It’s the first feature written and produced by Geraint Anderson, a former stockbroker, turned author, who told Prolific North that he was inspired by personal experience:
“A friend of mine took his own life some years back and after that I looked into what I discovered is an epidemic of male suicide in this country. A stat that the anti-suicide charity CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) quotes that we quote in the film is that suicide is the biggest killer of British men under the age of 45.
“It was cathartic in a way. I felt like I was trying to highlight this really important issue that up until recently has been swept under the carpet. Of course, whilst the film explores the subject of male depression it does so in what I hope is the least depressing way possible.”
Despite it being his first feature, Anderson compiled an impressive cast-list, which as well as the Kelly brothers, also included Jason Flemyng (Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels), Kris Marshall (Love Actually), Maimie McCoy (Van Der Valk), Shaun Parkes (The Mummy Returns), Hugo Speer (The Full Monty) and Frances Barber (Goal!).
Anderson said he had a couple of “secret weapons” to bring them all together:
“One was a damn fine script (if I say so myself) and these great actors wouldn’t have got on board for the pay I was offering if they hadn’t really liked it.
“The second was Craig Kelly, the lead actor and my brother-in-law, who was good mates with pretty much all the stars of the film.”
Moving onto locations, Kelly said it was “very important” to set the film in Blackpool, but what advantages were there – and what challenges?
“There are too many films, especially crime thrillers, set in London and Blackpool is an amazing backdrop for the film – the Golden Mile, the illuminations, the foreboding sea, the rollercoaster, the tower – frankly, it’s a wonder more films aren’t set there,” said Anderson.
“We found Blackpool Council to be really helpful probably because there aren’t that many films made up there. The only challenge we had was, predictably, the weather! There was a brutal storm that played havoc one night when we were filming. It was so severe we had to give up trying to film all the exterior shots and that added a day to the shoot.”
Did you consider keeping the entire production in the North West, using the post production facilities for example?
“We did consider it but, in the end, we just had to go for the best value offer and that happened to be a post house down south!” added Anderson.
The film is producer by Evolutionary Films and will be available to rent or buy on all UK digital platforms, including Amazon, Sky store, Virgin, Talk Talk and iTunes.
