Always on
This project successfully funded on 19th September 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
Larking Short Film - A Feminist Dark Comedy
London, Greater London, United Kingdom
First target reached!
You can help this project to raise more and reach its stretch target.
Aim
We are shooting our first short film Larking - a feminist dark comedy - and need your help to cover expenses and make it possible!
We are Georgie, Lucy and Selwin. We are funding our first short film called Larking - a dark comedy about two schoolgirl vigilantes who take a stand against a boy in their small town.
We are a small, collaborative team brought together by our shared love for women’s stories and the beauty of the female community in the face of misogyny and sexual assault.
We have an important story and a beautiful script on our hands, but we can’t turn it into a film without support to cover travel expenses, basic catering for cast and crew, and equipment.
Can you help us reach our goal before our first shoot date on the 19th September?
The Story
“We can’t do nothing. We can’t sit here, learning our geography lines as if this isn’t happening, as if this guy hasn’t been a creep since day one.”
Two teenage schoolgirls in a small town in Hertfordshire are paired together on an outdoor Geography project. Jenny – popular and conscientious – reluctantly helps Ruby – the new girl from Glasgow – get to know the social dynamics of the town and local schools.
Over the course of their weekly project excursions, they unravel a history of sexual assault by a local boy called Dan. In a revolt against the “boys will be boys” mentality, Ruby and Jenny band together to teach Dan a lesson, and, in turn, build an unlikely friendship.
Larking is an understated dark comedy about taking a stand against injustice and the beauty of female solidarity; no matter how small.
The Team
We are all experienced theatremakers making our first foray into film. This is a really exciting opportunity for us to bring our skills in collaborative, devised theatre into women’s film and tell our stories in new ways.
Georgie Dettmer - Writer
Writer of Ordinary Sex, Theatre Deli (Bruntwood Prize longlist) and Attempts on a Birch Tree, John Lyons Theatre (Bloomsbury New Writing Prize, Ilfeld Prize longlist)
Lucy Buncombe - Co-Producer, Actor
Lucy is an actor based in London who graduated from Mountview in 2024. Her recent credits include Spirit Guides and Shit Eaters (Camden People’s Theatre), INK Festival, NewsRevue (Canal Cafe Theatre), The Real “Improvised” Housewives of Clapham (Catapult Theatre/Bread and Roses Theatre). Lucy has performed in multiple award-nominated short films, including TICK, Troubleshooting and The Last Drop.
Selwin Hulme-Teague - Co-Producer, Director
Director of Squidge, Soho Theatre (Popcorn Writing Award shortlist), My Dad Wears A Dress, Edinburgh Fringe (Fuse Festival Best of Fringe Award, Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence nomination, OffFest Award nomination) and The Black Cat, King's Head Theatre (OffComm Award)
Abby McCann - Actor
Recipient of Oxford University's Juliet Bernard memorial prize for most promising actress. Acting credits: Looking For Giants (OffFest Nominated, Kings Head), Ordinary Sex (Bruntwood Prize LongList) and AETHER (Summerhall).
How we made the script
The script for Larking was made collaboratively. Drawing on our backgrounds in devised theatre and improvisation, we had three days of development with five different actors where we tested out ideas and scenarios around the theme of female vigilantism. These sparked some deep conversations about growing up in a man’s world, the rise of the right-wing and anti-feminist rhetoric being fed to young boys today.
We then decided to make a film about activism, that wasn’t just about women’s injustice, but more the beautiful community, friendship and solidarity that comes out of it. We wanted to create a story that would empower anyone who wants to make a stand against men’s misogynistic behaviour - big or small.
Then Georgie took the recordings from our improvised scenarios and discussions and turned them into a succinct, moving, funny script. This was developed further in readings with Lucy and Abby - the script is inspired by and written for their voices.
The Shoot
We will be shooting the film outside on location in Panshanger Park, a nature reserve in Hertford, on the 19th, 20th and 21st September. All scenes will have a beautiful, outdoor backdrop and be shot in natural light.
Why we need your support
Due to the outdoor locations of the film and the autumn term setting, we need to shoot the film in September. The tight turnaround of the project means we aren’t able to apply for large grants from the Arts Council, BFI or other larger funding bodies. That’s why we need help from you, to give anything you can to help us hit our £1,000 target.
All film crew will be working on the film as volunteers, but still need their travel and food covered. Your donation, no matter the size, will ensure we can cover the minimum expenses required to shoot the film to a high standard with an experienced crew.
- £5 will pay for lunch for one crew member
- £25 will pay for travel expenses for one crew member
- £100 will pay for insurance
- £200 will pay for the hire of a professional camera
- £500 will pay for two days in a professional editing studio
Supporting this project will mean you are platforming women’s voices and a creative form of feminist activism. Every donation will enable Larking to have top-class creatives at the helm, making it an impactful, informed and important short film that will take the world by storm.
Together, we can make a difference and ensure that we continue to tell women’s stories in film and find new ways to represent both the beauty and hardships of our experiences.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made