Film Name: Mosaic
Directors: Alexander Churchyard, Michael Holiday
Writers: Jamie Anniss, Alexander Churchyard, Michael Holiday, Hannah Paterson
Starring: Amber Doig-Thorne, Dani Thompson, Stella Paris, Simon Bamford, Charlie Bond, Annabella Rich
Ten killers, one investigation. Detective Eliot Foley (Simon Bamford, Hellraiser) investigates several seemingly unconnected cases including a killer teddy bear, a teleporting Santa and a mad woman with an axe in this slasher anthology from the creators of I Scream on the Beach!
‘Mosiac’ has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Saturday 13h January at 20:00pm.
Q. Your film Mosaic has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A: What we set out to do with this film is make something in parts that could be covid friendly. After making The Allotment (2021) in half a day we decided we would try and do an anthology film where each section could be shot over 1 or 2 days, with new cast members each time. That way we could easily shut down if restrictions changed or someone got ill, without disrupting or hurting the production.
Mosaic is an anthology where each of the segments is a different spin on the slasher genre. So you can expect – space strippers, chainsaws, killer teddy bears and as always the odd decapitation. If you are a Horror-on-Sea regular as well you will spot quite a few familiar faces as the film goes on.
Q. You wrote co-wrote the script with Jamie Anniss and Hannah Paterson. What was the process of you all writing together?
A. When we started to come up with what each element of Mosaic would be, we looked at some of the projects we had lined up or scripts we hadn’t shot and tried to see what would fit this film. We had already started to look at a Decorator film after he featured in I Scream on the Beach! (2020) So early on we asked Jamie if he would be interested in writing a short origin story for the Decorator for this film as the character originated with him.
With Hannah we had a very short Christmas script and wanted to expand it out, Hannah happens to love Christmas horror so she seemed ideal for that one. Hannah also went on to write the teens in the woods segment, with that we had had an idea to do one based around friends telling urban legends and later we were looking to diversify with locations so that each segment wasn’t set in a house – so that became the Mary Marshall segment which builds to the conclusion of the film.
The rest Mike and I wrote separately really – we did collaborate on the found footage segment as we both had ideas for that one.
What were some of your influences when writing the script for Mosaic?
A: We looked at lots of different anthology films from Cat’s Eye (1985) to The Uncanny (1977) to Dead of Night (1945) and Creepshow (1982), and more recent anthologies such as Tales From Halloween (2015). There is a strong procedural element to the film that takes inspiration from everything from The Exorcist 3 (1990) to Tenebrae (1984) and even Line of Duty (2012-2021).
Q. Having co-directed previously on the feature I Scream on the Beach and short film The Allotment, does this make the process of collaborating easier?
A: I Scream was the first proper film we did together but we’d be working with one another in some capacity for like 15 years previous to that, so it just feels pretty natural at this point.
What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. God that’s a tricky one to answer with this. We basically attempt to tackle as many different styles of slasher movie as we can here, so the amount of influences would be massive if we actually took the time to go over each part. I think there was a real conscious effort to shoot the film in a way that made it feel like a cohesive film, rather than a series of shorts. But at the same time, give each segment it’s own style. I think just on the visuals, there’s inspiration here from Friday the 13th (1980) to August Underground (2001) and Blood and Black Lace (1965).
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A: There were lots of changes along the way – from locations changing for segments like the Decorator to segments such as the opening (Baby Babble) where we completely reshot the ending. Some segments were always in a state of flux, so we were continuously rewriting them as we went along.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. What should have likely been one of the most stressful shoots actually ended up being one of the best and most fun. We shot the final segment of the movie in a small woods overnight (thanks to fellow local film wizard Joe Duncombe), however it was the middle of summer and was one of the shortest nights of the year! The cast was made up of a few people we know well and a few we hadn’t worked with before. And we basically had around 6 hours to power through this entire segment. But everyone just came together really well, spirits were high and we pulled off what I think is one of the strongest parts of the film in a tiny time frame.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A: Possibly the biggest issues were when we shot the Wrap-around: Mike was tracked and traced a day or two before the shoot and it was already a massively ambitious thing to shoot over two days. It was impossibly hot (melting makeup anyone?) we were mostly in a small basement room and on the second day we had about 30 extras to wrangle. Probably the most stressed I have ever been, but I was very appreciative of everyone pulling together. I think Hannah , Max (AD) and I got out on the final night at about 4am.
We also managed to cover a white studio wall with blood during an FX mishap, sorry Duncan. ?
Mike: Yeah the fact that a huge chunk of this film was shot during the COVID pandemic (our first shoot was October 2020), threw up a whole host of challenges. Particularly because the shoots were quite spaced out, so it often meant the guidelines for what you could and couldn’t do were different for every single segment. In total it took just over three years to shoot the entire film. The massive wrap around shoot that I was stuck at home for was likely the weirdest bit, just getting photographs of the set ups and attempting to offer my opinions based on that was an odd experience.
Q. What makes Mosaic stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A: I think, although it is a slasher film and an anthology (two genres that have been done a lot over the years) we’ve given it our own unique spin on it. I think it has it’s own tone that I’m hoping people will find fun and a little creepy at the same time.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A.: I just hope they have a good time with it. It jumps between pretty straight horror, to over the top comedy, to some bits that are just flat out weird. So hopefully there’s something in there for all varieties of horror fans.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A: We have a documentary called Shoestring which we hope to shoot a lot of this year – that’s specifically looking at the low-budget horror scene. I have commitments to Video Shop 2 – I’ve shot the wrapper again for that one and am doing segment for it with another director (to be announced). Aside from that, I am working out exactly what my next feature film will be – two ideas currently and am hoping to shoot one in 2025.
Q. If someone was looking to get into filmmaking film what advice would you give them?
Alex: Don’t. Spend time with your family. ?
Mike: It’s much cheaper to film a real murder rather than wasting money on fake blood.
‘Mosiac’ has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Saturday 13h January at 20:00pm.
You can find out more about the festival and purchase tickets here:
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
