Sometimes when we recognise the pain and fear in others, we see it in ourselves;
and in that lies our humanity and redemption.
Poster by Lorna Marrison
For a full list of cast and crew please go to
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3166692/ |
Our story opens with Julia (Laura Glover) on her way to collect the very last autograph she needs; that of actress Evelyn Hawthorn (Josie Lawrence), only then will she be able to rest easy having collected the autographs of every actor to appear in the popular soap opera Jubilee Road. This self-imposed mission is something she is doing to honor the memory of her father who died when she was 9 years old.
Evelyn played the gutsy, hot-blooded charwoman Vi Cardle in Jubilee Road. A character whose life and loves were the stuff of gossip and scorn on the street. A strong woman who attracted men and inspired women to jealousy, and whose happiness was only ever paper thin. Now 86 and in a care home on the South Coast of England, Evelyn is bitter about her past career, she has no time for Vi Cardle, Jubilee Road or for autograph hunters! CAST & CREW Evelyn Hawthorne/Vi Cardle......Josie Lawrence Julia......Laura Glover Winston......Brett O'Shaughnessy Madge Crick......Wendy Albiston Bob Webster......Daniel Brennan Director......David Maybrick Writer......Mark Wright Producer......Toni Staples DoP......Oliver Kember Editor......Alice Petit Composer......Kim Halliday |
TRAILER - LOOKING FOR VI
The newly uploaded trailer with an original score by the film's composer Kim Halliday.
PRODUCTION STILLS - LOOKING FOR VI
A word from the Director
I first saw Looking for Vi on stage as part of the Off Cut short play festival in 2011. Immediately I was touched by the story of Julia who hasn't properly dealt with the death of her father, and the sweetly innocuous way she goes about her chosen task.
In order to expand the piece from the play, we knew we would have to show clips from the soap opera at the heart of the story, this would increase the volume & scope of the piece, and take it slightly out of the static, character oriented stage play that it was, and hopefully lift it at the same time. To do this we would ideally need one actress who could portray the Evelyn/Vi character across an age range of approximately 45 years. Achieving this would mean having prosthetics to make our actress look convincingly old that would stand up with HD equipment. Once we'd found Barrie Gower of BGFX who said it was possible, we felt like a major hurdle to telling the story for the screen had been removed.
Working with the writer Mark Wright allowed us to develop the characters, particularly the Evelyn/Vi character. She's a strong archetype who is easily recognisable as a kind of mainstay in this sort of drama, someone that the audience can hang their coat on and feel relaxed with. The twists and turns of her life will probably reflect the lives of those watching so it's important to treat with sympathy and respect. Telling a broader version of the story from the original play allowed us to give more nuance to all our characters.
In a simplistic way I'd thought that having a good script and getting beautiful performances from actors was more or less all that was important with film-making, it only slowly dawned on me that this is merely a good place to launch the ship, and not a destination in itself. Working with creative people can be its own reward, at almost every stage the people who helped us make this film brought in their own ideas, and all of the ideas that stuck enhanced the film in some way. Sound, cinematography, colour grading, and music all added layers to the film that I hadn't originally envisioned. Seeing your film evolve this way can be intimidating but to ignore or suppress this part of the process would be to miss the point.
- David Maybrick
I first saw Looking for Vi on stage as part of the Off Cut short play festival in 2011. Immediately I was touched by the story of Julia who hasn't properly dealt with the death of her father, and the sweetly innocuous way she goes about her chosen task.
In order to expand the piece from the play, we knew we would have to show clips from the soap opera at the heart of the story, this would increase the volume & scope of the piece, and take it slightly out of the static, character oriented stage play that it was, and hopefully lift it at the same time. To do this we would ideally need one actress who could portray the Evelyn/Vi character across an age range of approximately 45 years. Achieving this would mean having prosthetics to make our actress look convincingly old that would stand up with HD equipment. Once we'd found Barrie Gower of BGFX who said it was possible, we felt like a major hurdle to telling the story for the screen had been removed.
Working with the writer Mark Wright allowed us to develop the characters, particularly the Evelyn/Vi character. She's a strong archetype who is easily recognisable as a kind of mainstay in this sort of drama, someone that the audience can hang their coat on and feel relaxed with. The twists and turns of her life will probably reflect the lives of those watching so it's important to treat with sympathy and respect. Telling a broader version of the story from the original play allowed us to give more nuance to all our characters.
In a simplistic way I'd thought that having a good script and getting beautiful performances from actors was more or less all that was important with film-making, it only slowly dawned on me that this is merely a good place to launch the ship, and not a destination in itself. Working with creative people can be its own reward, at almost every stage the people who helped us make this film brought in their own ideas, and all of the ideas that stuck enhanced the film in some way. Sound, cinematography, colour grading, and music all added layers to the film that I hadn't originally envisioned. Seeing your film evolve this way can be intimidating but to ignore or suppress this part of the process would be to miss the point.
- David Maybrick
THE SOAP OPERA IN THE FILM - JUBILEE ROAD
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Vi and Madge
in Jubilee Road |
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The cast & crew of "Looking for Vi"