Welcome to our Greenlit crowdfunding campaign and thank you so much for taking the time to see what our project is about. 

Stick Shift came from a want to take creative agency, to make our own opportunities, and to tell the fresh, challenging, and evocative stories.

By investing in our short film, you are not only helping to make sure we can pay all of the hard-working and skilled creatives involved in making this film, you are also helping to grow and develop the next generation of UK and Irish filmmakers. Any donation you can make will be an enormous help to us and very much appreciated. 

Daire and Conor have an ugly job to do, but Daire is trying not to have a panic attack and Conor is trying to get home for dinner. The two are best friends but in their world, violence is more comfortable than awkward silence. It all goes pear-shaped when Conor accidentally uncovers a secret Daire’s been hiding, and the two have to confront things they're not comfortable or familiar with.

This 5 minute dark-comedy is about being stuck in a cycle you’re unhappy in, fear of showing others who you really are, and unexpected intimacy between two friends who live in a world of toxic masculinity.

This story is a deeply personal one. With it I’m trying to capture the messiness of growing up, the feeling of being stuck in a cycle you’re unhappy with, and the fear of revealing parts of yourself to other people, even those closest to you. 

I want this story to surprise people and to challenge the presumptions we make about others.

And lastly, while exploring the themes of identity and sexuality in this story, I was aware of certain tropes that can occur when depicting queer characters, with a lot of their stories ending in tragedy. It was important to me to try to subvert that and offer a glimmer of hope by the end of the film.

We are making a highly charged and emotionally volatile short film. We want the film to be a forensic study of masculinity, sexuality and male friendship. We really want to create the feeling that the camera is capturing something it shouldn't. That the audience is observing a private space. We aim to achieve this voyeuristic effect by shooting on a mini DV camera.

The film begins by examining one thing and leaves us, at the end, thinking about something else. This happens in a short space of time and I only seek to enhance the quality of the writing.

Cast & Creatives

Jerry Iwu - Conor

My name is Jerry Iwu, I'm 24 years old. Currently living in London. I am Nigerian (Igbo), but grew up in Ireland. I come from a family of 7 and I'm the oldest child of 5. 

Grew up in a small town, an hour and a half away from the capital city Dublin . I lived there for 17 years before getting into acting Uni and moving to London in 2017. I trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and graduated with a BA (Hons) in Acting.

I'm a musician. I'd normally classify myself as a rapper but recently I've been in a mist of an artistic venture and exploration of myself, style/sound.

I feel that previous sentence describes where I am in my life right now. I'm in a cocoon of change and exploration. Excited to see what comes out. 

Credits include:  Sister Boniface Mysteries (BBC/Britbox), Sex Education (Netflix) , Innocent (ITV)

Elliot Nolan - Daire

My name is Elliot Nolan, I'm 24, and based in Newbridge, County Kildare in Ireland, the town in which I grew up. When I was 18, I got accepted into the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and graduated in 2021 with a BA (Hons) in Professional Acting.

After that, I stayed in London for a further 2 years, working, auditioning, but at the end of 2023, I made the decision to move home. A bit of a change of pace it must be said, but a change that I'm excited about, to get a different perspective on how to make art, to be an artist.

I've been working with the Youth Theatre I grew up in, bringing back things that I learned at drama school, and it's been nice to reconnect with that part of me that made me want to be in the arts in the first place, and why we should make art. So long may that feeling continue. 

Credits include: William in Punk Rock (dir. By Chris Sonnex), Harry Domin in R.U.R (Dir. By Caitriona McLaughlin for NYT Ireland at The Abbey Theatre), Patrick in The Big Pygmy (dir. By Tom Chambers for the London Film School). 

Ross McShane - Writer

Ross McShane (he/him) is an actor and writer from County Kildare in Ireland. He first started acting with Dublin Youth Theatre then went on to study acting at LAMDA for 3 years. Since graduating he has worked in various theatre, TV, and film projects including Savannah (Union Theatre), Doctors (BBC), and most recently Mission (2024, dir. Paul Wright) 

Stick Shift is Ross' writing debut. 

Alfie Jones - Director

Alfie Jones is an actor, writer and filmmaker raised in the Wes Midlands. He created the play Blessings in 2018 with Morning People Productions before going to train as an actor at LAMDA. Since graduating he has gone on to work at The Donmar Warehouse and Hampstead Theatre.

Anibal Castaño - Cinematographer 

Anibal Castaño is a Cinematographer and Colourist based in London, originally from Colombia and early influenced by author cinema and fashion he explores the image on a wide range of formats and roles, from narrative dramas to music videos, motion and still HUMAN projects capture his mind.

Lilly Walker - Producer

Lilly Walker (she/her) is an actor and producer from Brooklyn, New York who recently returned home after studying at drama school in London. Graduating with a First in Professional Acting from LAMDA, Lilly has since appeared in Life of the Party (Allegra Marland, dir.) and Jade the Icon (Katie Spear, dir.). She is excited to continue her work behind the camera as producer on Stick Shift. Lilly's co-producer debut in Jade the Icon will be making its festival run in the USA in 2025.

Budget & Location 

Filming for Stick Shift will take place in October 2024 in Long Itchington, UK