Having fallen in love eight years ago, a young couple finds their engagement on the rocks. As they desperately cling to the foundations of their relationship, one man knows exactly how to start the fire to burn it down.

Debbie Lowe (Lily Mae McGregor) and Amy Rotham (Jade-Marie Joseph) have been in love since they were sixteen years old. Eight years later, a combination of impulsive behaviour, financial strains, lies, and neglect, have drifted the two further and further apart. Debbie’s impulsive personality has put the couple into serious debt, and Amy’s attempt to save their relationship by hiding this from her only drives them to breaking point. In desperation, Amy takes a highly dangerous risk; elsewhere, Debbie finds herself drawn in by the charm of a mysterious stranger, Tom (Ryan Ralph Gerrard). Though worlds apart, they must both make a choice between truth and lies, before everything they have is destroyed forever.

THEMES

Relationships - difficulties in comprising, in overcoming our own personal blocks, working together and not alone.

Human Nature - thoughts and actions we all experience when we want or need something so desperately. Catalyst explores what a life with or without love can do. Nurture or nature? Or are we just built to be destructive?

Deception - We feel we know everyone and judge people by how they look, talk, dress, and act. We rely on these things to believe we can anticipate what that person is and is not capable of. Catalyst explores the idea of never really knowing what someone can truly do under pressure, no matter how much you know or love them.

Love - Each one of the characters is desperately craving love, whether it’s from themselves or someone else. Debbie's reckless behaviour comes from the need of being reassured she is enough. Amy does not tell Debbie about the debt and lets her get away with causing the debt in the first place, as she fears she'll lose her. Amy believes that love is being able to control the situation, but this comes from a lack of confidence she has in herself and her actions only portray what she fears.

CONCEPT

We conducted initial proof of concept shoots for the film in early 2017, with selected cast members and mock locations. Take a look at the results above in the video. This teaser was made on ZERO budget. We also conducted additional proof of concept shoots in this time, producing a set of scene extracts that we’ll release throughout the crowdfunding campaign including:

• Amy & Rosanna Park Extract
• Tom & Debbie Paul & Simons Extract
• Tom & Debbie, Tom's Apartment Extract
• Bloopers Reel
• More Exclusives With Cast + Crew

PRODUCTION

Creating a feature film with our budget is always a daunting task but, with our strong team and pool of talent, we are more than up to the challenge. For our film we’re going to focus on Intimate Shots, as a director Elizabeth wanted the audiences to feel the thought processes and feelings of each character. The colouring of the film issues mainly blues, greys and cold colours as it suits the mood of the script. Examples can be seen in the teaser trailer above.

We will shoot the entire film on locations scattered around London and one outside London for a particular scene. The film showcases London as a city. Elizabeth really wanted the backdrop of your her hometown to be the forefront of the film; the booming business we see within the film: offices, restaurants, nightclubs are all what makes London run. London is a fitting place to film CATALYST because the city itself holds many untold secrets and resonates with the script.

We’re planning to have the final cut of the film locked for early 2018 and released late in 2018, when we will organise screenings across the UK. We are also entering CATALYST into the festival circuit, before distributing on DVD, and digitally.

BUDGET BREAKDOWN

The £25,000 is the minimum we need to complete this film, from where we are now to it circulating film festivals and being distributed on DVD. If we went over this target we would be more than grateful to have such an incredible group of people becoming part of the film. It would also mean we could make this film even better. We could pay for better locations, more equipment, more crew, more film festival entries and a more impressive production. We know we can achieve this, but we need you to become part of this film. You are so important to us and we want to share every moment with you.

PERKS

Contribute to Catalyst and join us on the journey of producing an independent feature film. As a contributor you will become part of the film and benefit from a variety of perks including:

• Social Media Shout Out's
• Thank You Credit At End Of Film
• Thank You Credit On IMDb
• Personalised Message From Cast or Crew
• Signed Poster 
• Digital Soundtrack
• Soundtrack CD
• Catalyst DVD
• Signed Headshots
• Skype Calls With Cast or Crew
• Script
• Signed Script 
• Day On Set
• Extra Role
• Premiere Invite
• Catalyst Goodie bag
• Sponsor Logo 
• Cast And Crew Meet And Greet
• Executive Producer Role 

*Terms and conditions apply: delivery dates subject to change. Day on set, extra role, meet and greet, premiere will take place in London. Travel expenses will not be covered by Catalyst or Zennor Films but the contributor. Refunds will not be accepted.

CAST

“Tom” – Ryan Ralph Gerrard

Ryan has been involved in multiple festivals including: the 48 Hour Film Festival and Edinburgh’s International Fringe Festival where he recently performed a run of Sam Rubinek’s new writing ‘THE ROOMMATE.’

Ryan has extensive training including: The Glasgow Academy of Musical Theatre and Arts and the National Youth Film Academy. Ryan has also achieved a Higher National Diploma in Acting & Performance and is currently enrolled in an Advanced Diploma of Physical Theatre at Edinburgh’s Summerhall Theatre.

As-well-as training to become an Actor, Ryan has also featured in multiple television shows for: BBC Scotland and STARZ TV and is currently filming scenes for ‘OUTLANDER’, set to air in 2017.

“Amy Rotham” - Jade-Maire Joseph

Jade-Marie Joseph is an actress and filmmaker. She took an interest in acting at the age of three and at the age of five she attended 'Bubblegum' drama school before moving on to the well-known  stage school 'Sylvia Young' at age twelve.

Jade-Marie has been involved in various productions, on stage, as well as in front and behind the camera. At fifteen Jade-Marie performed at the Hampstead Theatre's production of 'SNOW WHITE' where she played the queen/witch in which she won a Jack Petchey Best Actress Award. She was part of the Tricycle Theatre young company for three years where she performed a string of productions which included 'THE KILBURN PASSION' in 2014. She took an interest in filmmaking later in life, her first project was a documentary based on urban youth culture and was shown on BBC three 'Life through our lens'.

Jade-Marie's last staged productions were 'THE FORTY ELEPHANTS' at Pop up Brixton (2015) and 'BLACK LIVES, BLACK WORDS' at the bush theatre (2016). She is currently starring in new short film 'MORNING GLORY' to come out later this year.

“Debbie Lowe” – Lily Mae McGregor

Lily Mae McGregor first got into acting when studying a foundation course at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. Lily furthered her education in acting through courses at The Actor Centre, London. Lily has starred in a number of adverts including Nutella, EasyJet and Honda but wishing to advance into film she attended the National Youth Film Academy in 2015 where she stared in her first film ‘REMEMBERING AMY’. Since then she has appeared on ‘TU SI QUE VALES’ in Spain.

Along with her acting career Lily is a IDTA fully qualified dance teacher who has been awarded overseas dancer of the year award in 2010. Lily has the opportunity to dance at Saddlers Wells Theatre and Disneyland.

"Freddie" - Dean John-Wilson

Dean trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre arts before moving on to become a Semi-Finalist on hit ITV show, Britains Got Talent. He is currently playing the title role in Disney's West End Musical: Aladdin. 

Dean's credits include: Miss Atomic Bomb and Songs For a New World at The St James’ Theatre, ‘Aquino’ in Here Lies Love at The National Theatre, Tim Rice’s From Here to Eternity at the Shaftesbury Theatre, Sister Act: The Musical UK Tour and Super Ordinary workshop at the Soho Theatre.

We are honoured that Dean's screen debut will be CATALYST.

“Rosanna Arya” – Antonia Tootill

Antonia joined the National Youth Theatre at 15, performed an extract of ‘ROMEO & JULIET’ during which she was talent-scouted by Sir Richard Eyre at the opening of The Parabola Arts Centre in 2010, and played Judith in the original cast of Sharman MacDonald’s ‘LU LAH LU LAH (SHE TOWN)’ in 2011.

She did her BA in Drama at the University of Bristol where she started acting for screen, before training at Drama Centre London. Antonia has appeared in several independent films which have enjoyed successful runs at international festivals. Notably, she starred in the award-winning short film ‘THE PORT’, and will be appearing in 2 feature films due to for release next year.

"Matthew Clarke" - David Michael Hands

David trained at Colchester Institute and graduated in 2015 with a 1st Class BA Hons in Musical Theatre. His Credits include: Justice League (Warner Bros.), The 12 Tenors (10th Anniversary European Tour); Fat Busters The Musical in concert (The Park); Rhys and others in Get 'Em Off The Musical (Above The Stag); Lead Vocalist on Aida Cruises; Brian in Sky News The Musical in concert (The Union).

He is also currently in training to become a member of the prestigious Blue Man Group.

“Elise” – Joanna Tripp

Joanna has been actively involved in theatre for several years, appearing in a range of productions, from Shakespeare to contemporary, from straight plays to musicals. She's a member of the National Youth Film Academy and a student of Bernard Hiller. Her favourite role to date has to be Adriana from ‘A COMEDY OF ERRORS’, a sarcastic and witty character trying to keep a hold on reality. Joanna has been part of this project from the start and has been thrilled to see it grow and develop alongside the cast and crew.

“Jay Adams” – Zak-Russell Jones

Zak Russell-Jones is a young professional actor and model. Born and bred in the bleak but charismatic streets of Stockport, Manchester, Zak always had a creative streak from a young age. During his school years he was always a hyperactive kid that couldn’t be controlled until he found his passion for acting where he could channel his energy into into creating raw, emotional performances.

Since the age of 12 Zak has been involved with numerous different theatre companies (Stars Drama Academy, Chads Theatre, Stage Productions) whilst undertaking LAMDA up to Bronze level. He has been involved in productions such as ‘BUGSY MALONE’, ‘ROMEO & JULIET’ ‘TOM’S MIDNIGHT GARDEN’ and ‘THE CHRYSALIDS’. Early 2014, Zak landed a role in Channel 5’s ‘FRED & ROSEMARY WEST’ as John West. In the Summer of 2014 Zak successfully auditioned for the National Youth Film Academy’s Breakthrough Course. Upon completing the Course, Zak got an offer to move up to Newcastle to work for the National Youth Film Academy. Upon moving up to Newcastle, Zak met Richard William-Scott on the course and auditioned for the lead role, Jason, in Richard’s Internet series ‘CORPSE’.

After building up an admirable showreel, Rob put Zak in touch with a reputable London based agency called Shane Collins Associates. Through Shane, Zak was able to gain experience professionally in productions like ‘WOLFBLOOD’. Zak recently worked on a feature film due for release in 2017 called ‘THE ATTIC’, playing the part of Tim. ‘CATALYST’ is a project he his very excited about

CREW

Our team of skilled filmmakers are donating their time to this project, and represent a broad range of local talent from across the UK. Between them, they have the abundance of industry experience required to make such an ambitious project a reality.

Writer/Director – Elizabeth J. Cassidy

Elizabeth J Cassidy is an actress, writer and director based in London.

She started out as an actress, appearing in Bill Condon's 'MR. HOLMES' and most recently ITV’s 'GRANTCHESTER'. On set Elizabeth took an interest in production and so started producing short films in 2015.

Elizabeth attended the National Youth Film Academy and with a group of young filmmakers produced her first film 'REMEMBERING AMY'. After its reception at the Hackney Picturehouse and online success, Elizabeth pitched 'CATALYST, the feature. As writing several popular short film screenplays Elizabeth started writing ‘CATALYST’ of which she was taken on as director. Her passion for storytelling and visually creating something to move people is the driving force behind the film.

Elizabeth's training and work has taken her across the world from London to Rome and even to LA, she believes this has helped her knowledge of writing and directing grow. Her work is always more than just a film, it's a piece of art.

Producer/Editor – Ayrton McGurgan

Ayrton McGurgan was born on the 18th December 1995 in Derry. From a young age, he took an interest in film and began studying the art form. During his time at the Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh he acquired skills in Moving Image Arts and Production Arts.

As a Cinematic Arts student at Ulster University, Magee, Ayrton trained extensively in a variety of film roles. He completed work experience at EMC Post Production Limited, shadowing online/offline editors and a colourist and an apprenticeship at Derry's Millennium Forum, where he worked as a production designer on 'Teenage Kicks'. Ayrton also enrolled as a member of the National Youth Film Academy, London, where he edited the short film - 'Remembering Amy'. In London, during the Get A Grip course held in association with TriForce Creative North and Creative Skillset, Ayrton operated the camera for the short film - 'Falcrum'. Ayrton has just finished a traineeship as camera trainee on Disney's 'The Lodge' (Season 1).

Producer – Dima Ziadie

Dmitri Ziadie-Campbell was adopted by Lady Colin Campbell as a baby from Saint Petersburg, Russia. He grew up in West-London up to the age of 10 and then studied in France for 14 years where he graduated from Toulouse Business School with and undegraduate bachelor's degree in International Management.

His background since has been in Investment Banking, Wealth Management and following his mother’s appearance on 'I'M A CELEBRITY GET ME OUT OF HERE' he has continued to pursue a strong interest in film and media. Being on multiple TV sets including 'GMB', 'GOOD MORNING' and 'THROUGH THE KEYHOLE' and has also appeared on live TV. His current activities are mainly invested in Catalyst Film but he also works alongside his mother on their family business at Castle Goring and media that surrounds his Mother.

1st Assistant Director – Laura Prast

2nd Assistant Director – Faye Alethea Andrews

DoP – Ollie Cipres

Oliver Ciprés is one of the finest young upcoming filmmakers out there. Graduating from Amersham and Wycombe College (with full marks) he has worked with the likes of BBC Introducing filming a number of musicians where he first learnt the importance of teamwork and developed the skill into a major factor of his game plan.

Collaboratively (with Thomas J. Lewthwaite) he created REVO: Captivity where he undertook various roles covering directing, producing, cinematography, editing and many more to mould the project to the best it can be.

Smartly creative, he brings humour and passion on every shoot and is fundamentally one of the best assets of a team one could ever hope for.

DoP – Tom Lewthwaite

Thomas James Lewthwaite is an aspiring talented Filmmaker studying at Southampton Solent University. Thomas worked closely with companies such as Lakehouse PLC, Cisco systems and Hitachi to create relevant and professional content for promotional and corporate use. After graduating from Brooklands college Thomas was recruited to work as a Media Technician helping students achieve professional looks for their projects In collaboration with Ollie Cipres he created REVO: Captivity where he stepped into various roles covering directing, producing, cinematography, editing and many more to mould the project to the best it can be.

Whilst being creative in his field. Thomas also brings to the table an effective and efficient work ethic being able to produce and create products to a professional capacity whilst navigating issues and creating solutions.

Camera Assistant – Adam Shearing

Camera Assistant – Michaela Jefferson

Camera Assistant – Will Faulkner 

Camera Assistant – Dom Allsopp

Camera Assistant – Rowan Hey

Sound Recordist – Joe Conneely

Hair and Make-Up – Nadia Becker

Composer – Stephanie Hay

Stephanie has been writing music since she was 8 years old and it has always been a passionate hobby of hers.

As she typically leans toward a Folk/Acoustic style, writing for Catalyst has given her the refreshing opportunity to try something new and experiment with ideas out-with her usual genre. Inspired by the likes of The XX and Kanye West, her contributions to the soundtrack aim to pinpoint various moments within the film and capture them atmospherically - these moments are either decisions made or changes undertaken by the characters as the plot unfolds.

Stephanie is currently in her second year studying a BA Acting at Guildford School of Acting, and is looking forward to seeing how the Catalyst project develops over the coming year.

RISKS AND CHALLENGES

Creating a feature film of this scale and with such a small budget is always a challenge. With this, completion of such an ambitious project is never certain. It is possible for a major cast member to fall ill, or too loose permission for a central location, and these are risks inherent in the production of any film.

In order to mitigate these risks, we plan to allow ample room for contingencies, allowing space in our shooting schedule to allow flexibility. Whilst we lack the budget to be able to buy our way out of problems, we have the production experience to solve problems without such resources. We have produced a very large number of short films, which are available at request.

The film has been in pre-production since May 2016. We've been careful to make sure that the concept of the film will translate well onto screen by shooting a proof of concept and shooting full scenes which have allowed us to address any creative or production issues.

SUPPORT THIS PROJECT

We need YOU to make Catalyst the best film it can be.

Let's do something amazing together!

Love,

The Catalyst Team