Based on true events, THE RAIN COLLECTOR is a short film about a young woman in Victorian England struggling to find her place. She finds purpose through science, and fights with her mother. She gets on with her scientific work and buts up against what is considered appropriate for women struggling against her mother’s concern for her, and a passing gentleman’s disdain.

The film is a wry look at what women were expected to be then, and now, and explores ideas related to women in science, and of women’s place in this historical context.

Even now, the number of women in science is incredibly low, and while there have been efforts made to address this, and some amazing campaigns and initiatives, one of the things that is most important is for young girls to see clear examples of women succeeding in scientific fields.

This film is set in Victorian England, but many of the assumptions made about Vanessa, about the ‘hobby’ or the silly nature of her interests maintain today, where women are not taken seriously or are discriminated against because of their sex.
The British Rainfall Organisation had a network of rainfall volunteers and observers all over the country, and was an example of an area of science where women were more accepted. This is a film about one of those observers.

I'm interested in looking at unusual narratives of women’s history, and bringing to the screen new depictions of women in positions of strength but also humor and conflict.

I’m interested in how people can be surprising, when assumptions are upended, and people can challenge and accept new ideas about women’s aspirations.

Film is such a powerful medium, and, we believe that, by increasing the visibility of women in nuanced roles, and exploring ideas of gender relations, where men learn from women as much as women learn from men, we have a unique opportunity to influence young women considering science as a career.

We had an amazing cast, with Celine Buckens (War Horse) as our rain collector, Max Bennett (Anna Karenina, The Duchess) as our dashing Captain Wilmington, and the incredible Hermione Norris (Spooks, Cold Feet) playing Vanessa’s mother. To learn more about our amazing Cast and female led Creative team please scroll down, including info on our wonderful Producers Emily Leo, Emilia Reid, and Theodora Dunlap, our fantastic and innovative Production Designer Antonia Lowe and the incredibly talented Cinematographer Neus Ollé.

A very special thank you to Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, where this was filmed in 2015, and to the Alfred P Sloan Foundation from whom we received a grant for production. And to The Science Museum in London for showing us some Rain gauge instruments!

Now that we have the film in the can, and a festival premiere looming on the horizon, we have to do the final push to complete the film. We hope you will help us get past this final hurdle and pledging as much as you can,so we can deliver our film for it’s premiere!

Please get in touch if you’d like further information: theraincollectorfilm@gmail.com

Visit our website: www.theRainCollectorFilm.com

Check us out on IMDB for a full list of amazing people already involved: The Rain Collector IMDB page

Tweet us: @PowderRoomFilms, #theraincollectorfilm

FUNDING:

It took a long time to get to this stage of the project. The script went through many drafts, developed while I was at NYU Grad Film where I got my MFA. We were able to go into production because of a Production Award from the Alfred P Sloan Foundation and a few generous donations and in kind contributions.

So we shot earlier this year in Yorkshire, England.

We have a lot of people to thank for that, and my incredible UK producers, Emily Leo and Emilia Reid and the whole Wigwam Films team were fantastic, with in kind contributions and getting amazing deals on our equipment and services. We had a superb creative team, and everyone worked so hard to bring to life my vision for the film, with collaboration that was really inspiring. Check out their bios below.

Because of the Sloan Award we were able to go into production, but, there are unavoidable costs for any film, let alone a period film, that also involves heights and harnesses!

We are trying to raise $10,000 on Indiegogo to cover the rest of the costs:

-  pay for Visual Effects work to remove harnesses and ropes from the footage (that were keeping Celine safe in that tree while we shot!)

-  pay for the editor

-  pay for color correction  (so the ALEXA footage can look as beautiful as it’s meant to)

-  pay for Data Conformance & DCP mastering  (the screening standard required in the industry)

-  pay for the Sound Mix and Sound Design

-  pay for our music

The final push!

We are thrilled with the footage, and so pleased that we have a festival premiere coming up (we'll tell you which one as soon as they let us!) but we still need your help to bring this film to the screen. All the submissions were with temporary elements, and we won’t be able to screen anywhere without these post production elements.

We’re excited to bring this story to life, and to shed light on a little talked about area of science that women were involved in. But also, to show a fun, and sweet, and hopefully charming, love story, involving a strong young woman, who appears against this gorgeous backdrop of Victorian Yorkshire, at a festival near you!

It’s light hearted, but our message is serious. We hope you will join our community and help get this project funded.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, share it, and for your contribution too!

Please use the Indiegogo share tools to help spread the word!

Cheers,

Bella

CAST 

Celine Buckens – Vanessa Kentworth

Celine Buchans was discovered in 2012 and appeared in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse (Dreamworks), as the young French girl who lives on a farm with her grandfather after losing her parents and brother in the war. And appears in the upcoming The Man in the Box (Parkland Pictures, Dir. Arsen A Ostojic).

Hermione Norris – Lady Kentworth

Hermione Norris, best known for her work on the critically acclaimed drama, Spooks, and award-winning comedy series Cold Feet, has appeared in the West End, Royal National Theater and Regional Theater, as well as Television and Film. Recent Credits include: In the Club (BBC, dir. David Evans), The Crimson Field (BBC, dir. David Evans) Outcasts (BBC/Kudos).

Max Bennett – Captain Fitzwilliam Wilmington

Max Bennett has appeared several times in the West End and for such companies as the Royal Court Theatre, the Donmar Warehouse and the National Theatre, as well as playing Edmund in a Chichester Festival production of King Lear (directed by Angus Jackson) which transferred to BAM in New York. He played Petritsky in Joe Wright’s film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's novel, Anna Karenina (2012) with Kiera Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen, Lord Walter in Saul Dibb’s The Duchess, and stars in the upcoming film Set the Thames on Fire by Ben Charles Edwards with Noel Fielding, Sadie Frost and Lily Loveless.

CREATIVE TEAM

Isabella Wing-Davey – Director/Writer

Isabella Wing-Davey is an award-winning British Filmmaker, a Film Independent fellow, and the recipient of the Alfred P Sloan Production Award for her short film, The Rain Collector, for which she was shortlisted for the Kevin Spacey Foundation Artist-of-Choice Award in 2015. She was an Artist Academy Fellow at 53^rd New York Film Festival in 2014 and had her feature film directing debut on the James Franco produced Black Dog Red Dog (2015) with Tim Blake Nelson, Logan Marshall Green, Chloe Sevigny and Whoopi Goldberg. She has produced many award winning shorts, such as Afronauts (Sundance, Berlinale) So You’ve  Grown Attached (San Francisco International Film Festival, Student Academy Award Regional Finalist), Pen Pal (Edinburgh International Film Festival) among others.

Theodora Dunlap – Producer (US)

Theodora Dunlap is a New York based film and television producer. Her credits include GOD’S POCKET, directed by John Slattery and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman (Sundance 2014, IFC Films), INFINITY POLAR BEAR starring Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana (Sundance 2014, upcoming Sony Classics release), ROBOT AND FRANK starring Frank Langella and James Marsden (Sundance 2013, Sony Pictures Worldwide/Samuel Goldwyn Films) and the recent thriller, COP CAR, starring Kevin Bacon (Sundance 2015, Focus World). She works at Park Pictures, Features division, as well as having other projects like THE BETTER HALF series, OCEAN PARKWAY and POWDER ROOMS OF A BIG CITY (with director Isabella Wing-Davey), in the digital space, as well as a TV show partnership with Fast Company magazine and Big Beach TV.

Emily Leo (Wigwam Films) – Producer (UK)

Emily Leo began her career in the production of music videos and adverts. She moved to Capitol Films in 2004 and worked as a Development and Acquisitions Executive. In 2008 Emily joined Shine Pictures (formerly Kudos Film and TV).  Working alongside Paul Webster at Shine, Emily developed a slate of films as diverse as Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Brighton Rock. In 2012, Emily produced the short film Worm starring Robert Glenister. Worm screened at the prestigious Palm Springs and Rhode Island film festivals and received the Judge’s Special Mention at Leeds International Film Festival. Emily Executive Produced Before I Disappear in 2013, and is developing a slate of projects at Wigwam. She is the Producer on Under The Shadow, which is currently in post-production.

Emilia Reid –Producer (UK)

Emilia Reid is an independent film and music video producer from London. After five years of working in development and production for companies in the UK and LA, Emilia branched out into making short films and music videos. She is currently developing a slate of shorts and features. She also worked in the production team of the recent feature remake of DAD’S ARMY and feature films BELLE and FAST GIRLS.

Neus Ollé – Director of Photography

Neus Ollé is an award-winning Cinematographer based in London and Barcelona. Neus trained at NFTS and with a BA in Cinema from ESCAC. Recent Credits: Cirklen (Sweden, in post production, Dir: Levan Akin), Tots volen el millor per ella (Spain, 2013) Dir: Mar Coll Prod: Escándalo Films Festival de Valladolid’13 Premio Mejor actriz (Nora Navas) Premiers Plans Festival’14 (France) Best Actress (Nora Navas), In the Dark Half (UK, 2011) Dir: Alastair Siddons Prod:BBC Films, Matador Films/ Bard Entertainment. She also shoots for commercials and music videos.  Commercial  clients include: Louis Vuitton, Mango, Burberry, Giorgi, San Miguel, Mecano, Danone.

Antonia Lowe – Production Design

Antonia Lowe is a UK Production Designer and Set Decorator for film, TV, commercials and promos.  A production design graduate of the National Film & Television School in 2011 (during which she was awarded the prestigious Farley Prize for Production Design), her graduate animation Playing Ghost won awards at several festivals, while her graduate fiction film, Strays, is to be screened on Channel 4 in 2015. 

 She has designed music promos for Ed Sheeran, All We Are, MNEK and most recently Hudson Taylor. Her commercials work includes projects for Nestle, Nike, Foyles and the 2015 British Heart Foundation valentine campaign. Antonia has also worked on various award winning TV dramas including; the BAFTA winning Broadchurch, BBC mini-series From There to Here, forthcoming BBC period drama Poldark and most recently the new ITV drama series Safe House. 

The Rain Collector Film  is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit arts service organization. Donors for the charitable purposes of The Rain Collector Film  must be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.