According to The Hollywood Reporter, Modern Times is the hottest short thus far in 2011. The short, which focuses on a realistically realized futuristic world experiencing the magic of old Hollywood cinema, has been garnering its director, Ben Craig, much press.

Craig, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, is an art director for Edinburgh firm the Union who, despite the quality of the short, has never gone to film school; he’s also was not versed in special effects prior to making this film. The basis for his short came from reading about the British Film Institute restoring vintage films. Through his thoughts about who would watch these restored movies and where, the idea for his short was born.

Through his observations of commercial shoots, along with the help of director of photography Richard Mountney, Craig shot the live-action part in one weekend, and later learned about special effects software as he finished the film in post-production.

Now that Modern Times has been released, it has allowed Craig to attract the attention of big entertainment studios; has been getting receiving requests and meeting invites from Warner Brothers, Fox, Paramount, Vertigo, and many more.

Want to see the 3-minute film for yourself? Here it is: