SCUZZ
SCUZZ
SCUZZ
SCUZZ
SCUZZ
A short film by Alia Ghafar
A short film by Alia Ghafar
A short film by Alia Ghafar
A short film by Alia Ghafar
This campaign is closed
SCUZZ
A short film by Alia Ghafar
A short film by Alia Ghafar
A short film by Alia Ghafar
A short film by Alia Ghafar
A short film by Alia Ghafar
SCUZZ is a short film with big ambitions. After a lot of hard work, story development, many cups of coffee, we were commissioned by Scottish Film Talent Network. We want to make the film to as high a quality as possible, ensuring all cast and crew are paid fairly, but this costs money. We've already secured a part of the budget via SFTN, but need an extra £1,700 to make the film the best it can be.
We would love it if you are able to contribute what you can to our film, and if you can't contribute - please share with friends and family. Even the smallest of donations can make a big difference! We hope to create a film that you can be proud to have played a part in bringing to the screen. We cannot thank you enough for your support and encouragement.
In SCUZZ we meet Kim (23), a bassist in a Glasgow band. Playing a dingy venue surrounded by art-school snobs, her now ex-boyfriend and frontman Lee included, Kim just wants an escape from the shallow scene. When Lee’s guitar is stolen, Kim feels responsible and gives chase. Racing past bustling traffic, clubbers and neon-bathed nightlife, they eventually come to a head. To Kim’s surprise, she discovers not a hard-faced criminal but a 14-year-old boy looking to learn how to play. Through a shared love of music, some fast food and teaching her ex a lesson, two strangers for one night find an unlikely connection.
KIM is a final year Glasgow School of Art student who plays bass in a band with her art-school mates. Emotionally, Kim is not in a good place - she recently broke up with the band’s frontman, Lee, who saw their relationship as ‘casual’ but left Kim heartbroken. Everyone in the vacuous scene she finds herself in is gossiping about it and she can’t stand everyone knowing. She’s disenchanted with the superficial so-called friends around her. When Kim meets Ryan, she is reminded of her younger, more carefree self and is finally inspired to stand up for herself.
RYAN is a cocky teenager, currently in his 4th year at Bishopbriggs Academy (or ‘Bishy High’). Ryan wears all the right trackies, but lads in his year still take piss out of him for listening to ‘weird’ music and reckon he spends too much time rifling through his Dad’s old CDs. As a result he’s a bit of a loner, but he doesn’t really care - he’s gonna be a big time star, just like Liam Gallagher. When the posers outside the gig are rude to him and the band have been stupid enough to leave the van open, he decides to nick a guitar - he needs to teach himself properly if he’s going to become a rock legend. From meeting Kim, Ryan reckons that maybe some of these hipsters are ‘awrite, actually.
ALIA GHAFAR - WRITER/DIRECTOR
Alia is a Writer/Director from Glasgow with a passion for telling stories which reflect the experiences of young people in contemporary Scotland. She graduated from the Film & TV programme at Edinburgh College of Art in 2017. Her graduation film SALT & SAUCE premiered at BFI London Film Festival in 2017 and then went on to screen at 20 festivals in the UK and internationally, including Edinburgh International Film Festival, London Short Film Festival, Underwire Festival and British Shorts Berlin. SALT & SAUCE won the Scottish Short Film Award at Glasgow Short Film Festival 2018 and was nominated for Best British Short Film at the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards 2019. The film also won two RTS Scotland Student Awards and Alia won the Rising Star Award at Edinburgh Short Film Festival 2017. In March 2019, SALT & SAUCE was broadcast on BBC Scotland, as part of their series NEXT BIG THING, which profiles award-winning new Scottish filmmakers and their work.
LAURA MCBRIDE - PRODUCER
Laura is an Edinburgh based Producer who has 5+ years’ experience working within the Scottish Film and TV industries across both drama and factual production, film festivals and education. Currently working in-house at Synchronicity Films, recent credits include Post-Production Coordinator and Production Secretary on THE CRY (Synchronicity for BBC One), Production Runner on ONLY YOU (The Bureau/Synchronicity) and Production Office Trainee on BOYZ IN THE WOOD (Sigma). Laura has a MA in Film from Screen Academy Scotland specialising in Production.
ANDREW O'CONNOR - CINEMATOGRAPHER
Andrew O’Connor is a freelance Director of Photography and lecturer at Screen Academy Scotland. Recently, Andrew shot his first feature, SUPER NOVEMBER (dir. Douglas King), which received its World Premiere at GFF 2018 and was nominated for the BIFA Discovery Award 2018. He has worked as a freelance DoP across shorts, documentaries, music videos and commercials. Andrew shot short film BUNNY (dir. Shaun Hughes), which premiered at EIFF 2018 and recently won the Celtic Media Torc Award for Best Short Drama. His shorts have been broadcast by BBC Wales and S4C, and screened at festivals including, EIFF, GSFF, LSFF, Raindance, Encounters and Aesthetica. His short FI A MISS WORLD received a Welsh BAFTA nomination in 2014 and for his work on THE STILL HEART BEATING (dir. Shaun Hughes) in 2015 for a Scottish BAFTA New Talent Award for his cinematography.
MARTIN ALLISON - EDITOR
Martin Allison is an emerging editor who has worked across drama, music videos and commercials. Martin was Trainee Editor on feature OUTLAW KING (dir. David Mackenzie) and was an editor on SCHEMERS (dir. Dave Mclean), which premiered at EIFF 2019. Short films currently in post-production include DO NO HARM (dir. Douglas King), funded by SFTN, and UFO (dir. Harvey Gardner). Previous shorts Martin has edited have screened at festivals such as London Short Film Festival and Aesthetica.
MEGHAN GRIEVE - PRODUCTION DESIGN
Based in Falkirk and Glasgow, Meghan Grieve is an Art Department Assistant and Set and Costume Designer who has recently graduated from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a BA in Production Arts and Design specialising in Set and Costume Design. She has worked in Theatre and in Film and TV for the BBC, Fearfall Productions and more.
LAUREN PETERS - COSTUME DESIGN
Originally from Manchester, Lauren Peters graduated from the prestigious Performance Costume programme at Edinburgh College of Art in 2016. As well as having experience in theatre, Lauren has worked on multiple short films in the costume department, most recently GLOOP GIRL (directed by Martin Allison), which will premiere at London Short Film Festival in Jan 2020. Lauren was costume designer on SALT & SAUCE (directed by Alia Ghafar) and THE GLASSHOUSE (directed by Gianna Arni). She was Costume Standby on CBBC production PET PROBLEMS. As well as working in costume, Lauren works across illustration and fine art. She is also a musician and a member of up and coming Glasgow band LEMON DRINK.
JONATHON MCLOONE - SOUND RECORDIST
Jonathon McLoone is a sound recordist based in Glasgow with experience in drama, factual and commercials. Jonny has previously worked on several SFTN productions including BOYS NIGHT, MY LONELINESS IS KILLING ME, KINGDOM COME and 1745. Jonny's commercial clients include Amazon, Spotify, STV, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Tesco, Emirates Air and the Scottish Government.
WILLIAM AIKMAN - SOUND DESIGN
William Aikman, a graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, is one half of Elevator Audio. Recent Sound Design credits include the feature documentary NAE PASARAN, SFTN Short 1745 (dir. Gordon Napier) and BUNNY (dir. Shaun Hughes). He has worked as a Sound Designer at leading post houses in Glasgow. William is also a qualified and experienced Sound Recordist, having worked extensively on projects for broadcasters and on independent features.
MILLIE & HAYDN OF THE NINTH WAVE - COMPOSERS
Millie Sinclair-Kidd and Hadyn Park-Patterson are the lead songwriters of The Ninth Wave - a noise pop four piece from Glasgow who take their influences from 80’s new wave and goth pop. They have recently released their debut album INFANCY and will be embarking on a UK tour in November. This year they have supported Suede at Kelvingrove Bandstand, performed at festivals such as SXSW in the US and have had radio plays on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 Music. The Ninth Wave will support Marc Almond at the upcoming Edinburgh's Hogmanay concert.