Midlands Spotlight on Hell or High Water
midlandsmovies • July 9, 2020
Midlands Spotlight – Hell or High Water launches crowdfunder
Hell or High Water is a new Midlands film starting pre-production over Summer which is about to launch its brand new crowd-funding campaign.
This short film hopes to explore various themes including grief, religion and an individual’s status, and is created by a team of enthusiastic young cast and crew.
The group consists of twenty 16-25 year-olds who are throwing themselves into the pre-production of their short film despite the current lockdown, and are part of the Set Ready 2020 course with the National Youth Film Academy.
The team are situation all over the U.K. but co-writer Olivia Weaver lives in in Northamptonshire and has been working hard by writing the script at her home. With a degree in English Literature from UEA she has a fascination for the art of storytelling.
Growing up in the American military community has helped shape her experience of living in different countries. And this also played into the creation of Hell or High Water.
The pre-production for the film also had to be completed entirely remotely because of Coronavirus. Communicating via Zoom, social media and email, the whole team are hoping to shoot the film in August 2020, following social distancing guidelines.
The film tells a short drama about a young girl, Cahya, who loses her religious parents abroad after the 2018 Tsunami. After finding out the news of this tragedy, she is manipulated into joining her parents' religion for reasons unknown.
Having launched their crowd-funder page they are asking people to support and get behind this unique project for unique times: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/hellorhighwaternyfa
For more information check out their official website here: https://hellorhighwaternyf.wixsite.com/website
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Pete Key, Jai Blanks and Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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