Filmmaker Michael Rainin has been hired by LA production companyThe Syndicate to shoot the $1m feature Learning To Fly after his short Waiting For Woody Allen won the Discovering New Artist Award atthe Los Angeles International Short Film Festival.

The Syndicate sponsored theaward and chose Rainin from 500 short filmmakers as the winner. Rainin willbegin pre-production in January 2005 on the picture, which was written byAmanda Jones and is set to begin principal photography in March.

"I wanted to tell a story that was unique, with interestingcharacters played by good actors, that I could shoot on my miniscule budget,and still evoke intense and profound emotions from humour to sadness," Rainin,a former production designer, said of Waiting For Woody Allen.

The short first attractedattention at the inaugural Short Film Corner at Cannes earlier this year.