Doubts and fantasies.  They are the universally human products of imagination, creativity, uncertainty, fear.

Our short film of the same name is set against the cosmopolitan backdrop of London, it encapsulates the intense highs and lows that come from living in one of the most vibrant and challenging cities in the world.  The structure emulates the intertwined and contrary elements of emotionally charged moments that connect us all in our day to day lives and especially in our varying relationships with each other.

The story’s dramatic underpinning is a chain of events that comes full circle at the conclusion of the film.

Five scenes. Six characters, with only two characters per scene. All characters are navigating their ups and downs – their doubts and fantasies - giving the tone of the story a high-pitched intensity.

Your financial help will contribute to enabling a large team of creatives to make this film to a high standard; resulting in a piece of art all of us will be proud of that can enrich the careers of many involved.

From our utterly brilliant Costume Designer fresh out of a degree, to our driven and talented actors, to our stunning MUA - who also created our beautiful poster art!  We are consisted of a fiercely and proudly diversified team exploding with talent.

We want to be able to pay every cast and crew member – that, of course, is the dream.  We have a strong belief that all persons should be rewarded for their efforts in an industry that is all too often exploitative of young artists.

However, in the current climate we understand and appreciate that this goal cannot be as realistic as focusing on obtaining the funds needed to actually MAKE this film, nor are we oblivious to the reality that the world is a difficult place right now, especially for the arts – and asking for financial help even more so.

The bulk of the money donated will be going towards making sure that the wonderfully talented cast and crew are treated to industry standards over the planned four day shoot. This, for us, is the driving force behind why we are asking you for help.

After our priority of covering the team on a day to day basis and ensuring they have a comfortable and supportive working environment on set, we will need to focus our funding on:

Locations – Particularly as the film is shot predominantly indoors.  We will need to be approaching a number of venues/landlords/businesses.  This we also see as a win win from a business perspective for potential clients, as we will be providing a much needed boost for some places that may have suffered a decline in recent months.

Catering – The same rule applies when it comes to boosting the economy for small business – in the hospitality sector.  Many of the team worked on various projects during the first lockdown and are aware of smaller companies having adapted to the COVID laws and requirements, and thus we are confident in our ability to safely cater to, and take care of our cast and crew each day of filming.

Equipment – Much of our camera equipment is already owned by our camera crew – who are long-working professionals in the industry themselves.  In this we’re very fortunate!  Our budget for equipment would predominantly need to go towards lighting and sound.  These are two vitally important aspects of filmmaking that need to be prioritised.

Post Production – This is an aspect of filmmaking our Director and Producer are well aware can often be overlooked until it’s too late – often at the expense of the completion of the film.  The editing, grading, and sound design of a film will make or break it, and if enough of the budget has not been set aside for it, that can set a project back months.  We have factored in the appropriate projected amount to ensure we get a well edited, beautiful looking, crisp sounding film tied up with a big pretty bow.

We have assembled a wonderfully talented cast and crew for Doubts and Fantasies. Starting with the Crew...

Writer – Shwan Ziad
Shwan writes for the screen in comedy, drama, and literary adaptation. He has an MA in Film and TV from University of Bristol that gave him an intensive period of studying screenwriting and filmmaking. He’s currently working with National Film and Television on writing a feature with support of their Development programme. Shwan has researched for Revolution Films, provided coverage for Anton Corp, and read story submissions for The Atlantic. He also writes on film for Times Literary Supplement.

Director – Guy Taylor
Shortly after graduating from university in engineering, Guy decided to pursue his passion for film. He threw himself into the industry and worked across many roles until he began working as a director. His first three short films so far have been selected at film festivals internationally and he aims to continue this trajectory with Doubts and Fantasies. This year he founded Gatton Films as a production company through which to keep making compelling content.

Producer – Ellen Williams
Ellen has several years of experience in Directing, Producing, and other department roles within the industry. Shorts and features she’s been involved with have won numerous festival awards including; LA Shorts Fest, Melbourne Underground film festival, Cannes Marche Du Film and short film corner, LA CineFest, and Sydney Indie Film Festival, to name a few.

DoP – Jose Romero
When Jose arrived in London on a gap year, he felt all the limitations of living in a small Spanish town just fading away. The cosmopolitan city, full of anything and everything, quickly left him no other choice but to stay. Having found this creative paradise, he decided to work on his photography skills and filmmaking is just the natural next step.

1st AD – Edwin Miles
Edwin Miles is a moving image artist, filmmaker, and documentarian from the West Midlands, UK. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies at Falmouth University, Cornwall, he went on to complete a Film and Television postgraduate degree at the University of Bristol which then drove him to move to London. This journey to the capital has been a major influence on his current work which often turns to the contrast between his current circumstances and his upbringing in a riverside town. 

Line Producer – Freya Wood
Freya has spent most of her time working in camera departments across projects in the last twelve months. However, she has since started getting more involved with the logistical and coordination side of shoots. Working in film is an important creative outlet for her as she works towards becoming a lawyer.

Hair and Make-Up – Hanni Wellian
Hanni has been working as a freelance Hair and Makeup Artist for 2 years now in varying industries, from film to fashion, commercial and theatre. She graduated with a BA(Hons) in “Makeup for Media and Performance” at Arts University Bournemouth, with a Prosthetics and Special Effects Named Award. 

Costume Designer - Georgina Ratcliffe
With nods to eighties and nineties art and image making, Georgina explores themes of sexuality and family using self portaits that focus on social and sexual positioning of gender and family connection. Using these themes and applying them to editorial image production and styling is what she specialises in. 

And now the Cast (so far)...

Max – Will Stevens
Will was born and grew up in London. He graduated from Drama Centre in September 2019, and since then has performed at the VAULTS festival in London, developed his own written portfolio, and featured in an episode of BBC's 'Silent Witness'. He hopes to continue to explore work across stage and screen.

Asha – Sanjana Puri
Sanjana Puri is a British Indian actor based in London. She is an expressive, empathetic and articulate young woman. Sanjana is the first woman from her traditional Indian family to be able to pursue a career of her choice. She has fought hard for the freedom to choose her own path and therefore understands the value of doing something you love.

Lara - Lynne-Anne Rogers
Lynne-Anne Rogers’ acting credits include DC’s Justice League and indie feature film Dark Beacon, for which she won the Best Supporting Actress prize at the International Film Festival of Wales. Other projects include the feature films White Colour Black, Patients of a Saint and Faces, also the BBC radio drama By God’s Mercy, a play by award winning writer Colette Victor and recently, has completed filming on the short film Daughter directed by Athena Mandis and written by Jo Harper due for release early 2021.

Isabel – Lucy Nicholson
Lucy Nicholson is a 23-year-old Actress from London. She trained with Young Actors Theatre Islington after graduating from Durham University, as well as the National Youth Film Academy. Her credits mainly include theatre, having performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival several times. She is looking forward to focussing more on film now if covid allows it! As well as being an actor she is also a trained dancer in ballet, tap and jazz as well as a harpist.

There is a big range of crowdfunding rewards on offer depending on how much you contribute as we wanted to make sure that you got something out of it no matter how much you are able to afford! This ranges from VIP photoshoots through to physical posters (in a colour of your choice, seen at the top of the page). Please check out the side bar for more information!

We'd like to thank every single person who has backed or shared the project so far and we're really excited to make this film a reality! Please follow @gattonfilms on instagram for updates!