Smell the Fame - Short Film

Aim

Smell the Fame is an original short comedy film about Devon, famous TV Chef dealing with a sudden loss of smell and taste.

Imagine you are a famous TV Chef, you have your weekly cooking show, everybody loves you. Cool, right? Now, imagine you suddenly cannot smell anything. After trying everything to get your smell back, your last option to save your career is to start a treatment at the Clinic for Paradoxically Unemployable Employees - people just like you, who have lost their job because of a certain condition.

THE STORY

After a tragic accident which causes Devon to lose his smell, his career as a TV Chef is in danger. And so is his sense of purpose. As a last resort Devon comes to the Felix's Clinic, where grumpy TV Chef Devon meets other patients - Hairdresser Calvin and Ex-Prostitute Sweety. 

Devon tries to get his smell back through different treatments organised by the owner of the clinic - Felix. All those, based on real life Anosmia treatments are not helping which leads Devon to realise his only option is to ask for help with cooking from others. Will Devon save his show and passion for cooking or will he give up his career once and for all?

CHARACTERS

Devon Curry (52, Famous TV Chef)

Devon's character is based on chefs such as Gordon Ramsey or Paul Hollywood. His Dill Lobster is an extremely popular dish across the country. As Devon worked hard to get where he is, the loss of smell felt truly like the world is against him. Will the world ever get to taste the delicious food Devon used to make on his show again?

Felix Arzt (48, Owner of the Clinic, Psychologist)

Felix opened the Clinic for Paradoxically Unemployable Employees years ago as his own personal experiment. After a few unhappy results, the patients organised a riot which lead Felix into buying a dog. His dog now visits the patients instead of Felix, carrying a small microphone on his neck through which Felix speaks to the patients. Since then, life in the clinic has been peaceful. But everything changes now - the country's biggest superstar is coming to the clinic and Felix simply cannot wait to meet Devon! 

Calvin Coiffeuse (32, Hairdresser)

Calvin used to own a beautiful hair saloon in the town. But when she started losing her own hair due to Alopecia, she became obsessed with customer's hair. After shaving off all hair on a few customer's heads to make wigs for herself, Calvin (sort of obviously) lost her saloon. She is now one of the patients of the Clinic, but she can't stop thinking about getting back to work!

Sweety Gemstone (28, Ex-Prostitute)

Living her life as a Prostitute was everything for Sweety until she saw all of her childhood friends getting married. Running away from her clients, Sweety became one of the patients of the Clinic, obsessed with finding a husband. Whatever-it-takes.

Felix's Clinic for Paradoxically Unemployable Employees

Started off as a small experiment, now waiting for its best patient ever to arrive. Can this place do miracles and save Devon's career? 

RESEARCH AND PARTNERS

Even though our story is a comedy, it is very important for us to portray Anosmia well. We have been working closely with multiple Anosmic artists and charities from the very early stages of pre-production. It has been shocking to hear the stories of many of them. Anosmia - being an invisible illness - is not researched sufficiently, treated well enough, often even called a joke. We hope to spread awareness of this illness as much as we possibly can. And we are so proud that many of top Anosmia charities and Artists are supporting this project!

THE PRODUCTION TEAM

 Natalia Gajowniczek_Director

Natalia comes from Poland but moved to Cardiff 3 years ago. She is incredibly detailed oriented, sometimes a little crazy and an incredibly lovely person to work with. We can't wait to see what she brings to this project! Natalia: ’Smell the fame’ shows a story of a famous chef with Anosmia who makes every effort to get his smell back. Even though it does not happen to people very often, it is relevant and applies to all of us. Why do I think that? Because in other words it is a story about dealing with loss of whatever allows you to do what you love and realizing that when you loose - you actually get something more important. And that is a kind of movie which I always wanted to make. That is why I really appreciate working on it with people who are on the same page as I am. We have got something important to show you, but because the world has been always full of drama - we will do it through the comedy you can not walk away from. Get your knives ready, we are coming soon!

Anna Korecká_Writer/Producer

Same as Natalia, Anna moved to Cardiff 3 years ago to become a Production student and a dog obsessed lady. Until now, she still didn't get to buy a dog, but she is now an Award winning Student Producer who worked on over 30 productions. She loves organising things and stationary. And dogs. Anna: "My job as the Writer really started in summer and I am still shocked by some of the answers I got from people when doing my research. Anosmia needs to be more known about and I am so excited to portray it through such a fun project. As the Producer, I feel lucky making a film about a Chef because that means catering is covered in props. No okay, I love this project and the people I work with and I truly believe THIS WILL BE SPECIAL. *cliche talk over*"

Josh Kingsley-Jones_Director of Photography   

Josh is amazingly hard-working and detailed oriented Director of Photography. When he's not spending time with his dog Barney (yes, he actually has a dog named Barney) he is always running around with a camera, getting ready for this project. We love the style and inspiration he chose for Smell the Fame! Josh: "This final university project will definitely be the biggest and boldest film I have ever had the pleasure of working on.
I trust each and every one of the team to give their blood sweat and tears in order to make something that not only will be a testament to how good student films can be, but also one that we will be proud of for years to come. It means everything to me that this film is realised as it will show people just how much we care about our craft as well as the effort each and every one of us is willing to put in to tell a story that we care deeply about."                                                                

Barney Andrews_Editor

Barney is a very experienced editor, certified in both Avid Media Composer and DaVinci Resolve. His previous work included projects of different genres and styles within documentary, fiction and commercials. Apart from being a great Editor, Barney also eats more dried fruit than anyone ever should and is the group's sweetheart. But don't tell Josh, he'd be jealous! Barney: "I'm excited to work on the project because of the important and mostly under represented (in film at least) condition. I'm also looking forward to push my editing skills to the max and I know I'll be stronger editor after the project is complete!"

Patrick Flannery_Sound

Pat moved to Cardiff from Washington and over the last 3 years he worked on over 30 different productions. As any amazing Sound Guy, he speaks a lot about audio and XLR cables. We are so happy to have him on board because of his imagination and creative input he'll bring to this project through sound design! As Pat always says - sound is 60% of the film. But again, don't tell Josh. Pat: "I'm very excited to be working this project. The idea of convaying one's sense of smell through film really excites me, and I can't wait to help do that through sound!"

THE PLAN

We all are students at the University of South Wales and this is our final graduation film. Smell the Fame will be a 15-minute comedy filmed in mid-February and edited through spring. Finished film will be premiered in early June 2020 in Cardiff.

Locations

We found an incredible location for Felix's Clinic and would like to share some photos with you!

These are just a little sneak peak! This location is a magical castle-like place which is both set dressed and spacious at the same time.

Our other locations will be brought to life in a studio by our talented team of set designers. Please, check out initial design for these below the Moodboard section.

Budget

Making a film costs money. (Oh wow, really?) And that's where we need your help. If this project is something you would like to support, please see beneath what your money would be used for! Any help will be so so appreciated.

Our budget for Set Design includes making Devon's TV Show set, Puppets (yes, puppets!) and Treatment room which will be used for Felix's experiments.

MOODBOARD

But what's it gonna look like? 

Here are some of our Moodboards - showing the way we want to portray our story. Have a look at what the characters and locations will look like!

STORYBOARD 

A bit of a taste of what Josh's style looks like!

INSPIRATION

Wondering what films we watched before we started working on this one? What inspired us? Well, here's a few out of many we "borrowed" our style from.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (T. Gilliam, T. Jones, 1975); The Grand Budapest Hotel (W. Anderson, 2014); Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures (PJ Liguori, 2014); I am a Cyborg but that's OK (Park Chan-wook, 2006)

REWARDS

So you want to support this project? Amazing! Please, make sure to choose one of the rewards we got ready for you. Some of them come in limited numbers, so have a look as soon as you can!

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP

We really appreciate any donation, but there are other ways you can help if you'd like. No money involved! Please, if this project is something you'd like to see being made, share this film with your friends on social media. Letting people know about Smell the Fame is just as helpful as financial support. To share this page please click the button located at the top right of the website, just above the rewards.

Thank you so much! Happy New Year, hope the start of your 2020 is amazing!

Love, The Production Team xx

WANT TO HEAR MORE?

Please, have a look at our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. We will keep you updated about this project as much as we can. Get ready for snazzy photos and posts. You can also check out what kind of stuff we've been up to before!

We put some FAQ together for you, but if there's anything more personal you'd like to ask us, please send us an email on [email protected]. But don't ask anything too personal. We can't give you the recipe for Dill Lobster.

FAQ:

Q: When will Smell the Fame be finished?

A: Smell the Fame will be finished in late spring 2020 and will be premiered in early June.

Q: What breed is the dog?

A: Hazel is a stunningly beautiful Golden Retriever. She is a very good girl and we cannot wait to work with her.

Q: Is Barney even a real human being? How can someone be so adorable?

A: We don't know. But we will try and investigate.

This project successfully funded on 20th January 2020