"Tough Love" by Darren Barber

"Love can be wonderful, Love can be kind, Love can be Tough"

The first feature film from 2B Productions films.Seven short love stories, seven writers, seven directors, one “interlinkable” film

About the film: The concept came to me that there were many talented writers, directors and crew trying to get there work noticed. After hearing a song about a young mother working the streets to be able to feed and cloth her much loved baby son the idea came why not make a feature film out of a selection of short stories of people in situations of love that were not always easy. Most people think of love and think its perfection and that love always brings happiness but this is not always the case. The next avenue was what situations that are happening in present day society that can be perceived as 'Tough Love'

I sat down and was quickly able to come up with experiences that would explore and look at Tough Love and seven ideas came to light. The reason in the number seven was that a feature film really needs to be over an hour long. I envisage each story being between 10 to a maximum of fifteen minutes per segment. Throughout the film the characters would then come into contact with one another and I would then bring everything together at the end of the film so in total I believe we are looking at an 80 minute duration of the film.

The next stage was to link up seven talented writers to contribute to the project. Through various avenues I was able to source and interact with several award winning writers who took away my ideas and created working scripts. I also had an active input in four of the scripts bashing ideas together with the writers and will then liaise with them. We have also developed ways in which all films link together through various characters.

The next stage was harder; a search began for seven talented directors that had something about them that stood out. We needed to find someone that not only had some talent but also had some experience of bending the rules of film making to lower cost, taking an Indie film making approach and making something look good with the minimum of money.

The scripts:

Short one written by Tom Wilton ‘Jack and Michelle’. Michelle is a young first time mother juggling the love of her newborn son Jack with coming clean from heroin and a street life of prostitution. Although Michelle finds it tough she tries her hardest to care for the boy and give up her old life of drugs and prostitution. Needing cash to support Jack she visits the streets once again but this time trying to con punters but not everyone can be conned.

Short two written by Howard Rayner'A day to remember'. Ann is living in a home and suffering from Alzheimer’s, Ralph loves her now as much as he did when they first married forty years ago. On their wedding anniversary Ralph decides to take her on a trip to relive a treasured day they once shared at the seaside to try and bring a smile to her face and hope she will remember at least something about the special day.

Short three written by Ewen Glass ‘Skype’s the limit’ looks at the long distance relationship between a father serving in Afghanistan and his wife and ten year old son when the only way the family can regularly communicate is through webcam and Skype. A tender and in places funny story of how mother and son cope with dad being away and the dangers it brings.

Short four written by Ron Brunwin 'Love Divine' looks at the trauma when a young women Donna falls in love with her priest Father Simon. Donna has been suffering domestic violence at the hands of her abusive partner Jeff. She keeps visiting the priest looking for a way out falling in love with him not accepting his commitment to the church. Although Father Simon does not give into temptation he does give Donna a way out.

Short five written by Silva Neves 'Hole in One'.Whilst out on the golf course a son finally picks up the courage to tell his father he is gay. He has idolised this man for his entire life and knows that it’s time to tell the truth even though he fears loosing the one man he loves most.

Short six written by Dominic Jenkinson ‘The Anniversary’ Its Eric and Lil’s 64th Wedding anniversary, Eric and Lil have been married 64 blissful years and have treasured every moment together. It’s not just Eric’s wedding anniversary but also the anniversary of the day he shot a German soldier in the Second World War. As Eric recalls the event to their beloved cat Monty Lil lies quietly upstairs in bed waiting to be joined by her beloved husband.

Short seven will look at love and religion this time an Indian girl facing the prejudice of the parents of her white partner.(Currently in development with Andrew McCoy)

Early PR:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2009/02/18/tough_love_wiltshire_film_feature.shtml

I am also due to do a live BBC radio interview in April along with one of our Director's Paul Bayley to talk about the upcoming film.

Details on the shoot:

The film is due to begin filming in August. Primarily the shoot will last around two weeks and then there will be two more blocks of three days between September and October to complete the shoot. Filming is mainly in Wiltshire, Weston and Bristol so this may appeal mainly to Southwest based crew.

The end product for the film would be to enter it into film festival. It’s a unique film concept that hasn’t been done before and therefore we are positive it will potentially be well received. Alongside this we could look at the potential distribution of the film through an online marketplace like Amazon. The film would act we hope as a calling card for all involved. We will also premier the film in local cinema.

As always with Indie/Low budget film making we cannot afford to pay people so are looking for like minded people that want to work on an exciting project and build there portfolio with up and coming people. We are looking to build lasting relationships and everyone will be credited for their hard work.

Expenses covered only, as well as crew being well fed and watered. We will also look at a potential profit share that would mean if the film ever did get to make any money everyone involved would get something for the time that they put in.

Please get in touch if you think you can bring something to the table. You dont have to have vast experience just the passion for the film to succeed.

We are after pretty much everything including:

-Production Manager (To oversee the production, including shooting schedule).
-Locations Manager (This may suit a locations assistant that wants a credit as a locations manager as a next step).
-DOP (Someone that has a good eye for visual style, photography on a film)
-Art & Props Department (We have various bits and pieces that will need designing and creating by someone talented)-Stills Photographer (For onset and PR photos)
-Promotional materials designer (for DVD artwork, posters, promotional materials, etc)
-Production Assistants (For all areas of helping in the film production, must be enthusiastic person)
-Sound People (We should have out sound kit sponsored but its essential to have good sound people using it)-Lighting (Someone who is good with the old red heads)
-Editors (Looking for editors to take over the post production, someone wanting to build a feature film into their portfolio)
-Make up artist (We have one talented make up artist but its always good to have more)

We are currently after sponsorship for the film. Please if you can sponsor anything be it a minibus or van for the shoot, grip equipment, lighting a hotel room or some catering please get in touch.

Contact Info
Email:badboybarber@msn.com
Website:http://www.2bproductionsfilms.com/