all because they believed in the warmth and heart at the core of this story. They dedicated their time, talent and passion into creating our film, working with the support of many local communities, businesses and individuals who provided resources either for free, or for a vastly reduced charge. We also worked hard to secure Gratis permission from three amazing artists and their management to use songs by Cornershop, Jimmy Nail and The Pale White, sitting alongside an original score.
Since entering the festival circuit a short few months ago, our film has performed well nationally, and internationally. Most notably we have recently been nominated for the Royal Television Society North East and Borders Awards - in the non broadcast scripted and unscripted category, alongside being selected for the BAFTA and BIFA qualifying Manchester Film Festival.
* Miraban UK Film Awards 2025 - Best Short Film (Honourable Mention) *
* Folkestone Film Festival 2025 - Best Editing and Sound Design (Winner) *
* UK Film Awards 2025 - Best Comedy Drama (Winner) *
* UK Film Awards 2025 - Best Newcomer - Lily Storey (Winner) *
* UK Film Awards 2025 - Best Music (Finalist) *
* The Bay International Film Festival 2026 - Best Northern Short Film (Nominated) *
* The Indie-Lincs International Film Festival 2026 - Best Northern Short Film (Selected) - 07.02.2026 *
* The Barcelona Indie Awards 2026 - Best UK Short Film (Nominated) - 07.02.2026 *
* London Director Talents Movie Awards 2026 - Best Indie Short Film (Nominated) - 28.02.2026*
* London Director Talents Movie Awards 2026 - Best Crime Short Film (Nominated) - 28.02.2026*
* London Director Talents Movie Awards 2026 - Best Trailer (Nominated) - 28.02.2026*
* London Director Talents Movie Awards 2026 - Best Sound Design (Nominated) - 28.02.2026*
* London Director Talents Movie Awards 2026 - Best Costume Design (Nominated) - 28.02.2026*
* The Northampton Film Festival 2026 - Best Narrative Short Film (Nominated) - 01.03.2026*
* Glowlare Short Film Festival 2026 - Best Short Film (Selected) - 01.04.2026*
* Manchester Film Festival 2026 - Best Short Film (Selected) - 28.03.2026*
* Athlone Film Festival 2026 - Best Short Film (Selected) - 25.04.2026*
* Royal Television Society North East & BordersAwards 2026 - Non-broadcast scripted and unscripted (Nominated) - 28.02.2026*
