The end was just a place to start from.
The "Driver Trilogy" is unique in that very few action oriented films are being made in Ireland at the moment. The films utilised many current topics and spins them into thrilling yarns. Originally, "Any Last Words" was intended to be a stand alone piece - but after it was incredibly well received (Cannes Short Film Corner, Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival, Baton Rouge Irish Film Festival, Underground Cinema Awards) we were compelled to continue the story.
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George Bracebridge and Graham Earley in "Any Last Words"
"Any Last Words" saw our protagonist Driver (Graham Earley) attempt to exact revenge on the man responsible for taking everything from him; Matthew O'Neill (George Bracebridge). Driver, however, allowed his conscience to get the better of him and he allowed O'Neill to live. Set approximately one year after the end of the first film, "Secrets" finds O'Neill cleared of corruption charges and about to retire to Spain. Driver, now angrier than ever, returns to carry out his punishment and crosses paths with O'Neill's bodyguards, two mismatched Garda officers and an idealistic journalist.
The film will star Graham Earley, George Bracebridge, Paul Quinn Jr., Cristina Ryan and Rory Mullen - some of Ireland's finest actors.
Despite being the middle chapter of a trilogy of films, "Secrets To The Grave" will stand on its own two feet as a project yet still continue the story that began in "Any Last Words". The aim for each film in the trilogy is to be released individually to the short film market and festivals, then later on they will be edited together to tell one feature length story.
While "Any Last Words" was focused on creating as much tension as possible from a simple concept (two characters, one location), "Secrets" will expand that world and introduce new characters and subtext, as well as cranking up the action. We plan on shooting a complicated car chase sequence in the middle of the film - a stunt not often seen in Irish independent film-making. In order to achieve this, we will be working closely with Westmeath County Council and Filmbase, who are Ireland's leading supporter of indie filmmaking.
The film will be directed by Craig Moore, who also wrote and directed Any Last Words. Craig has been working in Film and Television since he was 17 years of age. As well as his daily job as a Production Assistant in RTE, Craig produced the Filmbase feature film "Monged" which premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh and went on to screen at Kerry Film Festival, Cork Film Festival, and the Chicago Irish Film Festival. "Monged" starred Graham Earley, John Connors, Rex Ryan, Aoibhin Garrihy, Claire Dunne, and Joe Rooney. Craig also produced "An Irish Father" alongside writer/director Carl Finnegan. "An Irish Father" starred Finnegan, Eleanor Methven and renowned actor Gerard McSorley, and was nominated for three awards at the Limerick Film Festival - Best Drama, Best Script and Best Acting. It was also selected for the 2016 Kerry Film Festival.
"Secrets To The Grave" will be produced by Darragh Keena and Dave Minogue, and will be lensed by DP Conor Fleming, fresh off his work on Season Two of Bridget And Eamon for RTE.
Naturally, the ambitions we have for this film will have costs. The target we have set on this page will go towards covering the price of materials (equipment rental, production design) and taking care of the crew (food and fuel, etc.). This relatively small figure will also help with the post-production of the film (Editing, Colour Grading, Sound Mixing and Special Effects). Parallel to this campaign target, we hope to receive a small grant for the project and also hold fundraising events to bolster our budget.
Despite the amount required, the project will bring a lot to the area in terms of publicity and excitement. As you can see from our trailer above, Westmeath looks stunning on film and we hope to really capitalise on that. Shooting an action sequence around the town will be extremely exciting (as well as incredibly difficult!), and we will be looking for people in the local area to take part in the filming of various sequences. The idea behind shooting here is that if this film does well, other crews using the area will become far more common and this will have a positive impact on tourism for the region.
People who contribute three figure sums to the fundraising will be given a title in the credits of the film and their will be numerous other perks given in exchange for a donation (see below!). Every single contributor will be invited to the premiere screening of the film next year.
If we don't reach our intended target on this campaign, we will continue to fundraise ourselves until we have the amount we need.
If you can't contribute directly, please share our campaign and help us reach as wide an audience as possible. Every little thing you do on your end will have a huge impact for us on our end!
Our crew has signed on. Our cast have signed on. All we need is you.
We will make this film.
