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COLD - A British Horror Story
An eleven-year-old girl plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse with her abusive stepfather
'COLD' is a short art-house horror film filmed in the north of England. Funded solely from the pocket of the creators on a budget of just £2,000, the production brought together some of the best up-and-coming filmmaking talent in the UK to achieve the ambitions of this project. These talents include director and producer Dan Fowlie whose short work The Phantom Limb was given a festival award by BBC Film Critic, Mark Kermode. Producer Damian Palli's short film "Half Way" won Best British Short at Leeds International Film Festival.
The result?: A deeply dark and disturbing portrait of a family that is reminiscent of the cinema from Douglas Buck, Michael Haneke and Markus Schleinzer. COLD is a film that contains no dialogue. Without any reliance on verbal language, its commitment to fully embracing the power of visual storytelling will guarantee international appeal, reaching audiences of all nations. There's no need for subtitles. Its language is cinema. Even Denis Villeneuve (Dune, Blade Runner 2049, Arrival) is eager to make a dialogue-free film.
Currently, in the final stages of post-production, we're ready to unleash our work onto the festival circuit and open the gateway to a new era of provocation in British cinema. In order to begin this journey, we need you to come with us.
Presenting this work to large audiences will help the creative talent of this production make new connections that will progress our filmmaking careers, enabling us to deliver more daring storytelling that enhances British cinema. And you can be a part of it.
What We Need & What You Get
- In order to reach prominent film festivals across the UK, Europe, the U.S. and beyond, we need to raise a minimum budget of £1,000. If a higher amount is raised, it would help us spread our wings even more in terms of our reach across the festival circuit. The fund will be used for festival submission costs. Festivals on our radar are the BFI London Film Festival, Cannes, Leeds International Film Festival, Raindance, FrightFest, and many more.
- Any amount you want to contribute would help us achieve our ambition. If you contribute you will be notified which festivals accept our film. We want to keep you up to date on this journey as it progresses. We may even see you at a festival screening. If a contribution of £25 or more is made, we will include your name on the credits of the film under the 'Thank you' section on release and on IMDb. If you don't select the perk when contributing this amount or more, we will contact you to notify you that you'll be added.
- If we don't reach our target of £1,000, we will use however much has been raised by your generosity to submit to as many festivals as we can that are on our list.
The Impact
We're not filmmakers who come from a wealthy background. As mentioned before, the ultra-low budget was sourced from one of the team's own pockets. We plunged the entirety of the budget into the production to try and make the best film possible with the resources we could afford. By contributing, you are helping us break through the financial barriers that working-class filmmakers face in the industry. With a proven track record of success from our team, we're confident COLD will make an international impact. However, we can only turn this into a reality with your help.
Challenges
Our work is ready to be unleashed onto the worldwide festival circuit. With over 12,000 film festivals in existence around the world, there is no doubt that our work will be exhibited. But we don't just want to aim for any festival that will accept us. We want to target the larger prominent festivals with a track record of launching the careers of up-and-coming talent. We take the value of your money seriously, so we will make decisions that carefully evaluate which festivals will likely accept our work and the benefits that will come from it.
Rejection is a part of the festival process and we face the possibility that we may not get into every festival we apply for. Even the most renowned talent in the industry has had their work rejected from certain festivals. However, due to the quality of our work and our distinct style that separates us from the wave of modern shorts that take a 'safe' approach to storytelling, we have confidence that we will capture the attention of festival organisers.
Cannes Film Festival has been a home for many of cinema's provocateurs who we take influence from such as Gaspar Noé, Lars von Trier and Haneke. Our film would also find a comfortable home at the UK's biggest horror festival: FrightFest. Horror fans are fanatical, and COLD is bound to capture their full attention due to its disturbing revelations. This story is not for the casual horror fan, but rather the ones who are after soothing really special.
Other Ways You Can Help
Times are tough financially so we can understand if you were unable to contribute. However, you can still help us by sharing our fundraising campaign across social media and informing those who may be interested in our work. You can do this by using the Indiegogo share tools! We would deeply appreciate your help. We can't achieve our goal without you.
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Starring Christina Grekioti, Daniel Roberts & Izobella Dawson
Produced and Directed by Dan Fowlie
Exec Producer & Writer: Robert Charlton
Produced by: Damian Palli
Director of Photography: Michael Suszczenia
Edited and Sound Design by: Ethan Mann
Production Designer: Emilia Lester
Composer: Kyle Rawson
Colourist: Paul Handley
1st AD: Callum Wear
Scrip Supervisor: Heather Newton
1st AC: Thariq Aryanto
2nd AC: Angela Boo
Grip: Ryan Moore
Sparks: Alex Mellor, Anh Do, Taylor Clarke, Ethan Lindsey & Rohit Shirish Kulkarni
Sound Recordists: Adeola Anthony & Francis Brewitt
HMUD: Dominika Zapalska
Costume Designer: Katie Ash-Elizabeth
Set Dressers: Heidi Bailey & Harriet Staniland
Location Manager & Unit Stills by: Daniella Sasaki
Production Assistant: Anastasia Yules, Serene Fenson & Joshua Ruddiforth
Wellbeing Coordinator: Mark Knowles
Accounting services: Sean Nicolson
Chaperone for Izobella: Rachel
Production company: Flat M Films & Goons Productions
