Young director’s first film to feature big star of the screen
Feature to explore physical threats of mental health inspired by real life
‘I was inspired by my own mental health struggles’
A director who is set to shoot his first short film starring actress Sadie Frost is crowdfunding to begin production.
Jamie Tree, from Maidstone, has joined forces with the Dracula star to create the film called Boxed Up.
The film explores how ill mental health as a physical threat, an idea based around Jamie’s early teenage experiences with anxiety.
Jamie, 21, said: “When I was sitting down to write my first film, I was inspired by my own mental health struggles.
“I was a young teen then suffering with anxiety.
“So struggling with that, I really want to tell a story of how it felt, to go through those things.
“What really is making the film completely unique is that it displays mental health as a physical threat.”
Jamie explained how he managed to land Sadie for the role,
he added: “Our amazing casting director, Andrew Davies, managed to get the script into her hands through Sadie’s agent.
“She liked the story and was attracted to the character so agreed to join the project.
“She has been incredible since coming aboard and is always
open to helping us where she can.”
Sadie said: “I am so excited to be involved with such an exciting and interesting project with such wonderful up and coming young film-makers.”
Jamie and his co-director VladPaul Ghila are raising capital
through Indiegogo, an online platform which brings users together to support crowdfunding campaigns.
Jamie added: “We are currently in the fundraising process, so we are focussing on getting around £10,000 for the crowdfunding and then the remaining £30,000 through our private investors – our total budget is £40,000.
“The largest chunk of that is actually making sure we were able to pay our crew and treat them right.
“The film that we’re trying to make here is something special, so there is a lot to it.”
Along the journey, he 22-yearold Vlad on LinkedIn.
He said: “I gave the script a read, and within a couple of meetings, I ended up pitching to him.
“I asked to be co-director, because I honestly believe that this project has something, you know, as a really good concept, he has a really strong message, so that’s how it all started.”
The filming is set to take place over five days in two separate locations, one of which will be in Boughton Monchelsea.