BUBBLE is a short film that was written and conceived during lockdown by actress, Stacey Daly.
BUBBLE explores love, loss and isolation during the COVID pandemic and asks "Who are we when no one's watching?"
BUBBLE will be directed by BAFTA-Cymru nominated filmmaker and director, Luke Andrews and will be produced by BAFTA-Cymru nominated Dan Harris, Focus Shift Films.
A few words from the writer of BUBBLE, Stacey Daly...
"I’d been living in London for the last few years however, at the start of the COVID pandemic I returned back home to Newport. Naively; I thought I'd be home for just a few months. At that time, I had not realised the full extremity of the pandemic and all that was to come with it.
A month or so into lockdown and like so many others, I began to feel depressed, anxious, frightened and direction-less. Before I'd returned home, my mother had also been very poorly. Suddenly, being around her 24 hours a day, every day, witnessing her daily struggles ( a lot of them, mental health struggles) at a time when the NHS focus was on COVID and 'saving lives', whilst she wasn't able to get the support and treatment that she needed, really impacted me. I felt utterly helpless.
Not only this, but there was an anarchic tone in the country; I mean, there seemed to be protests and riots going on everywhere and about almost anything and everything. The environment felt truly surreal and I must admit, almost dystopic at times.
I'd find myself going off for long walks and of course, at that time it was all about social distancing so they were usually by myself where I'd be left alone to gather my thoughts, trying to make sense of it all as best I could. This is when the idea for BUBBLE began to evolve.
Around this time, like most people, I'd also been trying to stay connected with friends and loved ones by doing the whole Zoom/Skype call, party, quiz thing...I'd noticed that there seemed to be an automatic expectation that during lockdown, the younger generation would be better equipped than the older one; an assumption that they could smoothly transition into the online world. This online world being set up to try and replicate the ‘human experience’ and sustain us until the government relinquished control and life returned to 'normal' again.
I was interested in the idea of a younger person who might struggle to make that transition; perhaps one who may already have been experiencing mental health illness before the pandemic hit and perhaps, also one, whereby I could try and inject a daughter/mother relationship dynamic into the backstory.
In the film we watch two people- two strangers, (Leah and Luke) connect and come together during lockdown using this online medium; the audience acting as voyeurs to a vignette of scenes that are intimately played out between them. Where that journey goes, to what extent and at what cost, will be left for the audience to decide...
Our BUBBLE team:
Stacey Daly - Actress and writer of BUBBLE
Stacey Daly is an actress from Newport, South Wales. She has worked extensively in theatre, film and television. In 2016, with assistance from Arts Council Wales, she formed theatre company 'silence darkness'. You can catch some of Stacey's other new work later this year with the horror film, "Fruiting Bodies" for Wide Island Films and "Shark" for BBC Wales.
Luke Andrews - Director
Luke is a BAFTA-nominated film director, writer and video editor. To date, he has written and directed four short films. Having a passion for historical fiction, in 2019, his screenplay, Jewish Kindertransport drama, "Dearest Otto" won the Best Screenplay Award in the UK Parliament Film the House competition.
Daniel J Harris - Producer, FOCUS SHIFT FILMS
Dan is a producer with a wealth of experience ranging from short film production, 360 degree VR film, online sports series, documentaries, music videos and more. Dan will produce BUBBLE through his BAFTA nominated production company Focus Shift Films.
Jonathon George - Actor
A Yorkshire born actor, Jonathon trained with the National Youth Theatre and is an alumni of the Actors Class. He has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and featured in numerous short films, London fringe productions and commercials.
Mark Holownia - Director of Photography
Joining the BUBBLE team as director of photography is Mark Holownia.
Mark is a BAFTA Cymru award-winning Gaffer. Some of Mark's previous work has been on feature films "Dream Horse" (Warner Bros), "Eternal Beauty" (Bankside Films) and "You Should Have Left" (Blumhouse Productions).
Needless to say, Mark brings with him a wealth of talent and experience. We are not worthy ;)
Felicity Boylett - Art Director
Felicity has extensive production and set design experience, having worked on a plethora of short and feature films. Felicity is a staple crew member of the horror label, North Bank Entertainment and has production designed and art directed, in excess of 20 horror features.
Felicity committed her talents to director, Luke Andrews' previous short, "Dying Light". They share a strong and valuable working relationship across a number of projects.
We are delighted to have Felicity join our BUBBLE!
Sion Trefor - Composer
Sion is a professional concert pianist, violinist and percussionist-turned electronica producer and composer for visuals.
Amongst ongoing commissions for the BFI and BBC, Sion is currently recording his debut album “America, A Bird In The House” due for release in June 2022.
Dividing his time between studios in Berlin and Cardiff, Sion is founder of The Born Rare Collective and co-founder of Action Wolf Records.
Sion is the latest addition to our BUBBLE team and we are thrilled to have him on board!
PREVIOUS FILMS
As a filmmaking team, Luke, Dan and Stacey pride themselves on their passion, ambition, and not being restricted by low budgets. They previously collaborated back in 2016, creating the ambitious WW2 short film DYING LIGHT. With this film, they showed what could be achieved, with limited funds in a short space of time, producing a film that was cinematic in its scale and scope.
PROJECT FUNDING
With a skilled and proven team in place, you might be wondering why we are asking for donations?
It will come as no surprise to you that during this 'pandemic time', the arts has taken a bashing. By this, we mean severe budget and fundings cuts. Every single member of the BUBBLE team will be working on this project for free.
Besides caring about the project itself, we are all passionate about making sure that, even in light of such a challenging time for the arts, we can continue to make work that is engaging, meaningful and relevant. Your kind donations will enable us to do this.
Your donations will make sure our cast and crew are fed and watered at the end of each 12 hour shoot day. They will help cover the costs we'll incur in order to make our film set 'COVID friendly'. They will contribute toward the cost of prop hire. Your donations could even help us cover the cost of the electricity bill (to the kind soul who has generously donated her house for one of our primary shoot locations).
We don't just want to make this film and then let it gather dust at the back of a cupboard. We intend to enter BUBBLE into European and International film festivals. We believe this film will be worthy of a wider audience and your generous donations can help us achieve that.
We thank you in advance from the bottom of our 'BUBBLE team' hearts.
Final word...
"When I began developing this piece I honestly had no expectations for it. If anything, it was just catharsis for me but also my way of trying to stay empowered creatively during lockdown at a time when theatres were forced to close their doors and other productions halted.
I was utterly thrilled that Luke and Dan could see the potential in it and wanted to make it. This will be the first time I've ever written my own material and performed in it. I'm very excited (if not also slightly terrified hah hah). I say that because it's such a deeply personal piece of writing and there really won't be any place to hide in this film; not in the performance sense anyhow. It's going to be very exposing.
It's also been a wonderful development opportunity for me. So far, it's very much been a collaborative effort. Luke and I have worked together closely, sharing ideas about the characters, the visuals for the film, the soundtrack, we've even location scouted together. My role has definitely extended beyond just actress and writer. That in itself has been surprisingly rewarding and I've learnt a hell of a lot in such a short space of time. This project quite frankly, will have been the best 'exit from lockdown' gift I could have ever received. That is of course, aside from my incredible mother who I'm happy to report is back well and fighting fit!
This crowd funder campaign is so important as it will allow me to reach the final finish line and get BUBBLE MADE...our shoot dates are locked for July...fast forward, I like to picture myself on set, utterly exhausted but smiling quietly to myself thinking that perhaps...just maybe, off the back of a dark period, I've managed to pull off something that could have the potential to be quite special."
Thank you so much for your support
Stacey x