A Brief Introduction 

First of all thank you for your interest in our short film Ethel. We hope that with your help we can make this very worthy film. Ethel has been a labour of love fro writer/director Jonny Wright after first writing the first draft in 2012. Thanks to a chance meeting on an MTV show and the trust of producers Patricia Rybarczyk and Sacha Bennett (Three Wise Monkey Productions) what was once a dream is now almost a reality. 

By making a donation, no matter how small, you can put your name on the project and make your voice count. We want to make a film that transcends the average short and raise awareness Alzheimer's Disease to a wide audience including the younger audience as Alzheimer's is a disease that doesn't just affect the person diagnosed.

10% of any funds made will be donated to our partnered charity Bounce Alzheimer's Therapy Foundation so by helping us make a short film you're also donating to a charity, double karma!

The Team

The core team behind Ethel are all working media professionals, whether it be in televison or film. Between us we have worked for Universal, Paramount, BBC, MTV, and on movies such as The Departed and American Gangster. 

Three Wise Monkeys producers Trish and Sacha recently releasecd their latest feature film, Tango One, for Universal UK, 

DIRECTOR - JONNY WRIGHT

Jonny founded and ran a production company in his hometown of Leicester, called 151Films, from 2010 to 2014. Specialising in music videos and corporate videos (NHS, Virgin Media and Aurum Holdings). While running his video company Jonny would also freelance in television. In 2014,

Working as DV Director on shows including The X Factor, The Jump, and BBC3 documentary “We Want Our Country Back”.

Rising quickly in his chosen field Jonny then moved up to Producer Director with his first film being an authored piece once again for BBC3 “Britain’s Most Wanted Motorcycle Gangs?”. Which saw Jonny gaining the trust of a subculture known as Bike Life. His first single camera documentary went on to become one of the most viewed documentary on iPlayer in 2016.

PRODUCERS - PATRICIA RYBARCZYK & SACHA BENNETT

Trish has risen through the ranks of production at a speed that demonstrates her great skill and knowledge of the department.

Working with a range of budgets, Trish has overseen projects through every stage of production from development to post on a wide variety of genres, with stars such as Steven Berkoff,  Alan Ford, Julian Glover, Mark Hamill, Jean-Claude Van Damme to, most recently, BAFTA nominee Timothy Spall. Furthermore, she has produced alongside partners such as Oscar winner Martin Scorsese.

Feature films include the highly anticipated sequels to the successful Bonded By Blood, Rise of the Footsoldier and We Still Kill The Old Way.

Sacha has over 28 years of experience in the film industry, both in front and behind the camera – but his true passion is directing, and is currently in post-production on his 8th feature film having delivered Tango One for Universal.

Along with screen-writing credits on his own films, Sacha has produced scripts for the likes of Paramount Pictures and the BBC, and has created two feature film franchises.

Directing projects range from music promos (including Queen’s Flash Gordon Remix, which was number one in 18 countries); short films (the multiple international award-winning Devilwood, starring John Simm, which has been optioned to become a television series) and musical visuals (Sacha directed the live-action screen elements for the globally successful We Will Rock You).

As a director, he has worked with the likes of Academy Award nominee Bob Hoskins, BAFTA/Emmy winner Jenny Agutter, Rita Tushingham, Olivier Award winnerLuke Treadaway, Steven Berkoff and Patrick Bergin, to name but a few.

The Budget 

We believe in treating cast & crew fairly. Nearly everyone has worked with us over a number of projects and they are professionals in their field. With over 40 feature films under our belt, we know how to economise on various lines of the budget to spend the most money on production value of the film. However, film kit, lighting, insurance, transport (including flights from America) and food isn't cheap and we need to make sure we treat everyone very well as they are helping us fulfil our dream project. The shoot is filming over 4 days. We already have crew working on the prep side of this. Official pre production will start 2 weeks before the shoot.

We will be shooting over 3 locations in London. We need to pay council location fees, as we are shooting a lot of it outside and also have to dress and pre-light Ethel's flat a few days beforehand. Al & Simon will be training with our fighting actors for about 3 days prior to the shoot to make our fight scene look very realistic. Rehearsing with the actors is crucial and will save us time on our shooting days, but this requires room hire, food, transport, crew costs for our crew who need to be there for the preparation.

We are aiming for the stars with this film, it's been Jonny's dream for 6 years, and the core team have been working on this for 3 years. Every penny will be spent on only necessary items. We are also working with brands to economise on our costs. Trish is meeting with homeware & clothing brands for prop placement which will mean that we will have these items donated to the film thus meaning we can spend more money on things such as locations and possibly a better camera. Our aim is to shoot on an Alexa mini. We have reached out to Arri who make the camera for support. 

The Cast

ETHEL - Miriam Margolyes

(Photo Credit: Kyte Photography) 

A veteran of stage and screen, award-winning actress Miriam Margolyes has achieved success on both sides of the Atlantic. Winner of the BAFTA Best Supporting Actress award in 1993 for The Age of Innocence (1993) she also received Best Supporting Actress at the 1989 LA Critics Circle Awards for her role in Little Dorrit (1987) and a Sony Radio Award for Best Actress on "Radio" in 1993. She was the voice of Fly the dog in Babe (1995).
 

JACK - Elijah Baker 

Elijah won the role of ‘Archibald Cotton’, 1 of the lead characters. The play went on to be a huge success, winning Best Heritage award, which Elijah was chosen on behalf of the cast & crew to accept at the National Lottery Awards 2007. Elijah then  landed his 1st role as a guest lead in an episode of ‘The Bill’. Following The Bill, Baker then landed roles in other well known shows such as ‘Silent witness’, ‘The Sarah Jane adventures’ , ‘New Tricks’, ‘Injustice’, ‘Phoneshop’ and ‘Doctors’.Recent credits include ‘Tango One’, Directed by Sacha Bennett, who Elijah previously worked with on ‘We Still Kill The Old Way’.

KEVIN - JJ Hamblett 

JJ rose to fame as part of Union J, the chart-topping boy band who reached the semi-finals of 2012’s X Factor. Before he was a singer, JJ was a race jockey, and rode for Her Majesty The Queen. In the last three years, JJ has branched out in to acting, debuting in Sacha Bennett’s ‘Tango One’ for Universal, playing an MI5 agent. Following that, he’s appeared in feature films ‘Rise of the Footsoldier 3’ and ‘Once Upon A Time In London’.

LUKE - Stephen Manderson

Stephen, AKA Professor Green, is a rapper,songwriter, singer and actor from London. Stephen has been actively filming hard hitting & honest documentaries for some time including 'Professor Green: Suicide and Me (Documentary - 2015)', Professor Green: Hidden & Homeless'. Stephen explores important issues affecting modern Britain and this is something which we believe drew Stephen to Ethel.

Supporting Crew

Al Snow & Simon Van Der Wolf of Al Snow's Wrestling Academy

Al & Simon will be choreographing a very important fight scene in Ethel. Former WWE Wrestler Al, has recently taken over Ohio Valley Wrestling and will be flying over from Kentucky, USA to help us with this project. Al & Simon have been fight choreographing fights for Three Wise Monkeys for a number of years now and they have both been in front of the camera more recently on their Universal feature film Tango One released in March 2018. 

Fairwood International

Francis Pettican - Music Supervisor

Fairwood International are a highly respected independent music publisher who, amongst a host of household names, have looked after David Bowie’s catalogue (and now his estate) for the last 23 years. For Ethel they have agreed to team us up with upcoming musician Anna Phoebe to produce some incredible original music for the film. Having worked on a selection of various film titles in recent years, Fairwood will also oversee all music supervision choices in the picture.

Crew

So far we have the following crew attached: (click on names to look at IMDB credits) 

Director of Photography - Thierry Volant 

First Assistant Director - Terry Bamber (James Bond, 101 Dalmations, The Man from U.N.C.L.E) 

Third Assistant Director - Robert Gerrard

Gaffer - Greg King 

Sound Recordist - Patrick Calvert

Costume Designer - Hannah Campbell 

Make Up Designer - Claudette Fruchier 

DIT - Alex Lopez

Foley Sound - Stu Dat 

Editor - Jimi Simpson

Storyboards - Carl Staples

What's After? 

Three Wise Monkeys have already had successful meetings with possible representatives in Cannes this year. We are waiting on feedback re our press package, so watch this space for possible big announcement very soon ! We also aim to enter the film into all major film festivals. 

Continuing work with Alzheimer's & BAT Foundation 

For us this isn't just about Ethel. We want to continue our work with BAT Foundation and already have some very exciting ideas to try and get the important message of Alzheimer's out there. Like us BAT is very forward thinking and we've got a great working relationship. We've learned so much about Alzheimer's and how it can affect every member of a family, so we're planning to shout about it from the rooftops!