Wash Club is the strange but true story of one man’s struggle to uncover a secret society of students who get into tumble driers for fun. Doug is an undergrad journalist who sees this strange subculture as an opportunity to kickstart his career - so he investigates. But the deeper he digs, the bigger the mystery becomes. Before long, Doug finds himself at the centre of the very cult he was supposed to be investigating. Doug has to decide just how far he is willing to go for the sake of a good story.
A satirical thriller, peppered with dark humour. After this short film you'll never think of a laundrette in the same way again!
We want you to join Wash Club!
To bring the story of Wash Club to the big screen we need your help, we need you to sign up! Become an official Wash Club member with badge and certification by pledging £15 or more to our tumbling cause. (You do not need to take a spin in a tumble drier to become a member, and please do not attempt to do so!) We don't just want you to help us make this film, but we want you to be a proud member of Wash Club and follow us on the film's entire journey.
Not sure if you want to sign up? Then hear the original true story of Wash Club on Ross Sutherland's Imaginary Advice podcast here: Are you a member of Wash Club?
The podcast is the reason we wanted to make the short, and with Ross writing the script too you can't get a better example of what we want the film to be.
Ross Sutherland - Writer, original Wash Club member
Ross is the protagonist of the real-life version of Wash Club, occurring back in 1999, when he was a journalism student at the University of East Anglia. In the years since, Ross has gone on to become an established poet, screenwriter and playwright. His theatre show, Stand by For Tape Back Up, was nominated for the 2015 Art Foundation Award for Spoken Word. The film adaptation was nominated for Best Documentary at the Edinburgh Film Festival, and won the Runner-Up Audience Prize at Fantastic Fest in Austin. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts, and writer/producer of the storytelling podcast, Imaginary Advice. Visit Ross' website for more information on his vast variety of work here
Simon Dymond - Director
As soon as Simon heard the original Wash Club podcast he knew he wanted to make it into a short film, and after a little investigation of his own, Wash Club the movie was born.
Simon is an award winning director who specialises in short films, music videos and commercials. He has been mentored on directing schemes such as Filmworks and Directors Lab in association with the BFI and is currently a headhunted director on Radar Music Videos. He has directed many music videos for several artists and record labels through the site, as well as having his short films screened around the world. To see further examples of Simon's work visit his site here
Lauren Parker - Producer
Lauren is a Midlands based producer who specialises in short films, music videos and commercials but has also worked on micro-budget features. Her latest short Night Owls premiered at London Short Film Festival this year, with horror short Lab Rats also currently touring the festival circuit and recently picking up its first award. Lauren's work has been seen at festivals around the world including Frightfest and even the horror channel. To see examples of her work visit her site here
Karl Poyzer - Director of Photography
Karl is a Midlands based DOP with a vast array of experience and credits on feature films, short films and commercials. He has worked on productions around the world, and has a huge passion for story telling. He has been attached to Wash Club from the minute he heard the podcast too. To see examples of Karl's work visit his site here
Adam Fletcher - Production Sound Mixer
We're also happy to already have our production sound mixer on board at this stage. Adam has a vast experience on film sets, from shorts and features to commercials and television shows. He strives to capture original performances cinematically without the need for ADR. Find out more about Adam's work here
In the last 18 months Simon, Lauren and Karl have worked on 10 different projects together including 2 shorts so they are used to working as a team and more importantly they know exactly what they have to do to bring Wash Club to the screen and do the story justice.
£10,000 sounds like an awful lot of money, and this will be our largest scale short to date. But in film terms it won't take long for us to spend all of that dough!
Creative England have already given us the first £5,000 which shows they believe in the idea and also that they trust the team to pull it off, so we're confident with their backing and support we can make a film worthy of your hard earned cash.
Your money will go towards the essential production costs such as a fantastic cast and crew, camera, sound and lighting equipment to post-production and everything in between. If we hit our target we want to build sets for some of our interior scenes to give us maximum control over each shot and the overall design. But studio space and set construction does not come cheap. We also need to pay location costs for the perfect laundrette, as well as buy costumes and look after our cast and crew with catering and travel expenses.
But we don't want you to join Wash Club without a few rewards in return. Become an official certificated member with every pledge of £15 or more, along with a download of the actual film . We have a guide to Wash Club so you can learn the rules before our first meeting, as well as exclusive t-shirts and laundry bags for your next visit to the local laundrette. You can feature as a special thanks on the films credits or even appear as a Wash Club member in the actual film! Want a personalised poem? We can offer that too, any subject, give us a title and Ross will write a poem just for you. Join us at the cast and crew screening or own an original screen used prop, we hope we have something for everyone. But if you wish to discuss potential rewards with us please contact us at [email protected]
The first rule of Wash Club is talk about Wash Club! We need your help to spread the word as far and wide as possible to recruit as many new members as possible. Follow us on Twitter @washclubfilm and like the facebook page to stay up to date with all things Wash Club and share the campaign as much as you can! We can't make this film without you, our fellow Wash Club members. But remember you are not your laundry.