Yesterday I was chatting with Director and Co-Writer of new emotional drama Sundown, Ryan Hendrick, on social media about the drama, filming, tourists, weather issues and the cast.
Former Doctor Who companions Caitlin Blackwood and good a good friend of mine Frazer Hines have teamed up with award winning and BAFTA nominated film director Ryan Hendrick for the short drama.
Ryan told me that, “the edit of the film is looking quite nice and there is still some fine tuning to be done”, he also said that “the Fraser and Caitlin are great and really suited to their roles. in the short film”.
We also spoke about crowdfunding the project, Ryan told me that they found the first campaign, “really tough”, as spreading the word out to more than just friends and family as there is so much information out there, but it was a learning curve for the production, but they did manage to raise enough to get the film shot and to pay the cast and crew.
A new Indiegogo campaign has be launched for the post-production of Sundown (more info and the link at the end of this article).
Sundown – Caitlin Blackwood (Still Courtesy Ryan Hendrick)
Sundown tells the story of William (Hines), a man in his 70s who is taken on a timeless journey through the eyes of Abi (Blackwood) to come to terms with his own mortality.
Caitlin Blackwood said, “I think this project is important in terms of highlighting the issues the film delves in to, I have the opportunity to bring a youthful insight to a role that you’d normally expect to played by an older actor.” Blackwood still only 16 famously rolled onto our screens at the tender age of 9 in the BBC’s Doctor Who as the young Amelia Pond opposite Matt Smith. The character went on to be played as an adult by Caitlin’s real life cousin Karen Gillan.
Frazer Hines star of Emmerdale, Doctor Who and Outlander said, “Sundown is a beautiful script that really gives both myself and Caitlin the chance to really shine as two very real and complex characters.”
Sundown – Frazer Hines (Still Courtesy Ryan Hendrick)
Director and Co-Writer Ryan Hendrick described to me that the emotional drama is, “a story about how a person’s perception on life can change once they accept their own mortality. Our goal is to explore these ideas and try to give a subjective view from a fresh perspective.”
His writing partner Clare Sheppard said, “On the surface, William is on a journey we all must travel eventually, but dig a little deeper and you realise, his is a road we’re all already on. I am very, very proud to be involved with this film.”
Sundown marks the 3rd screenwriting venture between Hendrick and Sheppard. Their last short film Perfect Strangers enjoyed worldwide success after receiving more than 18 film festival selections, 3 awards and 4 nominations including BAFTA Scotland Nomination for Clare Sheerin in the Best Actress category.
Their 2nd venture is the upcoming road movie Journey Bound starring Ford Kiernan, Clare Grogan, Sylvester McCoy, James Kirk and Caitlin Blackwood to name a few.
The writing pair certainly has high hopes that Sundown will climb a similar ladder of success as their previous venture, “This is a story that needs to be told. It carries a universal theme that everyone can relate to.”
The film’s Producer, BAFTA Award Winner David Newman said, “We’re planning to take this short film to the next level. We achieved a milestone in terms of production values on Perfect Strangers, so this time we need raise the bar even higher. This is why we launched a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo. We have the workings of a beautiful film with an excellent and well loved pair of actors. I have high hopes for Sundown.”
Sundown is due to start filming this summer. You can support Sundown by visiting their funding campaign on Indiegogo https://igg.me/p/2167350/twtr/4645556 the target is £3000, so please stop on by and help out the team for the Post Production, there are some great perks, so pop over NOW!!!
Thanks to Ryan for the chat and I’m looking forward to seeing Sundown upon it’s release.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
