We go back to where it all began for Bryan Singer, at 23 years old, a young film student at The University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinema-Television embarked on what would become the first film of his directing career- Lion’s Den (1988). It was a short film, just 25 minutes in length, directed by both Singer and John Ottman, a collaboration that would ignite The Usual Suspects some 7 years later. Singer wrote the script himself, acts in the film as well as directing, with Ottman co-directing and editing the short. The film depicts five friends reconnecting and discussing their lives in a diner (presumably called Lion’s den) after their first semester at college. As the evening continues, tensions rise and the strains in their relationships become prominent whilst talking about the twisted world of Hollywood.

During the editing of the film the budget ran dry, Singer was saved by a friend who saw a rough copy of the film and liking what he saw, lent the $4000 needed to finish the editing process. Whilst it was only a 25 minute taster of Singer’s talent, its position is of historical importance in Singer’s career as a director, being the catalyst which led to him securing a $250,000 investment for his debut feature film Public Access (1993) that went on to joint- win the Grand-Jury prize at Sundance Film festival of that same year, helping launch his career. The short is difficult to get hold of today, having been removed from YouTube and never officially released, fans of Singer’s work are still trying to find copies today. Currently the film remains lost, a historical artwork of Singer’s repertoire which we one day hope to get our hands on.