Fumes - a short film

FUMES - a Short Film

 Massive thanks to everyone who's contributed so far! We're not going to reach our goal of $20K, but that's OK! We've raised over 10% of the budget and that's very valuable. As much as anything it's showed me that you believe in the project and you believe in me and the team. That's worth more than money! We are making this film - there's about 1 week until we shoot. We're all set - it's gonna be great! Any last-minute contributions would be fantastic. Thanks again. T

>>>    UPDATE!!!    <<< 

24/09/2012 Adam Rojko to play Jared - principal FUMES cast complete!

See CAST section for details.

>>>    UPDATE!!!    <<< 

19/09/2012 Elisa Wald-Lasowski to play Phoebe!

See CAST section for details.

FUMES - a Short Film

The world is in the grip of a major oil crisis.

The UK’s fuel supply has run out and the country is coming apart at the seams...

Jared must escape London to reach his wife and child. He siphons the petrol from his own car to prevent it from being stolen, but just as he is getting ready to leave, there is a knock at the door...

It’s an old friend of Jared’s: a volatile character named Sy... and Sy needs a ride...

FUMES is a tense, short thriller. The events in the film take place in the space of one day as Sy and Jared travel out of the city in Jared’s car.

FUMES is an exciting story. It also asks serious questions about society and the sustainability of our way of life. We have serious aspirations for this film. We want to make nothing less than a small masterpiece of cinema. 

   “Well written with a strong, engaging and threatening undercurrent of foreboding… if [the story's] purpose is to expose a chink of light against a system hanging over the precipice of its energy supply it does it remarkably well ” - film editor and writer Neil Farrell (SLEUTH, RAVENOUS, Kenneth Branagh’s HAMLET, )

The Writer / Director / Producer - Tom Werber

Hi! My name is Tom Werber. I am a director of film, music videos, commercials and animation. My work has shown and won awards at festivals and exhibitions around the world, including showing at the Louvre Gallery in Paris, Encounters festival, BUG and Big Screens in the UK, Fest Anca, Ottowa International Animation Festial, Anima, and featuring in international magazines such as Aesthetica, IdN and Stash. 

You can view some of my work here: www.tomwerber.com

I am represented as a director by Annex Films. 

I have also worked as an editor in the film industry for more than 7 years. I have cut many short films and one feature: BOOKED OUT (Bryan O’Neil 2010). I have worked on many more including SIMON MAGUS (Ben Hopkins 1998), COCKNEYS VS ZOMBIES (Matthias Hoene, 2012) and HAMMER OF THE GODS (dir. Farren Blackburn, due for release in 2013).

FUMES is my latest foray into the world of film, and it’s going to be intense...

I hope you will come along with us on this journey!

My Inspiration For The Film

I was inspired to write the script for FUMES by several things that I saw and experienced between 2009 and now.

In 2009, there was a petrol crisis in the UK: Pumps were running dry, and I suddenly realised how critical oil is to the functioning of our world. Without it, everything became very difficult: even food was disappearing from the shelves.

It struck me that we are only ever a short distance away from chaos. 

This was underscored by the London riots of 2011, when that chaos again rose to the surface.

What I explore in FUMES is the difference between what we think we know and what is revealed to be true. 

When the world changes around you, do concepts such as ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ apply in the same way?

In the story, Jared comes face to face with these realities: in the changed world around him; in the attitude and behaviour of his friend Sy; and within himself.

The Relevance Of This Story

Fossil fuels will not last forever. Some say we are already past the peak, with grim visions of what the future holds in store; others say we have many years left. One thing is sure: the world is demanding more all the time, relying on oil not only for fuel, but also for plastics... If the supply to any country were stopped, the results would be devastating.

FUMES deals with the issue of over-reliance on oil and also relates this, on the characters' personal level, to an over-reliance on comfortable illusions. 

Many of us in the Western World are lucky enough to live quite comfortable lives, and for some of us that means living in a kind of protected bubble: never being tested. We only encounter the hard realities of life through film and television, therefore we never really encounter them at all. The result is complacency, a lack of engagement with reality.

When a crisis happens we sometimes react very differently to how we might expect.

FUMES is a film about ‘disillusionment’, in the literal sense of the loss of illusions. We aim to go beyond what is normally done with film, creating a very hard-hitting story that stays with the viewer long after they have left the cinema.

Our Visions For The Film 

We have a very powerful and unique vision of what this film will look like.

Locations around London will show an eery, empty city. The atmosphere we want to create is 'uncanny': the-same-but-different: we are showing a city that is no longer a city: a place that is teetering on the tipping point between order and chaos: the known and the unknown. 

Outside the city, the countryside seems  relatively unchanged, but is strangely deserted, with occasional shocking reminders of the situation: abandoned cars; an abandoned ambulance; a family walking by the roadside carrying all their belongings. 

For inspiration we are looking to the work of European directors such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman and Krzysztof Kieślowski.  Also the work of Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch.

The film will have a dreamlike, surreal quality. I believe this will have the effect of making what is happening seem more real.  In real life when something truly extraordinary happens, we tend to feel that it is 'like a dream' or 'like a film'.

Our Plans For the Film

Once it is shot and edited, we will enter FUMES in major short film festivals including: Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Clermont-Ferrand, Toronto, Berlin and SXSW. 

The Cast of FUMES

JARED - Adam Rojko

We are proud to introduce Adam Rojko, who will play Jared.

Adam is a graduate of Central School of Speech and Drama. Adam has appeared in numerous short films including I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE and A BEAUTIFUL DEATH. Adam is represented by theatrical agents Sharkey and Trigg.

SY - Aaron Taylor

We are delighted to have cast Aaron Taylor, a rising star of the British screen, in the role of Sy. 

Aaron is the perfect choice to play Sy: He an exciting actor, able to convey an intensity - a sense of violence on a hair-trigger - Calm, friendly, but with the feeling that he may switch in a fraction of a second... 

Aaron has appeared in Films, Television and Theatre in the UK, and is represented by  Curtis Brown, one of the world’s leading talent agencies.

Reviews for SOME DOGS BITE, starring Aaron Taylor:

"Brilliantly performed road movie [which] boasts stunning performances from Aaron Taylor [and] Thomas Brodie-Sangster.” - David Chater - The Times.

“Aaron Taylor Is Outstanding!” - Radio Times.

"Half-brother H, a simmering cauldron of thwarted ambitions and broken promises, rivetingly played by Aaron Taylor..." - Gabriel Tate Time Out.

 Aaron Taylor IMDB

PHOEBE - Elisa Wald-Lasowski 

We very excited to announce that Phoebe will be played by actress Elisa Wald-Lasowski.

Born in the Netherlands to French parents, Elisa has various origins and grew up in several countries.

Based in London, where she trained, she began acting by working on a diversity of theatre plays. She made her film debut with a small part in David Cronenberg’s EASTERN PROMISES, followed by the part of Maria in Shane Meadows' SOMERS TOWN. Recent credits include GAME OF THRONES and BBC's LINE OF DUTY. She stars in the independent film UNFRIEND, British film THE COMEDIAN - in competition at next month’s 56^th BFI London film festival , and ANA media’s western thriller THE TIMBER – all to be released in 2013. She is currently training for the part of a dancer in French short film LES VOIX VOLÉES.

Elisa is a wonderful actress with an enigmatic quality and a natural fragility.

"one of the most talented, up-and-coming actresses in Europe." 

Producer Scott Einbinder (KILLER JOE)

Elisa Wald-Lasowski IMDB

The FUMES Production Team

We are hugely proud of the team we have assembled so far:

Co-Producer - Stephen Smith

Always calm and collected, even under extreme pressure, Steve understands the process of filmmaking intimately; from every side of the camera; having been an actor, director, cameraman and assistant director himself.  

Stephen has produced two films: WINTER SUN, starring Scarlett Johnson (ADULTHOOD, PRAMFACE) and David Ajala (THE DARK KNIGHT) as well as THE DREAMER, starring Sharlit Deyzac, which he also directed and edited. Both films were well received at a number of film festivals.

Cinematographer - Sarah Cunningham

Sarah has an understanding; perhaps gained in her training at La Fémis -France’s national film school; that goes far beyond the mechanics and even the aesthetics of Cinematography into the ‘morality’ of the lens: the philosophy of film. She is an incredibly valuable member of the team. 

Sarah has worked on a broad range of film projects, shooting on everything from 35mm film to the Canon 5D and always investing the footage with her own subtle understanding of story and image. Her graduation film, BIRDS GET VERTIGO TOO won several awards including Best Short Documentary at the French national short film awards, the Lutins. Her second documentary, LIKE LOVE, has been equally fêted and has travelled to many international festivals. 

Production Designer - Matthew Clark

Matthew describes himself as a ‘Film design nerd and Full-time DeLorean evangelist.‘

Matthew has a great talent at creating and crafting the physical world of a film. He is also full of ideas for how to use those physical elements to tell the story.

Matthew studied studied Art Direction with Film Design under Terry Ackland-Snow at Pinewood Studios. He has designed UK broadcast commercials and several independent films - both the short and microbudget feature level - and a number of television pilots, including OUTPOST 2: BLACK SUN, FRANKIE BOYLE’S TRAMADOL NIGHTS and BUNNY & THE BULL.

Composer - EVIL ALIEN

Hailing from Birmingham, Evil Alien are emerging as one of the most exciting new bands to watch in the UK. 

 Their dark and eerie electronica sits perfectly with the tone of this film, and their music conveys the sense of tension and dark emotional turmoil that will underscore the film’s most intense sequences.

 You can hear Evil Alien’s music in the Teaser Trailer and the Presentation video above.

What We Need

We’re incredibly excited about this project

but we can’t do it without you!

The script is written, the core crew is assembled and we are in the middle of the casting process, storyboarding the film and finding our locations. All we need now is YOU to help us raise funds to shoot the film. Easy!

The Budget

We are asking for a total of $20,000 (£12,593 GBP at the time of writing). Because we all believe in this project, most of us are working for nothing, or for a fraction of what we would normally earn. The money we raise will be used to pay for:

• The equipment we need (camera etc.)
• The locations we will be filming in
• Food for our cast and crew
• Our transportation to and from locations
• Our accommodation
• Props and scenery
• Insurance and legal costs

We appreciate any donations,

no matter how small. If you can’t contribute financially you can still help us by spreading the word – please share our campaign, talk about us, tweet about us, blog about us and ‘like’ our Facebook page to keep up to date with what we’re doing.

So What Do You Get?

We have some really exciting perks

These range from a shout out on our Facebook page, original artwork by the director, the chance to be an extra and appear in the film, all the way to an Executive Producer credit. so you’ll get to see your name on the big screen. Check on the right of this page to see what’s on offer.

Regular updates

We are going to be updating this page throughout the production process, so keep an eye out for production stills teasers, clips, interviews with cast and crew, and funding progress updates.

Final Note

Why do we need to fund this way?

Although we're all professionals with experience in our respective fields, we’re all still making a name for ourselves. It’s never easy to fund a short film, because they are not made for profit. We are all going on to bigger things... Right now we need the opportunity to show what we can do!

We believe in independent filmmaking,

and the creative freedom it allows. Through crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo you too can help that independent spirit and creativity to flourish!

Filmmaking is a collaborative process and we want you on board!

Thank you!

- the FUMES production team.