Target reached!
A huge thank you to everyone who has helped to get us to our initial goal of £1000! ...
CRUSH
Dorset, England, United Kingdom
Aim
A dark drama that follows Sarah- an enigmatic schoolgirl, as she forms a sinister obsession on a kind-hearted teacher.
Plot
CRUSH is a 15-minute short film that follows the story of Sarah- a shy, insecure, and mysterious schoolgirl, as her isolated world is shattered by the sudden arrival of a passionate and caring drama teacher called Mr. Andrews. On his first day at a strange new school, Mr. Andrews discovers Sarah hiding in the corridors and instantly takes pity on the 14-year-old girl, offering friendship, support, and safety in the form of visits to his classroom each lunchtime. Although initially cold and distrusting towards Mr. Andrews, Sarah soon begins to develop a crush on him as she is softened by his charms and kindness. However, as her feelings grow stronger, cracks begin to appear in Sarah’s innocent facade, and her crush turns into a dangerous obsession. As she finally finds the courage to reveal her feelings- her world is suddenly turned upside down. Sarah discovers the existence of Mr. Andrew’s beloved girlfriend, and her feelings are swiftly rejected. Bitter and heartbroken, Sarah decides to commit an unforgivable and terrible act- an act that will destroy her once-adored teacher’s life once and for all.
Why Do We Need £1000?
Our reasons for needing £1000 are simple. We are looking to create the best film possible- and although the entire crew is working for free due to their passion for the script, we still need some money in order to rent out high-end camera equipment, purchase items for production design, and pay fees for our professional actors. Some of the money will also go to festival fees, as we want the finished film to be seen by as many people as possible. For CRUSH we will be filming at a school, house, and a restaurant local to Bournemouth to save us money, making sure that every penny spent is worthwhile to the project and that nothing goes to waste.
CHARACTERS
GARETH ANDREWS
A passionate, caring, and hard-working teacher who is still childish and young at heart despite recently passing thirty. A maverick who doesn’t like to follow the rules, he exudes energy and warmth. He cares deeply about the students he meets, and hopes he can be a positive influence on vulnerable young people who remind him of his own painful childhood.
SARAH
A shy, anxious, and lonely 14 year old girl, Sarah seems like any typical self-conscious teenager, and is seemingly innocent, sweet, and polite. However, just beneath the surface lurks a heartless, damaged, sociopathic monster that craves the attention and adoration of any unsuspecting man she lays eyes on. Sarah has lived an isolated, abusive life from a very early age, and this has caused her to struggle with relationships and bonds with others.
Why this story?
Director Rebecca Gosnell was inspired by the stories of teacher-student relationships in various newspapers in the past year. All of these stories seem to have one thing in common- the teacher is always the evil manipulator who takes advantage of the younger, more innocent schoolgirl. But what if that wasn't always the case? What if a schoolgirl existed who craved such attention from older men, and then went out to destroy their reputation when her advances were spurned? What would cause her to want to do this? What would lead such a young girl to go such a dangerous path and decide to ruin someone's life? CRUSH is a dark exploration into the twisted mind of one such person and tries to answer these uncomfortable questions. With talented actors, shocking story, and visuals taking inspiration from Gone Girl and Fish Tank, CRUSH is going to be a powerful film that you won't want to miss.
MEET THE TEAM
Writer/Director- REBECCA GOSNELL
Rebecca is a directing student at the Bournemouth Film School, who has directed a variety of documentaries, shorts, and music videos, and has a great passion for writing and telling stories. An alumni of the BFI Film Academy and National Film and Television School's Craft Residential, she has also previously worked for the BBC, Universal Pictures, September Films and Working Title.
Producer- EMILY MILLAR
Emily is a producing student at Arts University Bournemouth. With over 15 films produced under her name she is always busy. LoveLove films have done an article on Emily as a talent to watch out for. This year she released her own production company called FordMill Productions. Emily with her positive attitude and her ambitious frame of mind is looking to create the best film she can with her international crew.
Director of Photography- MARTI GUIVER
19 year old aspiring cinematographer Marti Guiver is our director of photography. Currently studying at Arts University Bournemouth, Marti has experience camera assisting on high-end music videos, commericials and TV dramas such as Poldark season 3 and the 2016 queen's speech. Applying his technical skill and artistic eye developed from his studies, he will be working together with a talented, international crew to create inspiringly cinematic visuals for Crush.
Location Manager- ASHLEIGH POWELL
Ashleigh V. Powell is currently studying Film Production at Arts University Bournemouth. She has traveled across the UK filming along with a couple of projects abroad in Europe. She is the Location manager on 'CRUSH' and is looking to bring the director'ss vision to life by finding the perfect scenes for the character's worlds.
Assistant Director- HANNAH GAUTREY
Hannah is a film student currently studying at Arts University Bournemouth. Alongside her studies she also takes on 1st Assistant Directing work, having assumed this role many times. As well as this, she has experience from the BFI film academy, Pinewood studios and is one of 6 graduates in her field from the 2015 National Film and Television School Talent Campus.
Casting Director- ELLIE HILTON
Ellie is a first-year film student at AUB, studying to be a director. She was director of photography on the web series Away From It All. With a good network of contacts, Ellie is looking to find the faces that fit the roles for the characters in CRUSH.
Costume Designer - ALEX BARRAS
Alex has a invested interest in bringing characters to life. She has previously worked on past AUB productions, whilst studying to become a Scenographer.
Make-up Designer- HANNAH CHESTNUTT
Hannah Chestnutt is an enthusiastic and hard-working make-up artist. Coming from an artistic background she takes pride in her colour work and theory. With careful research Hannah always plans her projects by applying this knowledge into her designs before applications.
Editor- SEB WARE
Seb’s passion lies within editing, which will help him bring the world of CRUSH to life in the edit suite. His experience as an editor on a number of short films, and experience at post houses and editing for TV, will help him carefully and respectfully craft CRUSH’s story for the big screen.
Sound Designer- Alex Evans
Alex Evans is CRUSH’s head of sound. He has worked mostly in short independent and student films and has much on set sound experience. Alex has a particular passion for foley artistry and cannot wait to sink into the world of CRUSH.
If you have any questions please do hesitate to contact us: [email protected]
Your help and support for this film- no matter how big or small- will be greatly appreciated!
This project successfully funded on 17th March 2017