Introducing 'Songbird'

Opening scene storyboards - original version

Hey guys,

   So you may have seen the odd mention of a new project floating around social media, but I thought it was high time that I made an official confirmation; yes, myself and the Triskelle Pictures team are deep in pre-production for our next short film, Songbird.

   Songbird will be a fairytale for adults (not in THAT way) and also for music lovers, set in the present day. It tells the story of young singer Jennifer, who has her treasured voice stolen by a mysterious old woman (known only as The Collector),  prompting Jennifer to get out of her comfort zone and go on a journey.

   The project came about initially because it was a story that Tommy Draper really wanted to write - and as soon as I read the script, I wanted Triskelle Pictures to create it. In particular, I thought it would be a good project for Laura Cann - who has done various marketing and runner jobs for me over the years - to work on as a producer for the first time.   

   The script appealed to me for two reasons; firstly, because Tommy had written it in a loose way that let his quirky but genius sense of humour shine through (it's not every day that a 21st century girl has to get her head around runes and harvesting mushrooms), and I'm keen to bring that tone through into the look and feel of the finished film.

Inspiration image - missliterati.com

    My second reason is, quite simply, that I wanted to opportunity to direct a fantasy film. It may come as a surprise to dome of you that I haven't directed fantasy before (Lord of the Things aside...). I'm a fantasy nerd, and a lot of my work has magic realist touches, but apart from Stop/Eject - which I produced under the Triskelle Pictures signature - I haven't really been involved in much fantasy at all.

   We set the wheels turning on Songbird last December because we were invited to Creative England for a meeting about their iShorts scheme. Out of 500 applicants, only 50 teams got to that stage, so we were very proud to have got that far. But the standard of applications was very high (as always seems to be the case) and, ultimately, we didn't get the funding.

   Regardless, we are moving forward with Songbird, and if we can secure an alternative form of funding in time, we aim to shoot in August of this year. We don't intend on crowdfunding again,.if we can avoid it - but if it does come to that, I promise to try and make it as entertaining an experience as possible, and I hope that at least a few of you will support the campaign.

My early concept sketch

  We're in the process of attaching cast and crew to the project, and there may be some entry level positions available on set for those of you who'd like the experience. So far, Triskelle Pictures' in-house animator Hayley Allen has come on board as Head of VFX (and is knee-deep in pre-viz as I write this) and there are of course people we've worked with before that we're considering again.

   I'll update you as cast and crew confirmations come in. We have some exiting ideas for the casting, and I'm looking forward to putting those plans into action.

  That's all for now. I wanted to introduce you all to Songbird, but there isn't too much to say at this stage - and anything that is going down needs to keep a little bit under wraps for now! If you'd like to find out more about the project, or if you'd even like to (kindly) support the project, we have a placeholder page on the Triskelle Pictures website with a donate button. You can also follow the Triskelle Pictures Facebook page for updates.

   I'm very much looking forward to ploughing head first into this project, and I hope you'll all come along the journey with me.

Sophie