READERSVOICE.COM: What is the premise of the Sam and Doug script?

BRENDAN CLEAVES: Sam and Doug is about a mother who, during a viral zombie outbreak, has to recruit her neighbour to help her save her new born baby. I wanted to write something that wasn’t a comedy: to write a solid thriller. The script is set in two time lines: the past and the present. Both have the same story structure. The ‘past’ ends at the same point in time as where the ‘present’ story starts.

RV: How did you meet actor-comedians John Bradley and Seann Walsh, and all the crew for Roger: the gaffers, driver, VFX artists etc?

BC: We just sent John and Seann the script and they liked it. Simple as that really. I think it was good timing as they both had a few weeks off from other projects. It’s just come together real nice. We were very lucky to have them both abroad. The crew were people who I’ve worked with on music promos and commercials.

RV: Which short film festivals have you attended?

BC: I have been to loads with Roger. I just got back from The Independent Days festival in Germany where John won the best actor award.

RV: Is the online presence, on Vimeo for eg., taking over the importance of festivals or will they always be important?

BC: I’m not really sure. I think festivals are good to get into. Ideally you want the best of both worlds. Roger is now streaming online after doing 18 months of festivals.

RV: What are some of your plans?

BC: Next we are getting the Roger feature script out there. It’s currently doing the rounds at some of the big comps which hopefully should get it some attention.

– See rogershortfilm.com. Roger can be viewed on Vimeo.
– copyright Simon Sandall