At the beginning of lockdown in 2020, I wrote a monologue for filming. I've written in the past but not with much intention. This was different.
It was longer than I intended it to be, but once it was there on digital paper, I liked the content, the character, the story arc. I didn't want to not do anything with it. With my limited technology and even more limited editing skills, I recorded it as an 8 minute self-tape short. But I really wanted it to be more - to be developed into a professional product so it could go further. I aimed to try to get it made properly once lockdown was over.
Along the journey I was given the advice to adapt it away from a monologue film. I wrote a 40 page script with different characters and expanding on what was hinted, which I later edited down to a 30 page script. I did love this adaptation but unfortunately this put even more barriers up in my ability to get this made, especially as I wasn't earning enough to put anything aside for a budget, and various locations and multiple characters would mean much more red tape, complexity, time and editing. I was also informed that, as much as a 30-40 minute film is technically a short, the majority of festivals won't show short films with a running time that long, especially from a first time film maker.
Having attended the Screen South 25th Anniversary festival where I watched multiple shorts with just one character speaking, I was happy to go back to my original plan and the simplicity of making that over anything more involved. Encouraged by peers in my local film-makers networking group who gave positive feedback to a viewing of my rough draft version, I set out again to make it in this way.
Two fantastic crew members came on board to record the sound and do the sound mixing (Mark Cheffins) and co-direct, manage the cinematography and edit (Petar Velchev). Without them, and the filming location provided by Sasha Ravencroft, this film wouldn't have been possible.
Thanks also needs to be made to Tracy Gardener of Fennessy Films for her collaboration with me on the poster design, and also to Anastasia Marshall for her insight and support.
The film is being submitted into film festivals over the course of a year or so, as finances allow. Once premier requirements have been met, I will share how this film can be seen.
Please do follow the film's Facebook page, and check it out on imdb:
Please also follow the crew members:
Trailer for the film Eating Popcorn (c) Helen Walling-Richards
Film still of Eating Popcorn (c) Helen Walling-Richards 2023