BRUISED FRUIT: A Short Film

Aim: To raise funds for the production of short film 'BRUISED FRUIT'.

Hiya! Welcome to our crowdfunder page for 'BRUISED FRUIT', a dark and tender drama from an award-winning creative team, with two fabulous and flawed older characters at its heart.

Logline:

Anxious Annie meets laid-back Teddy in a noisy bar. Mismatched strangers yet intimately connected, Annie finally shares her painful secret. 

What is 'BRUISED FRUIT' about? 

It’s about life and love and f*cking up. About pride, grief, anger, empathy, forgiveness, and truth. How in the blink of an eye the worst can happen. It invites us to imagine whether any of this could happen to us. Ultimately it’s about second chances and the possibility of doing things differently before it’s all too late.

An older woman and man meet, seemingly on a blind date. They feel completely mismatched and don’t get off to a good start. Annie drives the conversation at first with more and more questions of Teddy who finally snaps. Annie apologises and they reach a truce.  They start to speak deeply, finally shedding the weight of the secrets they both carry. They leave the bar together, something has been released, a trust has been built. A future feels possible but who knows yet what that is.

What makes this film special? 

We don’t see many films by older female writers or well drawn older characters on our screens. Meryl, inching towards her eighth decade, gives real voice to our two older leads with all their flaws and messy emotions. Annie’s story is her story. Teddy’s drawn from an older male friend. Lived experience, themes that resonate with all ages, heightened and dramatised with a big dollop of what if.

Being older, there’s a poignancy and urgency to their story. There’s more road behind than ahead. Meryl, coming late to screenwriting, feels her own need to get a move on as writer/actor before she too runs out of road!  On timing, meeting Grace was perfect! Her approach as a filmmaker is to tell difficult stories with humour and a lightness of touch, which beautifully balances writer Meryl’s pretty dark piece.

CAST & CREW

Meryl Griffiths - Writer/Co-Lead, playing the role of Annie

This is Meryl’s second film as writer/actor. The first, ‘Teasing the Edge’, based on a monologue she wrote and adapted to a fragmented visual narrative format with Kavisha Films has won several awards at festival for best experimental film, as well as nominations for best actress and cinematography. As an actor Meryl’s been blessed with a mix of film/tv roles, including Netflix’s 'KAOS', Paramount’s 'The Serial Killer’s wife'. 'The Split' (BBC) and 'Unforgotten' (ITV) but playing Annie because she wrote her really feels like coming home!

Sean Earl McPherson - Co-Lead, playing the role of Teddy

Sean is a tv/film veteran with roles on 'Grime Kids' (BBC) and the Amy Winehouse biopic: 'Back to Black', as well as ‘Hoplite 2000’, which was a semi-finalist of the Los Angeles Cinefest festival award for best film. However he’s most known for his tough grizzled bounty hunter lead in 'Future Soldier' 2023 (Amazon Prime). Apart from his acting chops, he and Meryl have known each other for years and there was no question he’d be invited to play Teddy, albeit a very different role to a soldier!

Grace Alwyn Ashworth - Director

Grace is an award-winning Writer/Director and Producer. A graduate of the Northern Film School UK, she set up Northern production company Found Films in 2018. 

Her short film 'What Would Julie Do?' featuring a cameo from Dame Julie Walters collected Best Comedy Awards on the festival circuit. Official Selections include; European Short Film Festival 2023, Women X Film Festival 2023 & International Comedy Film Festival 2023.

Her latest short film 'GRIM' recently won Best Picture and the Audience Award at Soul 4 Reel Film Festival 2024 - USA, along with winning Best Audience Award at LA1 shorts 2024 and Honourable Mentions at Rochester International Film Festival 2024 - USA, and Kinofilm Festival 2024. 

Zara - Assistant/Runner/Mascot

Zara is Grace’s cocker spaniel, adopted in March 2025 at 5.5 years old. She has such a sweet nature alongside the energy of a puppy. Zara is always on hand for a cuddle and some kindness. Hopefully we can convince her to make a cameo appearance in the film - you’ll have to wait to find out!

Josie Middleton - Producer

From a tech & international development background Josie’s finding a home for herself in the arts. Part of the production team for 'BEATS' at the Riverside, 2nd camera for 'Feel Me', a tv pilot with award winning directors Bethany Taylor-Goh & Corry Raymond, and finally assistant producer for Quandary Collective’s short film adaptation of 'Richard II'. Also an actress, she’s excited to be part of the production team on 'BRUISED FRUIT'. Josie says she loved the project so much she wanted a slice of it in whatever way she could!

Alexandra Cook - Producer

Alexandra is predominantly an actor, working across stage and screen. She has recently lead two vertical dramas ('Kalos' & 'Shorten'), is awaiting the release of 'HOLMES' (TV Pilot), and can be seen in the current TUI commercial. 

Alexandra is delighted to be starting her journey on the other side of the camera with 'BRUISED FRUIT', alongside an incredible team of female creatives. She hopes to use her wealth of experience in front of the camera, to help tell this beautiful and important story. 

Heather Crompton - Director of Photography

Heather is a freelance Camera Operator who is also working as a Director of Photography. She has worked in the camera department for over 20 years through all grades from trainee, 2nd AC, and 1st AC to now as Operator on feature films and TV shows. Recent credits include, ‘A Gentleman In Moscow’ (2024), ‘Rings of Power’ Series 2 (2024) and upcoming AMC show based on the Anne Rice books, ‘Talamasca’.

Her work as Director of Photography is growing from short films to having recently shot her first feature film, ‘Cross Talk’ (currently in post-production).

Robyn Saunders - Production Designer

Robyn is a Northern-based photographer and Production Designer with a passion for developing ideas from the earliest spark. Her work is rooted in authenticity — drawing inspiration from everyday textures, quiet moments, and the unnoticed details others might miss. Creatively intuitive and visually driven, she thrives on bringing stories to life with honesty and intention. Her work as Production Designer can be seen in the Award-winning short films 'A Dunder Plunder' 2019 and 'GRIM' 2024.

Director's Statement

Hi, I’m Grace Alwyn Ashworth, the Director of 'BRUISED FRUIT'. As a director I’m drawn to untold stories, tales of second chances and redemption. I’m always seeking out creative collaborations, I’ve been following Meryl’s work for years and think she’s brilliant. In the 'BRUISED FRUIT' script Meryl captures so well the complexities older characters bring to a story. Two strangers meeting in a bar, both burdened with the weight of the secrets they carry. In this film we look at the bravery it takes to be vulnerable. It’s such a privilege to be able to tell the tender story of two people on the brink of breaking down. Saved by each other.

Every film is the sum of its parts and this film is no different, we’ve got some really talented crew coming together to tell this story. I’m excited to be working with long term collaborators Director of Photography, Heather Crompton and Production Designer, Robyn Saunders. This will be the third film we’ve made together! I’m also looking forward to working with some new faces and excited to see what we can create together as a team.

Where is 'BRUISED FRUIT' now?

We’ve workshopped the script with key cast and creatives and it’s now locked barring tweaks on final pre-production rehearsal. We are close to securing our main location for the two and a half days filming. We will be filming in Preston, Lancashire, and we will be seeking local actors for the supporting cast, as well as other crew members once dates and location are solid. We’re in really good shape!

Make sure to give us a follow on Instagram at @bruisedfruitfilm or drop us an email at [email protected] to keep up to date with all things fruity.

Now for the juicy bit!

We know we can make 'BRUISED FRUIT' a fantastic film, but we need your support to make it a reality. We’ve already managed to raise some funds from a number of Executive Producers. Thank you so much!  Plus, we’re seeking sponsorship from charities and corporate organisations. If successful those funds will go towards raising the bar on post-production, alongside additional festival submissions further down the line.

But for now we don’t have quite enough in current funds to actually start shooting and kick this glorious production off. Costs will cover the usual requirements, i.e. camera, lighting and sound kit, as well as location, travel, food, insurance, safety and some basic post production.  We’re making savings where we can but even on the most low budget sets, film-making is incredibly expensive, especially when our film is going to be pretty demanding creatively on the look and sound of it. This is where our friends and film-family come in - aka you amazing lot!!

Every bit of support, from the price of a cup of coffee to that of our grandest reward, is welcome. If you’re strapped for cash at the moment, no matter, you can support by sharing and liking, and giving us virtual hugs. It all helps! Click on the rewards tab to see what wonderful perks you can get in return for supporting our project.

Risks and Challenges

This is a relatively simple shoot in terms of the logistics (eg single main location) so we’re hoping there won’t be too many surprises along the way. But this is film world, and you never know! We’ll keep you all up to date as the project progresses. Once we get fully stuck in we hope to give you lots of juicy behind the scenes.

P.S. If you've read this far, THANK YOU - we're seriously impressed and incredibly grateful!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 31st July 2025 at 10:00pm