UK Film industry grinds to a shuddering halt
Friday 8 May, 2020
With the emergence of Covid-19 the world has changed forever. The impact is global and affects all aspects of personal life and worldwide industry. The British film and television industry has been hit as hard as any other sector, grinding to a shuddering halt. TV soap operas are rationing pre-filmed content, established shows are being cancelled at an alarming rate and no-one can predict when the next British film will be made.
Globally, cinemas and movie theatres have been closed, festivals cancelled or postponed, and film releases moved to future dates or indefinitely delayed. With cinema and movie theatre closures, global box office takings have dropped by billions of pounds, streaming has became the new normal, and the stock of film distributors has dropped dramatically. Many blockbusters originally scheduled to be released between March and November of this year have been postponed or canceled around the world, with new film productions also halted.
For a sobering insight into the breadth of the industry shutdown, check out these statistics over at DIGITALSPY.These are peculiar times indeed for the entertainment industry... but where doom casts a shadow small rays of light remain.UK film Director, DB Morgan commenced production on his debut feature, Faith, mid February 2020. Production completed in early March and they emerged from the set straight into the Coronavirus pandemic. Producer/Director/Screenwriter DB Morgan explains: "Production was tough! We were filming in a secret barn studio on the outskirts of Colchester, Essex. Nature threw three storms at us and, as our production office was a seven metre yurt tent, you can imagine the challenges we faced in keeping cast and crew comfortable. Thankfully we completed filming on time and just about on budget. Then we stepped off the set and straight into Covid-19. I believe we are possibly the last film to be produced in the UK before lockdown."
The Underdog FilmmakerDB Morgan has embraced the moniker of the ‘underdog filmmaker’, due to limited budgets and resources. A mental health survivor and a vocal #allequal advocate, he assembled a film crew comprising over three-quarters crew members on the autism and asperger’s spectrum, PTSD/anxiety sufferers, mental health survivors and members from marginalized backgrounds. With a modest budget of around £35,000 he embarked on producing his debut feature film, Faith, a micro budget disaster movie hailed as '127-hours' meets 'Titanic'.
Following his ethos for 'resources filmmaking' he created a studio set in a barn on a local farm and shot with a core cast of two: Frank Jakeman (Game of Thrones/Rise of the Krays) and Leona Clarke (An Inspector Calls). Using two Vauxhall Zafira's - one for driving and one smashed as a terrible car wreck - he weaves a horrific, and extremely claustrophobic, morality tale, where a father and daughter are forced to confront lifelong issues prior to, and during, a devastating car crash.It’s heart-breaking and it’s real. DB Morgan draws from personal experience of witnessing his own father’s ongoing plight with dementia, weaving a heart wrenching tale of a family fighting to come to terms with vascular dementia.DB Morgan has developed a story full of relevance that mirrors the hopelessness we all feel towards the modern world and destruction of family values and morality. Much in the same way that Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’, or Jeremy Saulnier’s ‘Green Room’ holds a mirror up to the dark unspoken truths of the modern world. ‘Faith’ essentially becomes, at core level, a social commentary on the breakdown of family and the disillusionment we often feel with understanding the point of our existence in the modern world. Specifically, Faith asks us to contemplate our coping methods, our chosen poison, and reminds us that faith in a higher power - be that religion or spirituality - is what’s needed to get by.“Good films begin with great stories. A great premise, realistic, well developed characters and a rollercoaster ride of emotion where you feel wrung dry at the end! These are the subtleties that work on conscious and subconscious levels to create thrilling movie experiences.” DB states.
When asked how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected his plans, DB explains:
"Well, on the plus side, being locked down I've no excuse to not focus on editing. So that's a part of the process that's going well. We've had to change a few plans, with regards to logistics and post production. For example, my 1st AD, Sarah Drage, 'popped' over to the U.S for a week to visit her partner once we wrapped. Sarah is working alongside me on the edit... or at least she should be, once she finally manages to get an emergency flight back to the UK!
When it comes to post production funding we always had clear plans to raise the funds via crowdfunding and private investment. This has proved to be more of a moral quandary, as I cannot in good faith crowdfund for a movie when there are currently so many other vitally important concerns in desperate need to funding. Food banks, community groups, volunteer organisations etc... It just doesn't seem right at this point. Also, with private investment there are so many unknown parameters in play that is just doesn't seem the time to go cap in hand for help with my little movie."DB Morgan feels that although he, and every other filmmaker around the UK, are currently feeling the effect of Coronavirus on their workflow - he is quick to hail the NHS workers, emergency services, military and care workers who have become the heroes of the Covid-19 story - as an emerging filmmaker there has probably never been a better time to release new content.
In the short term, due to Covid-19, the majority of people are now staying indoors, leading to a surge in TV and streaming viewership. Self-isolation and quarantine are resulting in increased media consumption in the home in the form of entertainment services such as subscription TV and video-on-demand. With so many of us staying home amid the coronavirus epidemic, we are watching TV in record numbers. Ratings are up across all forms of television and online entertainment. We are streaming content like never before.
For filmmakers like DB Morgan this could be a golden opportunity in the form of the right product at the right time. Sales agents and distributors will soon be clamouring for quality online content, even as traditional film festivals and markets are adapting their logistics to deal with the global pandemic.
It is difficult to say what the long-term impacts of coronavirus will be on the media industry because nobody knows exactly when things will return to normal. The extent of the disruption will likely depend on the type of content that media companies produce and distribute.
We wish DB Morgan well in his journey to market. The timing of his debut feature film could well be the strongest arrow in his quiver, although short term issues have complicated the production process.
With the current resurgence of low budget independent cinema maybe there has never been a better time to rise up and make your creative mark. And you never know, this could be the silver lining to DB Morgan's Covid-19 cloud.We are strongly rooting for DB Morgan and Faith. Self funded, self driven and utilising 70% crew members from the autistic spectrum, mental health survivors and from marginalised backgrounds.
Family Tragedy Faith Movie UK ltd was established in 2019 and is owned by DB Morgan. Following several short film successes - including winning an MTV short film competition in 2010 - Dominic (DB) Morgan is playing catch up. Following the MTV win, his daughter, Jodi was diagnosed with severe aplastic anaemia and she tragically passed away in 2010, aged 12. He stopped working on films, and began fundraising for www.sickchildrenstrust.org in 2010, where his family raised several thousand pounds for this amazing charity and also donated tablet PC’s to Addenbrooks hospital in Cambridge, UK.
Jumping back into his lifelong passion for film in 2017, DB Morgan, and Faith Movie UK, aims to produce inspirational, hard hitting and socially relevant, works of theatrical fiction. The aim with his slate of five self-penned feature films (to date) is to produce works that question what it is to be human. To challenge pre-conceived ideas about identity, morality, gender and sexuality. Films with heart and the ability to raise questions about the human condition.
Could you help support this great project and DB Morgan's 'Underdog Crew'?Find out more at www.faith-movie.co.uk
Finishing Funds – Having Faith!Having spent everything available for the production of Faith, DB Morgan is now seeking finance to complete the film and take it to festivals in the new year, with the aim of getting picked up for cinematic release and subscription streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube Red, Playstation Store etc… DVD pre-orders are now live on the website, together with pre-order tickets for the UK red carpet premiere, scheduled to be held at Firstsite (1st choice venue) in Winter of this year - or early 2021 due to Coronavirus delays.
DB is also looking for local companies who might like to be aligned with the film as sponsors and investors with front or back end credits, branding the UK premiere and many other cool money-can’t-buy treats. DVD pre-orders start at £10, with UK red carpet premiere tickets available at £25. A limited number of VIP tickets are also available, which include a champagne and canape reception with cast and crew.
Pre-sales go a long way towards financing the final stages of production when completing an independent movie! DB Morgan has done the hard work, now he's asking for your help.
Visit the website to see the first hard-hitting micro trailer, together with behind-the-scenes production documentary and the exclusive Faith Movie soundtrack music video 'Lie to Me', written and performed by Norwich based Amy Bristow and produced by Joe Rodwell (Craig David, Chase & Status, Mr Eazi, Ady Suleiman, Rag'n'Bone Man & Sam Smith).
If you like what you see, get your DVD early and book a place on our glitzy red carpet.FundraisingA percentage of proceeds from all DB Morgan's films and creative works will continue to support www.sickchildrenstrust.org in respect of the charity's assistance when he lost his daughter, Jodi, in 2010. A percentage of proceeds from the UK red carpet premiere (Winter 2020 @Firstsite, Colchester, Essex) will go to support this amazing charity.www.faith-movie.co.uk
Read on to discover more about the project and DB Morgan's 'Underdog Crew' movement.
Jamie Wright - a student at Colchester Institute coming from a troubled family background - production assistant and behind-the-scenes documentarian, had this to say about his time on-set:
"As a 16-year-old college student, studying Level 2 Film and TV at Colchester Institute, I was lucky to be chosen as an intern. This experience has honestly been such a highlight for my life. My dream is to do filmmaking but after this internship. I have now realized this is something that I definitely want to do for the rest of my life. The cast and crew where all so kind and friendly. From just working on a film set for two weeks, I have learnt and grown so much more developing new skills. It has been a surreal feeling to me, my younger self could have never believed what is possible now.
When I was younger, I never really believed in myself, I never really had confidence in many things. From issues from my childhood. My parents suffer from mental illness and it was really tough. I always felt like I couldn’t achieve anything, and I have nothing to show to the world. I had a dark stage in my life dealing with a lot of suicidal thoughts. But I overcame it. This team and film have given me a sense of purpose, and the title alone just shows how I feel now in life.
After dealing with a lot of stuff and gradually picking myself up. This experience has given me faith. The writer and director of this film Dom Morgan. I have thanked a lot and will again. But he has really inspired me. He has shown me that you can do what you love from any background. This experience has helped me not only in more knowledge on the filmmaking side of things. But also, my opinion of myself. I can’t wait for what is in store for me, but I sure know that if it wasn’t for this experience, I would not have known it was possible.”Read up on all the 'Underdog Crew' experiences HERE.
Faith is classed as a micro budget disaster movie, a survival horror or thriller feature film. Based on true life events Faith is an extremely tense story of surviving a horrific car crash in the dead of night. Game of Thrones actor, Frank Jakeman, says of Faith Movie: “Being involved with a project like Faith is every actor’s dream, with so much raw anxiety and emotional honesty the get my teeth into. DB truly understands human nature and he certainly lays it bare with Faith. Audiences will be crawling out of the screenings, gasping for air.”From attaching amazing actors like Frank Jakeman (Game of Thrones) and Leona Clarke (An Inspector Calls), to the legendary Gregg Masuak (Canadian music video Director famed for his work with Kylie, Take That, Level 42, Mike and the Mechanics, Celine Dion, Lionel Richie and many more). We aim to produce the most claustrophobic movie ever made. But more than that, and possibly the main reason we’ve managed to attract such amazing people to the project, is the fact that Faith has real soul. It tells a heart-breaking story that so many people can relate to.
Faith, at its heart, tells the story of a family torn apart by vascular dementia and their inability to deal with the raw, and complex, emotions that stem from it.
DB Morgan has developed a story full of relevance that mirrors the hopelessness we all feel towards the modern world and destruction of family values and morality. Much in the same way that Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’, or Jeremy Saulnier’s ‘Green Room’ holds a mirror up to the dark unspoken truths of the modern world.
‘Faith’ essentially becomes, at core level, a social commentary on the breakdown of family and the disillusionment we often feel with understanding the point of our existence in the modern world. Specifically, Faith asks us to contemplate our coping methods, our chosen poison, and reminds us that faith in a higher power - be that religion or spirituality - is what’s needed to get by. “Good films begin with great stories. A great premise, realistic, well developed characters and a rollercoaster ride of emotion where you feel wrung dry at the end! These are the subtleties that work on conscious and subconscious levels to create thrilling movie experiences.” DB Morgan Leona Clarke, who recently played the leading role of Sheila Birling in the remake of JB Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’, explains her reasons for getting involved: “Working on Faith has thrown me completely out of my comfort zone. For me it’s an extremely challenging role and I love that. The audience are trapped in the car with us and will really experience the terror – not knowing whether we will live or die. I love the fact that it’s based on true events. I’ve always wanted to work on a project like this. It’s an actor’s dream role.”
www.faith-movie.co.uk
Fundraising A percentage of proceeds from all DB Morgan's films and creative works will continue to support www.sickchildrenstrust.org in respect of the charity's assistance when he lost his daughter, Jodi, in 2010. A percentage of proceeds from the UK red carpet premiere (Winter 2020 @Firstsite, Colchester, Essex) will go to support this amazing charity.
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