THE STORY

Having recently moved to the rural countryside to start their new life together, a young couple, Harry and Sally, find themselves becoming increasingly isolated not only from the world around them, but also from each other.

One night Harry awakens to find that Sally is gone. When mysterious intruders begin roaming the house, Harry must face the truth if he is to find his missing wife.  

THE FILM

PENROSE is a psychological thriller about a young man haunted by visions of mysterious intruders. The film's narrative is inspired by the works of Sam Mendes ("Revolutionary Road", "American Beauty"), David Fincher ("Gone Girl", "Fight Club") and Martin Scorsese ("Shutter Island"), while it's structural framework is inspired by the likes of Christopher Nolan's "Memento" and Rian Johnson's "Looper". In its conception, the film began as a simple thriller about a man tormented in his own home. Rachel and Glenn revised the script, giving greater depth to the central relationship between Harry and Sally (yes that is a blatant reference to Rob Reiner's "When Harry Met Sally"). The writing duo are firm in their belief that the audience will only be concerned and gripped if, and only if, they have first engaged with the central characters. As resident BBC radio presenter/film-critic/wittertainer/good doctor Mark Kermode always says, "we scare because we care".

WHY SHOULD YOU BACK THIS FILM

• The goal of this campaign is to raise €3800. While this may seem like a lot of money, in the film industry at large this really isn't that much. Filming, even for short films, is an expensive process. Your generous contributions will go towards equipment rental, location, and props & costumes, ensuring we can get the best looking film captured in camera. Other costs include food on set, small fees for some cast&crew, the cost of post-production and subsequent festival submissions. Every euro you give will push us that one step closer to making this all possible.
  
• In Ireland, the short film has become a culturally rich story-telling tradition that has produced far more Oscar nominations and global recognition than would typically be expected of such a small nation. Here is your chance to be part of a  team that is about to tell a new story that will become part of this universally celebrated medium.
• The PENROSE teaser trailer linked above, which takes place 30 years after the events of our film, was shot on a shoestring budget with family members stepping in to star. The aim of this teaser was to show you what we as a team were capable of with no money. If this is what we can do with limited time and funds, imagine would be possible with your help. 
• Filming for PENROSE is set to take place in late June 2015 with the aim of submitting it to major film festivals across Europe and America. 
• And last but certainly not least, in contributing to this campaign you will be creating a new addition to Ireland's catalogue of short films: a new source of entertainment: a new story. 

REWARDS

Our rewards are listed on the right of the screen. There is a wide range of rewards so you are sure to find something that appeals to you. These rewards are just a small token of our overwhelming gratitude towards every single individual who contributes to this film. Without you, there is no film. You are the most important cog in our film-making machine. You are our financiers and audience all rolled up into one. So from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU! And enjoy.

THE TEAM

CAST

MARK MCAULEY - Role of Harry

Mark McAuley is best known for appearing in the second season of the globally successful MGM/History Channel tv series "Vikings", his starring role in the Zanzibar produced feature film "Saol" and his own award winning short film "Connection".

Mark trained at the 'Stanislavski Studio' under Tim McDonnell at the Focus Theatre. Mark has appeared in many theatrical productions, his portrayal of English composer Benjamin Britten, in "Once in a While the Odd Thing Happens", receiving particular praise from the Irish Theatre magazine review - "McAuley is superb in his adoption of Britten's emotions... (his) body language changes infinitesimally as the drama unfolds, from a slightly hunched and jittery disposition to one that is relaxed and moving freely by the end of the play..."

SARAH JANE SEYMOUR - Role of Sally

Sarah Jane Seymour is best known for her work on the 2015 Barry's Tea advertisement, her appearances in David McSavage's satirical comedy shows "The Savage Eye" and "Irish Pictorial Weekly" and her starring role in the RTÉ Storyland production "RAPT".

Sarah Jane graduated with an Honours Degree in Drama Performance from the Conservatory of Music and Drama DIT, Dublin. In the web series "RAPT", Sarah Jane plays the lead role of Ange Smith, a paramedic and single mum. In an instant, everyone suddenly disappears, leaving Ange in an empty world desperate to find her baby daughter. The show was commissioned by Irish network RTÉ as part of their ongoing search for exciting original ideas. "RAPT" is currently one of five series hoping to be commissioned for a full season broadcast.

Later this year Sarah Jane will appear on Irish screens in TV3's hit new crime drama, "Red Rock". The show has received received hugely positive reviews with Bernice Harrison of the Irish Times claiming that the show is "a slick, serious piece of work in its filming and snappy editing".

More Casting to Announced Soon

CREW

GLENN WHELAN - Director/Writer

Glenn graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2014 with a B.A. Honours in Film Studies and World Religions and Theology. 

PENROSE will be Glenn's third short film as director. His first short film, a short musical called "OffBeat", was nominated for Short Film of the Year at the Irish National SMEDIA Awards 2014. His second short, a follow-up musical "The Gambler", is currently in post-production. PENROSE will be the first film Glenn has both co-written and directed. "I discovered script-writing as a platform for my story-telling during my latter years in college. The scripts for my first two films as director were gifted to me by the brilliant composer and good friend Josh Reichental. They were opportunities I simply couldn't pass up. However, PENROSE is my first real chance to express myself as a writer and I am hugely excited about what this story can become."

Aside from directing, Glenn has also worked as an art director on numerous short films. His most recent film as art director, a short Irish language musical entitled "Bonsoir Luna" (dir. Donncha Gilmore) has been officially selected to screen at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. (Link to Bonsoir Luna teaser at bottom of page.)

PENNY MERELLE GRAY - Director of Photography

This will be the first collaboration between Penny and Glenn. Penny received her M.A. in Digital Film Production from Filmbase in Dublin, Ireland in conjunction with Staffordshire University in the UK. 

Penny has filmed several short films including "Rip It Up & Start Again", which was screened at the 2015 Chicago Irish Film Festival (receiving the Film Festival's Honourable Mention) and the 2015 Boston Irish Film Festival, and "Me First", which screened at GAZE International LGBT Film Festival. Penny has not only worked in short film but was director of photography for the feature film "Poison Pen", written by international best-selling author Eoin Colfer ("Artemis Fowl"). The film was screen across the European and American film festival circuit at Galway, Cork, London, New York, Virginia and Chicago. The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, highlighting Penny's cinematography for it's "ironic composition" which helped to "illuminate the characters as well as visualize the craziness of media culture".

RACHEL TRAYNOR - Producer/Writer

Rachel graduated with a joint major in English and History from University College Dublin and is now currently working as a journalist. While she has always been interested in working in film, this will be Rachel's first official venture into film production. 

Rachel co-wrote the PENROSE script with Glenn but is excited to delve into the world of film-making as producer. Her obsession with strict organisation, mixed with her enthusiasm for her work, made her confident that she could excel in this role. Rachel is now looking forward to gaining hands-on experience in the film-making process. 

JOSH REICHENTAL - Composer

Josh is currently undertaking an M.A. in Composition for Film and Television in the prestigious University of Bristol in the UK.

This will be the third collaboration between Josh and Glenn. The pair met during their final year in Trinity College Dublin during a course designed to bring together the film, music and drama disciplines within the university. Their first film together, "OffBeat", was written, composed and scored by Josh and received a nomination at the SMEDIA awards in 2014. Josh also composed and scored the Irish language musical "Bonsoir Luna" which will be screened at this year's Cannes Film Festival (link below). 

Aside from film Josh work in composition extends to a range of pieces for a wide variety of instruments which Josh himself composed and have been performed by the likes of the Avalon Trio and the Node Ensemble. On top of this Josh contributed to the score and performance of the Trinity Players musical "Maggie".

HAZEL WILLIAMS - Costume/Make-Up Designer

Hazel is a 4th year student in the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology studying Make-Up Design for Screen and Stage.

Hazel is a highly talented wardrobe and make-up designer who has vast experience in the operatic arts. Hazel worked as make-up designer on Rough Magic's production of "The Cunning Little Vixen", Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte" and "Don Giovanni" with the Royal Irish Academy of Music. During the Wexford Opera Festival Hazel worked in the wardrobe department on several opera productions, including "Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze", "Therese/ La Navaraisse" and "Cristina. Regina Di Svezia".

Hazel recently was the make-up and prosthetic designer for the Travis Oaks' music video for their debut song release 'Last Love Song' and Sophia Tamburrini's short film "Come Sleepwalk With Me" which screened at Ozu Film Festival in Modena, Italy.

ISOBEL TRAYNOR - Sound Design/Recordist

Isobel is a 3rd year student in Dundalk Institute of Technology studying Video & Film Production. Throughout the duration of this course Isobel has worked on numerous short films sets. 

She has undertaken several different roles on set but in her most recent projects Isobel has taken on the role of sound designer.  With the short film "Harry" and the short documentary "Love Is In The Wifi" Isobel has focused primarily on sound design. 

Recently, Isobel was hired as a production assistant for the hugely popular UK-based television talent show The X-Factor.

JAMES CREHAN - Boom Operator

James graduated with a B.A. Honours in Applied Music from Dundalk Institute of Technology. Some of his focus modules included: "Recording Techniques and Technologies" and "Sound Synthesis and Manipulation". James' high level of expertise makes him a huge asset to the film.

A gifted musician and music producer, James is also vastly experienced in live sound engineering. He regularly performs gigs and single-handedly supplies and sets up the stage equipment. James has had substantial amount of experience in music and film, as he both performed and worked in multiple projects in previous years. 

Bonsoir Luna (dir. Donncha Gilmore, 2015) - Teaser Clip