BFI NETWORK South West are thrilled to be supporting Paul Holbrook’s new short film ‘Shiney’.
SHINEY Synopsis: Two creative, yet impressionable kids hatch a plan to purchase their first packet of cigarettes, all the while clinging to their prized possession; an impossible-to-get shiny gold football sticker.
Paulis
Director Paul Holbrook on the process of making Shiney…
Pre-production has been lots of fun; we’ve already built a fantastic team around the project who share my passion for the story we want to tell and we have had loads of invaluable support from our BFI NETWORK exec too. Developing the script and seeing it come to life with depth, colour and character has been very rewarding and energising.
Casting has been the biggest challenge for me thus far as we’ve been street casting with underprivileged kids from the estate and they have all offered up so much for us to think about, all bringing so much passion and their own unique personalities to the characters. Having to whittle it down has been a really difficult process, but it’s also been eye opening as to just how much untapped talent is out there and in desperate need of nurturing. Luckily, I have had a phenomenal casting team around me who know what I’m looking for and what the film needs, so it’s become a real team effort and we’re all confident we’ve found our leads, so I can’t wait to start working with our children in rehearsals. I’m also very thankful that the BFI gave me the freedom and encouragement to cast our film in this way. “
Paul, June 2019
Paul is a working-class writer/director from Bristol. Despite a lack of formal education, he started out writing feature-length scripts for the spec market and made encouraging progress advancing through industry-backed screenwriting competitions before moving into filmmaking in 2013.
He made his first low budget short Porphyrophobiaot, developed a series of broad comedy shorts, and in 2016 wrote and directed a social-realist, modern-western – A Girl and Her Gun, which went on to screen at BAFTA qualifying Festivals. With funding from a small commission, he then made Sunday Worship – also qualifying for BAFTA eligibility and winning awards both nationally and internationally.
Having tackled emotive, heavy-hitting subjects in these two films, Paul explored the science fiction genre with Cell and Comedy-Horror Cherry. 2018 saw Paul concentrate on a slate of films that would pave the way for progression towards feature film-making and developed a short Hungry Joe, a proof of concept, kitchen-sink horror, as well as working on Shiney – his BFI NETWORK funded short which filmed in Summer 2019.
Paul is also a member of BAFTA X Crew and continues to work on a slate of exciting projects, both short and feature, alongside career development with the BFI.
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I am thrilled to be Producing Shiney, working alongside the writer team Graeme and Paul (Director) on their brilliant script. Working with children is a challenge but it’s a challenge that grabs us all not least because we are working with kids from the local community to tell a fun, authentic and inspiring story. As we are working closely with the community it feels like a project for everyone, everyone will have a share of the process and the result which makes the project and the story it tells, even more rewarding.”
Camilla has forged a career in advertisting and film, for the past 20 years, with a passion for the story all the way. The tale has always been the driving force behind her decisions on where or who to work with and she is always thrilled to be part of a vision. From the age of 12 she told her best friend she wanted to work in film and she has made sure that’s her constant goal.
Graeme Willetts is an award-winning writer who draws from his colourful life experiences and the fascinating characters he grew up around as a working-class kid from Swindon. He has written for award winning and BAFTA-qualifying short films, also picking up the ‘Audience Choice’ award at the IMDB Script to Screen awards with his spec script ‘Shiney Pete’ now known as ‘Shiney’. IT was also part of a script read event at the Encounters Film Festival in 2018.
Graeme is alumni of the University College for the Creative Arts in Farnham and specialised in screenwriting where he saw several of his screenplays come alive onto 16mm and 8mm film. Since graduating in 2008, he has been working on his craft with many short and feature screenplays. 6 of those short scripts have been produced and entered into international film festivals.
Graeme writes alongside his impressive career as a sound recordist, where he has been on the front line of Oscar winning and BAFTA-qualifying short films. Along the way he has been mentored by talented writers and writer/directors including Rachel Shenton, Jamie Childs, David Watson, Tim Clague and Danny Stack.
Graeme is currently developing a couple of feature scripts and has recently forged a partnership with fellow Bristol based writer/director Paul Holbrook. Their first project together ‘Dad for Dinner’ was a zero-budget comedy short that is currently screening a comedy festivals around the world.