A fifteen minute Aussie short film about a super hero street kid has caught the eye of America’s pop culture network MTV and the trailer is on the verge of going viral on the internet.

Street Angel, was made at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) in 2008 and is an adaptation of a cult independent American comic book.

The short has generated interest from MTV, international comic book websites and film blogs since its 45 second trailer went live on Youtube .

The trailer received 4,000 clicks in its first eight weeks online.

Described by AFTRS graduate and director Lucas Testro as a “skate-fu superhero action comedy”, the film tells the story of a 14 year old homeless girl who also happens to be the world’s greatest skateboarder and martial artist, responsible for defending her city from an evil scientist and his ninja henchmen.

The film stars Kate Bell ( Home & Away) as ‘Street Angel’ and Glenn Butcher (Full Frontal) as the ‘dastardly ‘ villain Doctor Pangea.

Earlier this year Street Angel was nominated for  a ‘Best Sound Editing Award ( Student Category) ‘at the 2009 MPSE Golden Reels held in California ……along with two other AFTRS shorts.

“The attention surprised even us because it came without us doing any publicity other than uploading the trailer”, says AFTRS graduate and Street Angel producer Adam Bishop. “I think this goes to show how filmmakers can harness the Internet to find audiences. The comic has a strong fan base which is a good starting point or us.”

The Street Angel team is capitalising on the shorts’s attention by setting up a dedicated Street Angel website and presence on Facebook and Twitter. “The very fact that we have all these people signing up, off the back of just a trailer, shows the considerable audience interest there is in this film,” says director Lucas Testro.

On the motivation behind creating Street Angel Lucas said:

“I just wanted to make something that was fresh and fun and surprising ……

Short filmmakers, myself included, make so many earnest domestic dramas. I thought it would be great to create an action hero who would kick arse and then speak with an Australian accent.”

Adam Bishop who produced the short hopes the film will be embraced by festivals ” because it’s fast and funny and shows the diversity of work that can be created in this country.”