A Little About Us:

We’re a group of friends with skills in acting, writing, directing and film-making - we vowed during the 2020 lockdown’s that (as soon as we were able to) we would create our own work and tell our stories. 'Like Sitting Ducks' is our third group project so far.

We will be updating this page throughout the process as well as on our Instagram, so please stay tuned!

Miguel Caycedo 

Miguel is a director and filmmaker known for, The Azonto: London to Accra, Jacob's Pain - The Night Before, Who is G-Legend? And Fuze: Beyond Borders. He graduated from the University of Westminster with a 1st in Contemporary Media Practice and has since gone on to work in various aspects of the creative industry.

Mia Lysandrou 

Mia plays Natalie

Mia is a London born Greek Cypriot actress who first found her love for performing arts at 8 years old. She has previously worked in; theatre, film and commercials. Her most notable achievement thus far is a highly reviewed one woman show in 2018 with Blink Theatre. Like Sitting Ducks is the first short film Mia has written, she is also currently writing a sit-com.

Jon Gutierrez

Jon plays Jude

Jon was born in London to South American parents and lived some of his childhood in Colombia where he learned the language, the culture and the way of life. At 16 now living in London he was cast as the antagonist in Jonathan Harvey's: 'Tomorrow I'll Be Happy’. Going on to perform at The National Theatre for Connections 2013, this experience only added to his burning desire for performance and storytelling. 

Here's some more about Nat and Jude's story...

'Like Sitting Ducks' follows the lockdown life of two millennials and their rollercoaster relationship throughout lockdown; exploring themes of isolation, grief, loss, love and new life.

We follow the everyday lives of Natalie and Jude, both 26 years old and living together in London. With love at the core of their relationship; the global pandemic hits to destabilise and challenge their 4 year journey.

Their love language? Playing games, board games and exercising together - they love some healthy competition!

Jude: methodical, caring, calm and collected until the pressures of lockdown unveil themselves and his limits are tested.

Natalie: lively and talkative but a sensitive soul deep down, we witness her struggle too.

The film spans over the period of 5 months, we open with our couple sitting back to back on the living room floor during a (in Jude’s words) “pretentious” home therapy session Natalie found on Instagram which exposes the fractures in their relationship.

They plough through as best they can; entertaining each other with games of charades, doing home-workouts and playing card games. We see them at their happiest again...but this doesn’t last long…

They go to feed the ducks.

NATALIE

“SHIT Jude break the bread up a bit, do you wanna choke the ducks”

JUDE

“Shhh!  Why are you shouting? They’re ducks Nat,”

The idea of a romantic stroll is ruined, once again, those fractures re-surface. It’s quiet. It’s awkward. It’s unfamiliar. They are emotionally exhausted. So, they decide to part.

But

As Natalie is ready to leave, she receives a call from her mum who has just tested positive for Covid19. She has nowhere to go and races back to the comfort of Jude’s arms.

As time passes, Natalie and Jude also contract Covid19, she has taken it badly whilst he is soldiering on and taking care of her.

But

We see a crack in his facade as he reluctantly reveals his best friend Ahmed has been admitted to hospital and is unstable. Jude puts on a brave face but we know he is deeply worried.

The support mechanism between them grows. They WANT to get through this, they WANT to protect each other and more importantly they WANT to stay together. As a result, a calmer, more relaxed and more grateful Nat and Jude emerge; they now complete puzzles together, watch TV they both want to watch and even do the dishes together. The once competitive pair have now become the perfect A-Team.

They’re in a much healthier place.

However,

The onset of another dispute soon occurs when Natalie is carrying multiple heavy shopping bags up the stairs and cannot get hold of Jude to help her, he hasn’t been answering his phone.

She enters the house in a rage but Jude is silent -she senses something is up.

JUDE

“He’s gone Nat, 11pm last night”

Jude is distraught that his best friend Ahmed has lost his life to Covid.

But

There is light at the end of the tunnel because as one life ends, another begins.

We end at the park, Natalie and Jude are sitting back to back on a hot summer's day, this time they are embracing the ‘home therapy’ session - excited to soon welcome their first baby. 

Take a peep behind the scenes at a recent rehearsal

Why support Like Sitting Ducks?

The nation (well, the world in fact) has been in this together. We have faced; struggles, harsh truths, self realisation and tragic loss combined with moments of gratitude, moments of joy and moments of sorrow. Our film is aimed at ALL who can relate to this, particularly those who are at the stage in life where they are building foundations and finding their way - young enough to make mistakes but old enough to know better.

How much are you looking to raise via crowdfunding?

We have been in contact with industry professionals and attained the following quotes for post production:

Post-Production 

£1300

-editing

-colour grading

-Original musical score

Marketing and Distribution 

£300

Additional Crew and Equipment

£600

Film Festival Submissions

£500

We would also like at least 10% of the funding total to go towards a Covid charity.

SHARE & SUPPORT

We are currently building the A-Team aka The Crew! So far, we have penciled some awesome talent - a DOP, 1st AD, Sound Recordist, Script Supervisor, Runner and Editor. We aim to shoot in early 2022. In order to get the film on it’s feet, we are self-funding at present, however, we massively believe in this project and are sure of its great potential, therefore, in order to push it that little bit further...we would be eternally grateful for any crowd-funding that may allow us to do this.

Thank you so much for your kind attention and contribution, we are very excited to share this with you soon!