ESP writer, Michael Clarke, has written and directed his first short film and we’re behind him all the way…
You might have read some of Mikey’s film reviews in ESP. He’s always full of the latest movie knowledge and facts – so it was no surprise when he told us he wanted to write and direct a series of his own short films. His first is called Kelly Chambers, which tells the story of a counsellor who struggles with a personal battle, of whether or not to seek revenge on one of her own patients.
The film can be seen in full below, but be warned – it contains scenes that some may find distressing.
We caught up with Mikey to ask a few questions about his short film, starting with where the idea came from. “It’s an idea I’d been playing around with for a while,” he said. “Counsellors see a variety of people on a regular basis and I loved the idea of one speaking to a patient that (unbeknown to them) had ruined their life. What would that counsellor do? Be professional? Seek revenge? I wanted the viewer to question what was right or wrong given the film’s circumstances.”
It was a team effort of local people involved in putting the short film together. Mikey explained, “There’s a lot of local talent involved. I’d looked up local production companies and found some great videos produced by FaceFxProductions and Mitchell Brewster Media. Both had aspects about their work which made them unique and I couldn’t decide which one to use for the short film – so, I got a little greedy and hired them both.
“I used to take guitar lessons with local musician Gizz Butt, who was kind enough to allow me to use one of his songs (Goodnight Mother) and whilst walking through the town centre I heard an amazing song being performed by a local performer, Ben Callanan, who also allowed me to feature his song (Questions). All the actors (Wendy Trevor, Chris Evans, David Broughton and Andy Phillips) come from our city too. There’s so much talent in Peterborough and I hope to take full advantage of that during future projects.”
So what is next for our ESP writer? “I’m not expecting a call from Spielberg any time soon,” Mikey joked. “With ‘Kelly Chambers’ being my first project I learnt a lot from it and already have a bunch of things that I’ll do differently next time. I plan to keep making short movies and hope to improve my skills each time. I’d encourage any other aspiring filmmakers to give it a go too.”
In preparation for making his first short film, Mikey spoke to a variety of local filmmakers. Many of them have projects coming up that you may be able to get involved in. Find out more in Mikey’s local filmmaking article coming up in ESP Magazine.
Now to watch the movie…
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Photos: Andrew James Photography
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