With the short films I was very interested in exploring telling strong stories with few resources.  It helped, I guess, that the budgets for short films are short, but we can still explore bigger ideas.

The first three shorts are an exercise in telling strong, clear stories with only an actor and a black background. I wanted to see how much could be done with almost nothing. After completing It’s Not My Fault, I enjoyed the character so much that I wanted to see him again. Bruce Mackinnon delivers such a detailed and nuanced performance that I knew the character had much further to go on his journey.

I’d already set up his Hollywood film star brother, but now I wondered if I could explore jealousy and rivalry. Their mother’s funeral seem to be a good place to start. I Didn’t Do Anything confronts him as the brother left behind, and touches on what he did or didn’t do when she died.

From a funeral to a wedding. A Hollywood-style wedding in Scotland: Castle. Moat. Bagpipes. Helicopters. Men in skirts. This is where his brother’s secret is explored, “Film star faker or the brother I grew up with?” It Wasn’t Me leads to a rebalancing and a greater understanding between the brothers.  I had long visualised Ben Pullen as the brother. As we were writing the dialogue, Amanda and I found is charming, laconic, apparently regretful yet easily superior voice leading us to the best lines.

With 10ml I.V. I was interested in exploring tension, but the tension that comes from implied threat.  The main character needed to be certain, concerned, yet capable of doing a terrible thingI knew Alastair McKenzie and I knew he’d be amazing.  Having Alastair in my mind really helped when writing the script. Stripping the action and location down to fairly minimal – two characters and one room in a flat – helped the shooting schedule of 8am to 6pm. I’m very pleased with how it turned out.  Right from the opening shot you feel that something isn’t right, and Steve Beresford’s music sets up the tension very nicely.