THE STORY

I'm a Good Person is a dark satirical comedy that explores toxic positivity and the darkness we dismiss by looking on the bright side.

Helen’s intentions are (mostly) good. She’s sympathetic and sensitive and her glass is half-full, so why can’t she seem to connect with those around her? When she meets Mark, she finds more than just a lover - she finds someone who speaks her language. But as his hero-complex veers into the sinister, Helen begins to doubt the man she's let into her home.

THE PEOPLE

TAMSIN TOPOLSKI is set to direct. She is an actor/director from London. She studied Drama at Bristol University before training as an actor at Drama Centre London. She has directed several music videos for artists including LUMP, Kyla La Grange, Frida Touray and Saint Clair. Alongside directing, she continues to work as an actor. Her recent credits include Atlanta (FX) and Slow Horses (Apple TV).

www.ttopolski.com

ROSS O'DONNELLAN is the writer of the film and will play the role of 'Mark'. An Irish actor and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School graduate, Ross most recently appeared in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (Focus Films) and Luck Just Kissed You Hello at the Abbey Theatre Dublin.

LAURE STOCKLEY will star in the lead role as 'Helen'. Laure is an actor/musician from London. She has toured extensively as a singer with the award winning band Crystal Fighters before training at Identity School of Acting. Her credits include Apple Tree Yard (BBC), Valentine's Kiss (Gate TV) and Marie Antoinette (BBC Radio 4) as well as several short films.

IZZY MEIKLE-SMALL and WILL MATTHEWS are co-producing. 

Izzy has recently finished producing her second short film Not a Mourning Person, starring Toto Bruin and Tara Fitzgerald, directed by Charlotte Hamblin. She has also recently concluded her role as post-production coordinator on an American indie feature film. Izzy has an extensive acting background (Never Let Me Go, Snow White & The Huntsman, Great Expectations) and is currently filming for the next season of Outlander.

Will recently finished producing his first short film Not a Mourning Person, which is currently being submitted for festivals. He has been working as a talent agent for the last 3 years, but has recently moved to an Assistant Producer role at London-based production company, FreeTurn. 

SIMON PLUNKET is set as Director of Photography. Simon is an award winning London based DOP specialising in music videos, fashion films, short form drama and commercials. He has worked on 8 short films this year including Everybody Dies...Sometimes which was nominated for Best UK short at Raindance Film Festival. 

www.simonplunket.com

Our director, Tamsin Topolski, on the piece:

TONE & FEEL

Our story is a satirical dark-comedy that explores the complex themes of coercive control and abuse between two 'loving' people. The playful off-kilter comedic tone of the script will be mirrored in the way we plan to shoot the film. We want to drive this story forward as a character driven piece, so we will be shooting most of the film locked-off and static - this will allow the scenes to starkly play out in all their off-kilter awkwardness. To further create a sense of this perturbed world, we will play with lots of unusual and distorted angles & lenses - this will help create this sense distortion and discombobulation that can be felt when in a manipulative/abusive relationship. 

This surreal tone will continue to be explored in the design of the film. I want to create a lush and inviting world within which to explore the script's complex themes and way of exploring them. The spaces & locations will have a liminal and dreamlike quality to them - soft edges, clean lines, velvety textures and a focused colour-palette of mono-tonal but bold colours. We will shoot digitally, using soft lighting and high contrast. As the film progresses and we begin to discover more about our characters, we will subtly strip the film of its colour and its high contrast as we delve further into the real and away from the surreal. 

Ultimately, this film will make you laugh. In terms of performance, think Ruben Östlund (The Square, Force Majeur), Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth, The Favourite) and Joachim Trier (Worst Person In the World) - a deadpan dark humour to make you cringe and squirm, yet undeniably relate to. 

THE CHARACTERS

HELEN is someone with robust inner strength and generosity of spirit, always working hard to put other people first. She is someone who feels familiar and relatable, yet with a slight edge. An edge that makes people a little uneasy and disconcerting. She has a deep need to be liked. She’s never had many friends because of this - she can be just ‘a little too much’. We meet her at a place in her life where her kindness and love have been taken advantage of and her vulnerability and fragility left exposed to the elements. Her costume would exude that feeling of perhaps having given up trying a bit, or having lost her sense of self, not quite remembering what she liked to wear and how she used to express herself. On top of this, her choices have been compromised by Mark’s control and he has swayed her over time to wear more unflattering clothing so ‘as to not attract unwanted attention’. Her bright, colourful, mix matched pallet gives way to Mark’s minimal aesthetic.

MARK is charming, funny and attractive with unnerving charisma. He has a darkness that simmers under the surface of his skin. A narcissist, in the true clinical sense of the word, he struggles with abandonment and control which pushes him to behave in incredibly selfish ways in order to get what he wants and needs. His physicality is loose and sexy and alluring, exuding a stellar inner confidence that masks his insecurities adeptly. He also has a sharp edge to him, an imbalance, where we are little unnerved as to what he might do or say next - a flavour of sociopath. His costume should exude a familiarity, an unassuming man that makes us feel (albeit falsely) safe.