A Film and Theatre project Sheffield, United Kingdom
TRiGGA is one young girl’s imaginative way of overcoming bullying with the help of her horse.
TRiGGA
THE PROJECT
TRiGGA is a short film inspired by true events and follows a young girl, Mae, who confronts the bullies with the help of her horse. As physical assaults become a daily reality, Mae retreats into a silent world and stops talking. Even her comedian father fails to get a laugh from her. Mae escapes the harsh reality of the bullies by galloping out at twilight on her trusty steed, Trigga. Everyone thinks Mae’s horse is a figment of her imagination until she takes Trigga into school. From that day, the bullying stops.
MEET THE TEAM
Meloni Poole is a visionary director with a vibrant visual aesthetic at the heart of all her films. She has made films for Film4, the Film Council, the British Film Institute and The Arts Council of England that have been screened at international film festivals and broadcast on TV. Meloni has wanted to make TRiGGA for some time and is thrilled to have Creative England supporting the project.
Deborah Aston has delivered a slate of successful award-winning short films and was nominated for a Royal Television Society award for feature documentary MADE IN BIRMINGHAM. In her early teens, Deborah spent time living in Africa where her passion for animals grew and she decided she wanted to make films about animals, conservation and the environment.
Meloni and Deborah have a shared passion for art, punk music and horses having spent their childhood around stables working with horses. They have a strong working relationship built on a shared vision of the kind of stories they want to tell. They are interested in making films that stay with you long after you leave the cinema and that have a strong directorial voice and distinct style.
Our work has been transmitted around the globe, seen at international film festivals and broadcast on TV. But now, we’re ready for the next stage in our careers and TRiGGA, an intelligent and intensely poetic drama, will be the calling card for our debut feature film which is about the healing relationship between horses and young carers.
WHY THIS PROJECT
TRiGGA is an inspirational story that takes a stance against bullying. With girl to girl cruelty escalating, girls are now bigger bullies than boys. TRiGGA has an empowering central character in Mae and, like a modern-day western, is told with humour and audacity. The film shows how with true grit it’s possible to overcome bullying and find new friends. TRiGGA is an uplifting film that encourages young girls to find creative solutions to difficult situations and be confident and brave.
WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE
TRiGGA is for every young child, in every school who has been a victim of bullying. We want them to know that they don’t have to suffer in silence but can find a creative way of dealing with bullying. Whether it’s through animals, sports, singing, dancing or making art, it’s about finding a way to be yourself. TRiGGA is one story of one young girl’s resourcefulness in stopping bullying. We want the film to leave a legacy through our outreach work and hope to raise issues around bullying in schools to help young people.
We want to make a film that will go on to play at film festivals around the world. We want to push the film to big audience and industry respected film festivals such as Clermont Ferrand, Venice Biennale, Berlinale, Tribeca and Tampere, giving us international exposure to make our feature film.
WHY WE NEED CROWDFUNDING?
We have been selected to make TRiGGA through Creative England’s iShorts scheme. Together with the BFI NET.WORK, they will fund half of the production costs along with a framework of industry support, which is invaluable. TRiGGA is an ambitious and inspiring story that tackles the issue of bullying in an imaginative way. For the film to be made to the standards that the script deserves; we need a professional and creative crew around us, quality camera and lighting equipment for our Director of Photography, a heart stopping performance from our young lead actress, some fantastic locations and production design with set dressing and props.
We will be working with animals and children – this comes with additional costs. The young actress will need additional tuition with the horse, a horse handler and trainer, a chaperone and rehearsal time to create a moving performance that will draw an audience into the story world.
REWARDS: WHAT DO YOU GET
The rewards we offer would be cost effective and allow us to put maximum funds generated onto the screen. We’ve got a stack of rewards, ranging from bespoke original artwork and designed tote bags by our director Meloni; copies of the finished film; and guest of honour invites to our cast and crew screening. Along with a massive amount of good karma for supporting the film.
We can add rewards as the campaign progresses so if there’s anything you think you’d like in return, get in touch and we’ll see if we can make it work!
Please SPREAD THE WORD and tell all your friends and family about TRiGGA.
You can follow our latest updates at www.facebook.com/TRIGGAshortfilm and have a peek at our behind the scenes photos at www.instagram.com/triggafilm
If you’d like to get in touch directly please email us through our Facebook page.
THANKS FOR READING AND SUPPORTING OUR PROJECT