Films

Blessed Burden

The first independent project under the Heavy Soul production umbrella the film features James Alexandrou (of EastEnders fame) and Will Chitty, both taking on the role of Grant a young man fatally injured in a motorcycle accident.  As his family gathers by his hospital bedside he relives the encounter he had with the father he never knew.

Dee’s comments – A lot of people really like the story behind this film.  I’d made two shorts whilst at Goldsmiths but this was me out on my own seeing if any of the skills I’d picked up actually meant anything.  I remember a week before we were due to start filming I had a Director of Photography, Production Manager and 1 runner confirmed as crew - nothing else.  We still had to find the main location and just two days before the shoot the actor who was going to be playing one of the lead roles broke his ankle playing basketball.  When I walked onto the set that first day and saw 25 crew members standing there looking at me I felt a mixture of relief and absolute wonderment as to how I managed to get to that point.

Simple!

Wesley is a struggling writer. Pamela is his suspicious girlfriend. With a deadline to meet his efforts to complete his next project are being thwarted by the fact that Pamela suspects he is having an affair.  The mystery female voice on their answering machine, the adulterous leading man in his latest script - is Wesley having an affair?  He says he’s not - she says he is. . . . . . . .The answer is Simple!

Troy’s comments - The idea of producing this film was born whilst working on the set of EastEnders  during a conversation with my one of my co-stars  Sylvester Williams.  We were both really fired up by the idea and got to work confirming a director cast and co producer almost immediately. I enlisted the help of my agent at the time, Sandra Boyce as a co producer and 4 weeks later, with multiple favours from family and friends of course, Simple! was in production and I had made my debut as a producer.  I am extremely proud of this film, especially given what I know now.  For various reasons it could have easily have gone the other way.

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Target

Blake and Joshua go back a long way, not only do they share a friendship but they also operate in the kill or be killed world of the professional assassin.  When one of them is given that all too familiar final job he finds himself having to choose between friendship and the freedom he so desperately wants.

Chris’ comments – The film was shot over four days which for the number of different locations wasn’t actually that much time.  We wanted Kelvin on board early on in the production, not only to make sure he understood what the mood of the film was but also to flag up any concerns he had.  The schedule was pretty tight, there were occasions when we were shooting at one location whilst rigging for the following days shoot at another.  The production values on this film are fantastic, due in no small part to the crew we assembled.

Dee’s comments – It took me quite a long time to really appreciate this film.  As with B.B the day we finished shooting I knew we had a film there but the next step is realising what you had in your head at the outset once you get into the edit.  It’ hard for me to find a wound in Target, Kelvin’s cinematography is faultless, Adam’s (Rudd) editing is seamless and the performances are just spot on.  In ten years time I’ll be as proud of this as I am today.

Teenage Hero

Kelly is streetwise and street smart, over four days she reveals her ambitions, her dreams and her desire to move beyond the harsh but charismatic life she has always known.  When a young journalist is assigned to write a feature article on her he has no idea of the plan the enigmatic 15 year old has hatched for herself.

Troy’s comments - As a producer I look for projects that I can relate to. This script resonated with me on several different levels.  A project that was by far the most daunting, considering, we were experimenting with HD for the first time. It was also the most fun to work on despite the subject matter.  It was by no means easy getting the permission to shoot at the locations we wanted, there were quite a few hurdles to get over but I was really pleased we managed to secure this particular housing estate.  Filming on the estate was a challenge, with noise levels being quite high and local residents coming out in their droves to see the film crew, everyday served up something different.  It was really important to involve the residents where we could and a number of the youngsters feature in the film.  Low budget films are always a challenge but once again we managed to successfully stay within our budget and still create a cracking short.

Dee’s comments – I wanted to try something different with this film. I think shorts are the ideal vehicles to experiment and play around with techniques until you find a shooting style you are comfortable with.  I wanted a docudrama feel both shooting and performance wise.  I am particularly excited about the performances, for such a young and relatively inexperienced cast they carry this film really well and give it the edge I was looking for.

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