OUR FILMS - A selectrospective
THE GOOD NEIGHBOUR
The first feature film from Black House Pictures stems from an original story from both Kate Tuck and Jonathan Reid-Edwards. Inspired by Jonathan’s then-recent Crohn’s Disease diagnosis, The Good Neighbour sees a woman struggling to come to terms with a recent Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis in the face of a strange new friendship. Early screenings earned praise as a film that is Still Alice meets The Man Who Fell To Earth. It sees the return of many Black House Pictures cast and crew, including Fiona Hampton (Hadley TK-421, Magic Hour Promo, Run); George Taylor (Hadley TK-421, Misty Mountain Promo, Shadow Plant); Nathan Wiley (Magic Hour Promo, Run), Lizzie Stanton (Shadow Plant) and Johnny Vivash (Stranger at the Door). Shot by original Hadley DP Pablo Rojo, it has a truly out of this world score from composer Stefan Melzak. The film was shot for £36,000 raised through investments and personal loans, with post production funded through a successful crowd=funding campaign, the film represents a culmination of years of hard work from Kate Tuck and Jonathan Reid-Edwards. Naturalistic and somehow otherworldly all at the same time, this is British independent film with a difference.
The film was written and directed by Jonathan Reid-Edwards, and produced by Kate Tuck. Having screened at festivals around the world, the film is now available to watch on Apple TV, Google Play, and Amazon Prime Video.
HADLEY TK-421
From it’s humble beginnings as a graduation film whilst at Drama Centre London, Hadley TK-421 is the film that started it all for writer director Jonathan Reid-Edwards. A pitch black comedy set in a British office in he 1960s, this film would mark the first time collaborating with actors George Taylor and Fiona Hampton. Made for a meagre £2,000, with dynamite songs from The Dodge Brothers, the film would go on to win awards and screen at film festivals around the world, including Cannes.
Awards include:
Best Script and Best Score (ScreenTest); Visionary Award (Geneva Film Festival); Diamond Award Winner (California Film Awards); Short of the Week at www.shortoftheweek.com; Vimeo Staff Pick.
DANS LE NOIR
Awarded the British Horror Award at the British Horror Film Festival, Dans Le Noir is a character driven drama set during a zombie outbreak in London. Self-financed, produced, written and directed by Kate Tuck, this is a zombie film with a difference, folding noir tropes and magic realism into the horror mix. Dans Le Noir marks the first project that Kate Tuck & Jonathan Reid-Edwards worked on together, with Jonathan coming in on post-production.
STRANGER AT THE DOOR
Before Kate Tuck made Dans Le Noir, she had an idea for a film about a young girl called Melody and the reclusive life she shares with her father. Having first written a feature script, Kate decided to explore the world and the central characters relationship in a crowd-funded short film. The form and tone of Stranger At The Door is partly inspired by the 1940s melodramas of Powell and Pressburger, blending nuanced characters with heightened situations that border on magic realism. This marked the first collaboration with Black House Pictures’ regulars, composer Stefan Melzak and actor Johnny Vivash. If you click on our In Development tab, you’ll see that we have big plans for Melody in the future.
RUN
A short film about a man faced with an impossible choice, does he hide his apocalyptic visions from his newfound love, or face up to the future he can’t stop seeing? Run director Jonathan Reid-Edwards saw this short as an opportunity to really push the limits of how much Black House Pictures could do on such a budget of just £100. Starring Nathan Wiley and re-uniting with Fiona Hampton, the film was shot in a matter of days during downtime on Stranger at the Door, and was an opportunity to use a more naturalistic approach in telling a fantastical story. Composer Stefan Melzak also provided a score that wouldn’t sound out of place in an Amblin film.
SHADOW PLANT
Shadow Plant marked a first for Black House Pictures on a couple of fronts: it was a co-production with Keir Pictures and from an original script by Black House Pictures alumni George Taylor. The shortest film made by Black House Pictures, Shadow Plant looks at a man struggling to come to terms with his sexuality in face of his success amongst the high-flyers of London finance. It also marked the first time Black House Pictures worked with actors Rob Ostlere and Lizzie Stanton.