Just Say Hi was released on 1 July 2013 and was positively received by critics. Amber Wilkinson of Eye for Film wrote:
"Even in this limited environment, McPhail finds unexpected ways to generate comedy while also giving the girl and the boy distinctive characters, which is no mean feat considering there is only one line of dialogue."[2]
Robbie Collins of the Daily Telegraph described the film as:
"One of the sweetest payoffs I’ve seen in any rom-com this year."[3]
The film's first festival encounter was the Virgin Media Short competition run by Virgin Media. The film made it through to the final where it competed with 12 other short films which were judged by a panel which included actor David Tennant, Shane Meadows and film critic James King.[4] The film was a hit with the judges and the audience at home winning 2 out of the 3 awards available making McPhail the only director in the competition's history to win multiple awards. The production team were presented with the awards at a ceremony in London which included £5,000 in film funding with mentoring from the British Film Institute and a voucher for £5,000 to spend on Nikon Equipment.[5]
In 2014, the film was featured in the Très Court International Film Festival in which it was screened in over 100 cities in 23 countries.[6]
The film went on to appear in many domestic and international festivals including the Bradford International Film Festival,[7] the Shärt International Comedy Film Festival[8] and the Aberfeldy Film Festival where it picked up the Palme-Dewar Audience Choice Award.[9]
