We knew we wanted to bring on local crew, both for practical reasons and to help ensure the film felt authentic and would resonate with Cornish viewers. Our incredible DOP, James Chegwyn, grew up in Cornwall and was excited to have the chance to turn his camera on the landscapes that had inspired him as a child. However, we struggled to recruit crew just through his network, in part because, although the country was in lockdown at the time, shooting in Cornwall was booming!
Fortunately, we had already reached out to Screen Cornwall, and they were an invaluable resource, putting us in touch with almost all of our Cornish team. We were overwhelmed by the talent and professionalism available. Not only were all our team incredibly talented - as I think is evidenced by the final film - but they were all joys to work with. Everyone came together easily, and it felt like we had worked together for years - the only friction was when one of our runners who hailed from Devon expressed his controversial opinions on cream teas! That kind of chemistry in a team is hard to find, and we feel truly blessed by how it all came together. However, we were still struggling with locations. We were working with a minimal budget for such an ambitious short script, which required a variety of very specific settings, all shot back to back in tight days. We had nightmares of hellish unit moves and overpacked schedules and wondered if we could make it work. That's when we had our final lucky break.
A friend recommended the Rosuick Organic Farm to us and, on the last day of a long recce trip and at the end of our tether, we went to visit it. The Farm turned out to be the answer to all of our problems, offering up a massive range of stunning locations in close proximity and property rental to house our core team during prep. A working organic farm that hosts idyllic weddings, we never would have been able to get so much time to ourselves in this glorious location if it weren't for the pandemic sadly clearing their events diary. The Oates family who run the Farm are some of the nicest people in the world, their passion for the ecological diversity and beauty of Cornish nature was infectious, and they went above and beyond helping us - from catering handmade with their own ingredients to calling in favours and helping us scout additional locations.
From the start of our first recce to the moment we all sat down for fish and chips after wrap, the shoot had a magic quality to it that I feel is reflected in the final film. The culture, scenery, and people of Cornwall are so inspiring that our team is already developing our next project to shoot there!
Written by and with thanks to Seek Films.
