Award winning film director Richard Weston graduated with a First from East 15 Acting School and then immediately returned to putting together and raising funds for his new film featuring five other East 15 graduates.
‘Tragiquantomedy’ Saddenly Now is a departure from his two post apocalyptic features, The Young and Precipice Hours. Set in a mini universe, the six characters are based on the quarks from Quantum Physics. Their characteristics are based on the size and interactions, meaning there are many rules the characters try to break, some with absurd poems, others by ritual and dance.
Filmed in and around Epping Forest near East 15, Up is played by Mike Parker, Down by Roslyn Hill, Top is by Tom Telford while Bottom is Ellie Moon. Charm is performed by Richard Weston himself while Strange is Will Firth, son of actors, Colin Firth and Meg Tilly. Meurig Marshall is the cinematographer.
Richard has turned to the crowd-funding platform, Sponsume to raise the £10,000 he thinks he needs to complete the film and broaden the distribution of his work. His previous two films have won international acclaim, but the barrier to success has been insurance, having the film rated in his home country of the UK and the US, festival costs, distribution, reproduction and screening.
Originally from Wirral near Liverpool, Richard Weston explained: “The previous two feature films have won plaudits in two continents and my company was offered a distribution deal for The Young. The problem is that in order to have a film distributed, companies must stump up money for fixed costs like ratings. Film festivals charge a fee for entry yet they are the lifeblood of independent film-making. Without them, none of us would have a shop window. Yet like most products in a shop window, it’s no good if nobody buys anything.”
“£10,000 is the bare minimum but this time. I see no point in leaving anything out of the equation if this appeal stands any chance of success. Looking back at the previous two features, it is difficult to explain how on earth the film ever reached any screens or the video sites, but thanks to the goodwill of fellow actors, friends and family, the film was eventually recognised by some of the major festivals. This time, the intention is to give Saddenly Now the valuable exposure that these talented young actors deserve.”
Previous prizes for Richard have included a total of four awards in the Wirral International Film Festival (WiFF) including Best Director and Best Feature at the 4th WIFF for The Young and a similar brace of awards for Precipice Hours in 2013. The Young also was given ‘honorable mention’ at the Los Angeles Movie Awards in 2011. And New York Filmmakers awarded it Film of the Month. Cinequest dubbed it ‘incredible artistry.’ His collaboration Sanctimonia exhibited in Gent (Belgium) last Spring.
Weston put his film directing career on hold for three years while he trained as an actor at East 15, he is now represented in the UK as an actor by Simon and How.
Find out more at Rich’s blog at www.film-instinct.com