Award-Winning Local Short Film
Makes Online Debut
Story by Jen Brignall-Strong
Photography by Jessica Antovski
Screenshots courtesy of Michael J. Krym
A no-name waitress. A used car salesman. A bag full of dirty money. What could possibly happen?
Click Bang Boom.
The locally produced short film, inspired by those dynamic, darkly comedic crime flicks by the likes of filmmakers like Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn, follows the story of server Val, who enlists the skittish Tony to help her skip town with a bag full of cash before the wrong people find out.
Now, one year after taking home the award for Best Local Short at the Windsor International Film Festival, director Michael Krym is ready to release his creation into the wild.
After spending the past year making the festival rounds, including stops at the Beverly Hills Film Festival and Buenos Aires International Film Festival and a recent Best Comedy win at the LA Film Awards, Krym has just released the short film on his Krym & Co. YouTube channel, giving audiences everywhere an opportunity to discover the twisted crime caper.
“I wanted it accessible to the public as soon as possible,” Krym says. “The point of festivals is to get eyes on a film and create some network buzz. Now it’s time for it to live freely and find its own audience.”
For Krym, the past year has offered something more valuable than accolades: confirmation that a good story doesn’t necessarily require a big budget to connect with an audience.
Made for just $3,000 and filmed entirely in just eight hours, Click Bang Boom was, inadvertently, an experiment in doing more with less.
The original idea for the film began as a much larger full-length story, with Krym eventually deciding to strip it down and build a version around local actors Jessica Antovski and Kitu Turcas and a hometown location: Colchester’s iconic retro-themed Grove Motel, which allowed Krym and his team to make use of its distinctive flamingo themed room.
Behind the scenes, Krym says producer Jendo Shabo of Helios Films helped him pull off the ambitious one-day shoot.
“Jendo was the wizard who made it possible on such a small budget,” says Krym.
The limitations helped shape the movie itself, he explains. Rather than wasting precious time constructing elaborate shots, the camera moved with the actors. A kinetic, handheld shooting style naturally added to the anxiety and frantic energy of the story.
Krym says filming Click Bang Boom reinforced a long-held belief: audiences are willing to forgive minor technical imperfections if filmmakers give them believable characters and a story worth following.
“You do not need $100,000 worth of gear,” he says. “You need a good story, good performances and images that are in focus.”
He saw proof of that during WIFF Under the Stars, when a couple passing by the outdoor screening stopped to watch the film during one particularly memorable scene with a curling iron.
“The husband had to see what happened next,” Krym chuckles. “The laugh that came out of him was worth more to me than any festival selection.”
Krym credits the entire local cast and crew for doing more with less and creating a film that punches far above its weight class.
Along with Shabo, the film’s post-production team included editor Idris Askour, while Austin DiPietro created its jazz score, performed live alongside fellow Windsor musicians Alex Light and Pat Power.
It’s reflective of a Windsor filmmaking community, which Krym describes as unusually collaborative, even when money and accolades are on the line.
“When one of us wins something like this, the money generally goes into the next project and many of us benefit anyway,” he says. “Windsor filmmakers rally around one another.”
For Krym, that next project represents a considerable leap forward. Unsurprisingly, it was supported heavily by local talent.
His new Krym & Co. production, Human Error, explores fragmented identity in the age of artificial intelligence. The short follows a woman racing to launch a major update to an AI system promising to revolutionize the world, only to begin losing her own sense of identity along the way.
Filmed locally with union actors including Jessica Antovski, Matt Maenpaa, Eleanor Price and Marcela Garzaro, Human Error is the most expensive production Krym has undertaken.
This time, the filmmaker deliberately removed many of the limitations that shaped Click Bang Boom.
Ken Amlin served as director of photography, Marcello Morle as producer, and Krym assembled what he describes as the best people he knew for each department, and paid them accordingly.
“For the first time, I told a story without having to sacrifice anything for anyone,” he says.
The concept itself has been years in the making. Human Error grew out of an earlier screenplay titled Zero Anima, a much larger science-fiction story set on Mars that earned Krym script awards internationally.
And in this age of AI, the film’s subject matter has become timelier than ever.
“AI is here, and the film is about AI and mental illness,” Krym says. “What I want to do with this film is have a conversation with society.”
Krym is taking his time before beginning Human Error’s festival run, tentatively planned for 2027. The film is still undergoing work with its composer and colourist and requires a final sound mix. There is no shortage of work in the meantime, though, with five feature scripts ready to sell or produce and two lead roles in upcoming
feature films.
And if Krym seems particularly determined to bet on himself these days, there is a deeply personal reason.
After losing his home to a fire a year and a half ago, he found himself faced with a choice: rebuild the same life or use the loss as an opportunity to invest in the one he wanted.
Krym chose the latter.
He moved back in with his parents, invested insurance money in production equipment for Krym & Co. and financed Human Error himself.
Much of what Krym owned was destroyed by fire, smoke and water, and the room that sustained the most damage happened to contain his film equipment and hard drives.
In an almost cinematic twist, the drives containing his footage and his writing survived.
“Maybe my intention to become a storyteller is so strong that even fire and floods cannot destroy it,” Krym laughs.
For now, Click Bang Boom is ready to find a life of its own online, while Krym turns his attention toward the bigger stories ahead.
“If I say I am giving filmmaking a real chance, I have to focus fully until I have written and directed a feature of my own.”
You can see Click Bang Boom at this year’s Windsor International Film Festival, which is happening from October 29 to November 8.
Keep an eye on windsorfilmfestival.com for schedules.
Published in the Anniversary 2026 Edition.
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