As The Sun Rises

Manchester has become a firm favourite for filmmakers over the years from staples such as Russell T Davies’ Queer as Folk and Cucumber, Banana and Tofu to Mike Bullen’s wonderfully cheery comedydrama, Cold Feet, starring James Nesbitt and John Thomson.

Now, the latest programme to film in the city is the one-off drama, As The Sun Rises, which is currently raising finance through Indiegogo and will be shooting on location flying the flag for areas such as Spinningfields, the Northern Quarter and Canal Street, of course!

The drama is written by writer/director, James Postlethwaite, who was fortunate enough to start his training at a very young age. No stranger to the city, he first started out shadowing television directors on the world-famous Coronation Street cobbles and Friday night favourite The Graham Norton Show before moving on to write and direct his own material in the year of 2014.

James was out in Los Angeles working with some of the studios when he decided to write this screenplay.

He said “It was around the time where I realised who I truly was and wanted to resonate that, maybe out a sense of diminished pride, in my work.”. James actually wrote two stories but decided to merge them both

as they had strange similarities and flowed together as one, rather than two separate films which led to As The Sun Rises being born.

As The Sun Rises focuses on three characters living in Manchester – Andy, Emma and Sam. Andy is a socially awkward and emotionally unavailable gay character who has been in a relationship for nearly ten years with his partner, Emma. He’s spent the best part of a decade hiding who he is because he’s so frightened about being truthful with those he loves the most. By way of celebration for the upcoming relationship anniversary, the couple head in to town for a romantic meal and it’s here where Andy meets Sam, a gay waiter, who writes his number on the bottom of Andy’s bill. Andy contacts Sam and what starts as simple advice soon turns into a passionate affair which ends up with two in the Crown Court dock, one dead and an explosive finale which has tragic consequences for all involved.

Funding options are extremely scarce in the UK which is why writer and director James Postlethwaite and producer, Oli Braybrook are turning to crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is a way of opening up funding to the public where those interested in LGBT themes and filmmaking in general can invest different levels of funding and receive a perk/gift in return. Oli said “Funding options are so widely unavailable in the UK that most independent filmmakers have no choice but to finance the film using alternative methods.

Crowdfunding is seen by some as a difficult choice but I truly believe we’ve got a fantastic product that will truly relate not just with LGBT audiences but with so many different demographics, so I’m really hopeful we’ll hit the target”.

Canal Street readers need to follow the above link, pledge either £10 or £20 and then when checking out they need to enter 'CS-' in the name box followed by their name so we can verify it's a Canal Street subscriber and offer them the enhanced perks when the campaign ends 

The cast are certainly diverse as well with a thousand and one credits to their name including Coronation Street, EastEnders, Cucumber, Law and Order UK, Silk, Happy Valley, Cradle to Grave and Casualty - to name just a few! Local Mancunian actors Christopher Deakin who plays Sam and Christina Sedgwick who plays Alice are also joining the As The Sun Rises cast.

James and Oli are looking to take the film on a festival run in the UK and internationally. This includes the BFI Flare festival, the Manchester Film Festival and Fringe! The Queer Film Fest. After a festival run, the team will be releasing the film onto platforms such as Amazon and iTunes with a view to looking at other video-on-demand options including Netflix, Now TV and Hulu.

As The Sun Rises is currently in the pre-launch funding stage. To sign up to the project, learn more and receive a notification when funding starts, then head tothe link below.

You can also follow the team on Twitter and Facebook at @asthesunrisesuk for behind the scenes updates, giveaways and competitions.

Published: 15-Feb-2018: (4743)