-STRETCH GOAL UPDATE-

So excited to say we have reached our initial goal of 4K on IndieGogo! Thanks to all who have donated so far! We are very grateful to all who have been able to donate thus far and there are lots more people who have asked us if they can donate at a later date. So in order to help out those people, we are going to keep our campaign open until the beginning of January to make it easier for people to donate.

This will also give us extra time to reach our stretch goal of £6K which will allow us to make a better quality of film!

So although the green bar says we have reached our target we can still accept more contributions and donations as we try and raise our funds to 150%!

This will allow us to make an even better quality film! 

Thank you kindly and much love & gratitude.

- KMS Team! 

This story is a unique, poignant film about a terminally ill girl wanting to finally have control of her body and illness, after years of ill-health. Jessica's mother Angela plans to assist her daughter to take her own life on her 18th birthday. This film contains drama, comedy, complex human relationships, and, ultimately, human / family sacrifice.

The film stars Kate Dickie (Red Road, Prometheus, Game of Thrones), Kevin Guthrie (Sunshine on Leith, Dunkirk, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald) and up-and-coming actress Briony Monroe (The Black Gloves, Matriarch, Eggshells).

“I have a great feeling about this film, and because it is such an original story and isn’t directed at any specific demographic, it will appeal to a broad spectrum of viewers. I really think it will do well on the festival circuit and I am delighted to be involved.”

Kate Dickie

“Katie’s script is one of those rare pieces that has the audience / reader hooked from the first image of the opening scene until the last. It is bold and unflinching in its storytelling and doesn’t shy away from particularly difficult issues. The characters are true and real as is the world of the family. It is a terrific piece of work and a story that simply had to be told.”

Kevin Guthrie

This beautiful film revolves around a mother, Angela (Kate Dickie), and her daughter, Jessica (Briony Monroe), on her 18th birthday, who is aware of the fact that she only has days to live.

Jessica decides that she doesn’t want to leave her family home to go into a hospice the next day and inevitably end her life amongst strangers. She pleads with her mother, wanting to finally have control of her body and illness after years of poor health.

Jessica convinces her mother to help her plan an assisted suicide. Angela is devastated, but is physically and emotionally exhausted after years of single-handedly bringing up her poorly child. Even though she has no life outside of looking after Jessica, she reluctantly agrees to her daughter’s final request.

The story is moved along from the start by the police interview of Mark (Kevin Guthrie), Jessica’s male nurse, who is implicated after the fact, even though he had no knowledge of Jessica and Angela's pact.

As the story unfolds we cut between the police interview and the day of the assisted suicide, and see the backdrop to Jessica’s life.

The story leads the audience on an emotion-packed journey. We realise the viewers may have a challenge with this and are very aware that we have to be mindful and respectful of the emotional residence we leave them with.

This film touches on a controversial subject. In Scotland there is currently no legislation in place for assisted suicide, so it could be possible for someone who does help in an assisted suicide to be prosecuted for murder or culpable homicide.

We hope our film encourages debate and conversation and we would hope to gain a wider platform not only at film festivals, but also by being screened in schools, universities, and online platforms. 

Katie White - Writer/Co-Producer 

Award-winning writer, Scottish BAFTA NTA nominee, and pro-active member of the Scottish Independent filmmaking scene, Katie wrote / co-produced 2014’s Iris Prize-winning Best British short ‘Middle Man'. The prize fund from the Iris Prize helped finance the final mix of her team’s next short, ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’, which was completed at Pinewood Studios. 

Katie is gifted with the skill of being able to hook a viewer from the get-go and always has you guessing throughout the film. You never know where the story is going to go. Her naturalistic style blends drama, humour, and tragedy effortlessly as she creates characters that feel authentically lived in, and which pop out the page at you, stoking your imagination.  

Katie does not shy away from controversial subjects, and in the past when tackling comedic work has been able to successfully intertwine them with up-to-date contemporary themes that not only make you laugh, but think too.  And whilst 'Killing Me Softly With Her Love' is predominantly a drama, the film is able to break the tension with tender moments of humour between Jessica and her mother.

Colin Ross Smith - Director

Colin has a reputation on the Scottish Independent Film circuit for creating ultra-stylish short films, and is gifted with a rogue imagination and a passion to push hard to provide his audience with films that are unrushed and relaxed. In his years experimenting as a director Colin has gone from gangster-inspired plots and light comedies to personal dramas. 

Under the banner of his own production company, Foghorn Films, Colin has found Scotland a beautiful, secretive, and oppressively stunning setting for his thought-provoking stories, which have been accoladed for having a strong sense of real time whilst still retaining a neo-noirish feel.

Colin's bold experimentation with different kinds of films and forms has been successful in creating a TV pilot, The Crews, which evolved from a short film, and was later released online as a web series to stimulate public and media interest, before being picked up to play on both STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh, demonstrating that a buzz can be created without a big budget.

Colin Ross Smith Promo Reel

Rhian Howells / Christina Littleson / Elizabeth Freer - Co-Producers

Rhian is an experienced Producer & Agent with a demonstrated history of working in the Photography, TV & Film industry. Rhian is skilled in Representation, Production Management, Location Management & Creative Direction. Strong professional with a BA (hon) focused in Photography, Video & Digital Imaging from University of Sunderland.

‘Tenacious and resourceful, Rhian will take on any production challenge, and deliver it with excellence, good humour and composure. You can feel confident that whatever happens, Rhian will be behind you, making sure failure to achieve the result you’re after is not an option. ’ Laura Strong – Director at, Great Bank Limited

Having been a successful businesswoman for 15 years, Christina returned to education to study screenwriting. It was whilst working on her own short film as part of the curriculum that she discovered a passion for producing. Applying skills she had honed in her business career, Christina quickly set up her own production company, Wildcat Media, and now successfully manages both corporate briefs and a raft of short and feature film projects. Her first feature film, Cleek, is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Worldwide and can be purchased on DVD in the USA. Christina is currently developing a six-part World War One drama.

Elizabeth's behind-the-camera television and film career spans Crimewatch UK (BBC1) and Rory And Paddy's Even Greater British Adventure (Five) all the way to Avengers: Infinity War and Outlaw King (both 2018). Elizabeth has recently stepped up to producing, having been invited to join the team behind independent Sci-Fi film FLUX, a multi-genre concept which aims to showcase the resources and creative skills of Scottish talent.

Francis Macdonald - Composer

Francis Macdonald drums with Teenage Fanclub and makes music for filmmakers/TV. He was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award for “The Lost Purse” directed by Colin Ross Smith.

His Credits include, Prison: First & Last 24 Hours, Dunblane: Our Story, The Force: The Story Of Scotland’s Police, The Crews and Disclosure.

Francis Macdonald Website

Mark Boggis - Director of Photography 

Mark Boggis has over 20 years experience in the camera department with the past 12 years as a director of photography. His eye for composition, maximising simple lighting and how to tell a story in the best possible images has lent itself to commercials, and short and feature length drama. 

A previous collaboration with Katie White, 'Middle Man', won the Iris Prize and was Baftas NTA nominated. He has also worked with director Colin Ross Smith on 'Reservoir Dugs' and 'Eggshells', both of which screened internationally on the festival circuit.

Mark Boggis' Website

Charlie Francis - Editor

Charlie Francis is a Scottish film director and editor who is possibly best known for the short film Middle Man, which was written by Katie White. The film won Best British Short at the Iris Prize Festival, and was also nominated for the Best Entertainment category at the BAFTA Scotland NTAs in 2015.
Charlie’s recent work has been for composer Francis Macdonald’s album Hamilton Mausoleum Suite, and on STV’s The Festival Show.

Charlie Francis' Website

We require a minimum of £6,000 to make this film, and so really need your help. We have already raised just over £2,000 of the budget, and are now appealing to you to help us raise the next £4,000. If we are able to reach our initial target we will use this money in the production for equipment hire, set decoration, transportation, catering, and salaries.

Once we reach our initial target, we will look to our extended goal of raising £6,000, taking our total budget to £8,000, which will help see us through the post-production process by using the extra money to finance the colour grade, sound mix, and an overall finish to the film, as well as help us cover the costs for submitting our film to various high-end film festivals around the globe.

As a reward for contributing to the making of this film, every person who donates will get to see the final version of Killing Me Softly With Her Love in a sneak-peak private online release. We feel that if you are donating to the project you should at least have the chance to see what you've helped get made. For other, higher donations you can pre-order a copy of the film on DVD, get signed memorabilia, and receive an invite to the private cast and crew screening in Glasgow (location to be confirmed). You'll see a range of attractive perks on offer on the right-hand side of the page.