Roast is a semi-autobiographical comedy drama about a 13-year-old girl called Annie. Annie’s erratic mother Louise, Uncle Ben, Nana and Nana’s partner, Keith, arrive for a family meal which soon escalates to reveal Annie and her mother’s troubled past and the light of a new beginning.

I have always loved coming of age films like The Diary of a Teenage Girl, 20th century Women, and The Squid and the Whale for their honest depictions of intimate relationships and the pains of growing up.

The characters within Roast are all reflections of my own family, with the lead character, Annie being based on myself. The film reflects an important period of change in my life where my Mum and I were able to make a fresh start following a turbulent relationship.

The film follows Annie as she finds her voice within the chaos and hilarity of her dysfunctional but loving family.

The money raised will be spent on our cast of actors and crew as well as equipment for the shoot itself. Here’s a breakdown of where your money will be going:

We want to reward our backers with lots of cool Roast-related perks to show just how much their support means to us. This includes everything from official film posters and tickets to the film's premiere, to props from the set and 'I helped make the Roast' aprons!

Rose Alder - Writer/Director/Editor 

Rose Alder works as a Video Editor at Fuzzy Duck in Media City. This is her first short film. 

Harry Fisher - Director of Photography

Harry works as a professional filmmaker and has made several short films to date.

Sam Alder - Producer/Storyboard Artist, Title animator

Sam is an award winning illustrator, animator, producer, and director working across tv ads, online content, and music videos.

This is Rose Alder’s first short film project, which in itself will present several challenges such as managing a cast and crew, making effective use of the production budget, and making sure that the story is told in the most narratively effective and visually powerful way.

As well as this, Roast is a largely character-led piece, meaning it is vital that we find the right cast of actors to bring the subtlety and humour of the script to life.

Despite these challenges, we have an amazing amount of support and a talented crew working with us who are all determined to make the project a success, and we are actually hugely excited to take on these challenges and make the best film we possibly can for ourselves, our audience, and our Kickstarter backers.