Richard adds, "I was furtively approached by Rob to write a short film. When Leicester was the first city in the UK put into 'special measures’…when everyone was thinking the worst had passed, it got me thinking about who profits from such a situation and the only things I could think of were Tories and Vampires”.

“Rob read the script and after some minor changes I was thrilled to hear Lady Viper being cast as Tereni. Then good friends Lon Fisher, Johnny Eve and Mike Riley as her victims - I couldn't have been more pleased."
 

Richard has Masters Degrees in English and Television Scriptwriting and his work includes 'Blow the Man Down' winner of the Gub Neal Producers Script Lab and 'Celeste' Finalist in the Wellcome Foundation Writing Science Award 

For Open Up, the brief was to keep things as COVID-friendly as possible, so casting was a case of choosing friends, bubbles and of course keeping their distance wherever possible.

The lead is played by Lady-Viper – an actress and model specialising in alternative fashion, subculture trends and creative imagery. https://linktr.ee/LadyViper

(continues after the photo...)

Lady-Viper explains, "I was directly contacted by the director/producer Rob Gurney to play the leading role in this short horror film and upon the first instance I knew undoubtedly that I wanted to be a part of it. Having worked with Rob previously on many occasions for various projects I was keen to team up with him once more and as the conversations evolved between myself and the screen writer Richard James I was eager to get on set and bring the character of Tereni to life and to meet the rest of the cast for the film”.

“The background, story, styling and characteristics of Tereni were so enticing, alluring and hauntingly beautiful, A person who I could truly envision bringing into existence and reality of the times we are in”.

She continues, “With filming underway, it was so lovely to work with all involved and it was met with many laughs shared on set, with friendships forming and memories made”.

The rest of the cast were Richard’s bandmates who had formed a bubble which allowed the crew to shoot the two scenes back to back on the same night with the outro scene being shot on a separate evening. The opening scene was shot at Caitlin McReynolds-White's house with just Lady-Viper and Rob present. Night scenes were filmed in a single evening with just Rob and Lady-Viper present during and all scenes were filmed outdoors with the exception of the opening scene.

Filming took place over four evenings during the month of October and was completed on the 26th which left a few days for post-production to meet the ideal launch date of Halloween on the 31st of October.

With the short now released, Lady-Viper ends by detailing the issues of the filmmaking limitations; “Filming during a pandemic did not come without its test in some aspects and things happening beyond our control where filming had to be pushed back to reassure safety of the cast. But it was met with much understanding from all of us involved and spirits were kept high throughout the entire duration”.

Read our review of the film by clicking here and check out Rob’s work via his Digital Mechanic Facebook page here.

https://www.midlandsmovies.com/midlands-review-of-open-up

https://www.facebook.com/Digital.Mechanic.design