DOCUMENTATION FOR INTERESTED PARTIES

For those interested in supporting this short film, we have comprehensive documentation of the creative vision and how we will achieve high production value with a modest budget. Read more about what it means to become a funding partner of Gray at the bottom of this web page.

• Creative Vision & Director’s Treatment

• Producer’s statement

• Draft production budget

• Please request the screenplay via email: contact@benchilds.co.nz

STORY TEASER

A New Zealand travel blogger gets lost while hiking in Scotland and is given refuge for the night by a werewolf.

SHORT SYNOPSIS

When New Zealand traveler DALLEN loses his prescription glasses on a solo-hike, he becomes lost on a remote Shetland Island. Battling weather and short-sightedness he hunkers down in a cave. There he is discovered by DEDRA, a strange, alluring girl with a thick Scottish accent. She and her mother RONELLE offer a bed.

And so begins a very strange evening. Dedra is repelled by the dinner and keeps running outside into the night for extended periods of time. Dallen is too self-involved to pay it much thought, and instead gives motherly Ronelle an earful about the “novel” he’s writing.

That night he is attacked by a wolf. He fights it off but then faints. Upon waking he questions if the attack ever happened. During breakfast Dedra returns to the cottage, drenched and bruised. Dallen flees, realizing Dedra is the wolf! The beast chases! At the last moment it transforms back to Dedra and she weeps in his arms. Conflicted, she transforms back into a wolf and runs to the cave. As Dallen escapes past the cave, he hears the frustrated gnawing at bones and gnashing of teeth.

On the return journey Dallen finds his lost glasses and puts them on. Slowly fragments of understanding fall into place as he reflects on the strange events.

SO HOW IS THIS A FAITH-BASED FILM?

I know right. Where is the mention of Christ? You could ask the same thing of many of George MacDonald’s fairy tales. And yet MacDonald has served as the inspiration for many of Christianity’s most influential writers: J.R.R. Tolkien, G.K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis to name a few. In fact, C.S. Lewis writes MacDonald into his masterpiece “The Great Divorce” and claims to have never written a book where he did not reference MacDonald in some way. MacDonald has also influenced the way that I see Christian cinema.

My philosophy of Christian cinema is that it is of utmost importance. We must engage with this medium. There are few things with such a powerful influence on culture as cinema. However, we must not only create films for our own Christian bubbles. This is where I often find Christian films fall flat, because they are shallow and self-congratulating. Our films should not exist to make church-goers feel “right”, we must not use them to pat ourselves on the back, our films should give the audience glimpses of the goodness of God’s kingdom. Both believers and non-believers need these glimpses. I know I do.

But what do fantasy films and fairy tales have to do with all this? Well, I believe that the fairy tale has an especially important role to play in our modern society which is becoming increasingly closed to anything that directly references faith or Christ. At the mere mention of Christ the gate is barred, the defenses are up. We must bring a Trojan horse, we must help people to experience emotionally that with which they refuse to engage intellectually. Like music, the fairy tale has the power to bypass the intellect and directly influence the emotions. As believers, our art should rekindle that deepest desire in every human heart, the desire for not only goodness itself, but the source of all goodness, our creator.

As much as I dislike explaining or providing a concrete interpretation for fairy tales (the best fairy tales should not be limited to a single interpretation), I will provide some insights here as to the meaning and thematic power of Gray. Throughout development of this story, I have seen the relationship between DEDRA and her mother RONELLE reflect the relationship between God and his lost creatures. This relationship is a picture of an unrepentant sinner, and a forgiving God who never gives up. It is not a story of gentle or easy redemption, there is a sense that DEDRA’S existence is not pleasant, and her mother RONELLE seems at first to be oppressive. In fact, the image of the wolf gnawing at bones and gnashing its teeth intentionally references imagery associated with hell. But the beauty of this depiction of hell is that this is not a hell to which an unforgiving god has forever banished his creatures. No, this is a self-imposed hell, and God is right there alongside His creature, patiently offering the choice of freedom, over and over, despite the creatures proud refusal. DEDRA is a prisoner of her own desires. She refuses the food offered to her by Ronelle, and instead allows her appetites to consume her and transform her into a blood-thirsty werewolf. But Ronelle will not give up on her daughter. This is the single lost lamb that the shepherd will not abandon.

MY CONNECTION TO THIS STORY

In the last five years I took a step back from a long-time ambition to make films. A childhood love of telling stories with a camera had evolved into an intense desire to be a director of movies, and what those movies were about no longer seemed to matter. I began to recognize the problem: I didn’t desire to make anything in particular, only to be the maker. This resulted in pastiche, an overemphasis on reputation, and an ambivalence to the work itself. It wasn’t conducive to a happy or balanced life. And so I took a big, indefinite step back to focus on other things. Since then, I have re-learned to read books without the back-of-mind question: can this be made into a film? I have learned to consume art for the pleasure of it, and not for research. I have experienced stories that have shaped and molded my life and challenged me to develop, improve, and question my motives. I have become fascinated with themes of ambition, pride, vainglory, and self-sacrifice. Most importantly, I have learned what really interests me, and what I truly care about. Thematically and stylistically I’m moving in a very different direction to my previous short films, Birdsong and Space Trash Men.

This is where I am at as I approach this project. Over time, I have allowed myself to return to my creative pursuits, but not without caution. Perhaps this is why Gray is such an important story to me. It deals with themes of ambition, vanity, addiction, and consuming appetites. It demonstrates the pain of refusing to be happy with what we have, the self-imprisonment of always needing more. It explores how even good things, when we become dependent on them, become their own kind of evil. I’ve experienced this first hand, and often ask myself the question that the character RONELLE asks DALLEN in reference to his novel: “If you had to throw that in the fire to save your own life, could you do it?” Are there things that I value so highly that I would cling to, even at my own destruction? This is why Gray matters to me, it’s a deeply revealing story, exploring questions that I find personally challenging. But this breed of fairy tale is universal. There is no single meaning, and yet there are a thousand interpretations. It’s not a metaphor for drug addiction, but some viewers may experience it through that lens. Nor is it an allegory of lust versus love, but I’ve had readers tell me it provoked them in this area. Likewise, it’s not a symbol for creative ambition, but it challenges and confronts me on that issue.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Usually short films like this would be crowd-funded with hundreds of very small donations. However, we are seeking four funding partners to invest $3250 USD each, to make up our total budget of $13,000 USD ($20,000 NZD). This way we can credit each partner with an Executive Producer credit and we will be able to have closer contact with the amazing people supporting our film. We would like to keep in touch with our backers and include them on this exciting journey. We hope that our partners will be able to support us with not just money, but also prayer and fellowship. Donations of this size are significant, so I would like to invite any interested parties to get in touch with me beforehand. My wife (and producing partner) Anna and I would love to meet you, whether that be via email, phone, or video chat.