I wrote the script for our film, The Deterrent, which Justin expertly set up and shot on Saturday, including taking the opportunity to capture drone footage before the sun went down!

The Deterrent is a micro sci-fi, a suburban Dr. Strangelove that examines the consequences of unlimited destructive power, while appealing to those who have struggled with new gadgets that don’t quite work as well as they should.

John plays the uptight Lionel, who is doing his best to relax at home, when a mysterious appliance starts malfunctioning. Gill Attrill plays tech support agent Carol, who further enrages Lionel during a fraught phone call, with potentially apocalyptic consequences.

Our past experience working together made the process of completing a film in 48 hours more feasible. John previously starred in Justin’s film Tempest. I worked with Justin on The Arena, which starred Greta Scacchi, and The Mirror, while John took the lead in The Last Lighthouse Keeper.

For the challenge, The Deterrent had to be edited to a time frame of five minutes or less. We’re now looking at completing a future edit, for showings elsewhere, which could extend it.

For now, we’re looking forward to seeing our film on the big screen next Thursday. Many thanks for Film Sussex for this refreshing chance, rare in the film world of ‘development hell’, to make and present a film to an audience in such a short space of time!

I received some great feedback on the script, which was especially encouraging as I know that verse dialogue is unusual as part of a film script. You can read more about Blank Canvas here

The session featuring Time and Tide was called Lost at Sea, encompassing a variety of films inspired by the sea that the festival organisers described as as ‘reflective, calming or a force of nature’. I took part in the Q&A following the session. You can check out the full festival programme here – and the trailer, which includes some shots from Time and Tide, is here

There was a short Q&A session after the screening, with me and co-producer Marc Green, John Locke, star of The Last Lighthouse Keeper, Alexx Paul Sherman, cinematographer and editor of The Last Lighthouse Keeper, and Justin Spray, director of The Arena.

The awards were presented by William Nicholson, screenwriter for Gladiator among many other films, who gave a thought-provoking talk before the presentation – with useful advice covering screenwriting, directing and the art of collaboration and compromise, while remaining true to a central vision. Coincidentally, The Arena, the first part of the Time and Tide trilogy, has aspects that were influenced by Gladiator, so this was a particularly resonant session for us!

I was involved in a Q&A session after the screening of Time and Tide, which explored the creative and technical processes involved in the production. You can watch the Q&A here

A fun highlight was the closing day, where many of the film makers gathered for networking and a group photo on the red carpet – with the added bonus of a bar serving cocktails inspired by some of the films!

There is also a traditional, non-immersive version of the film, which uses a different narrative techniques to tell the same story. This was recently screened at various TV station across the UK as part of the Latest Visions TV festival. You can read more about this Festival here