Richard and Rachel Prendergast caused a stir with their recent acclaimed short SYLVIA, about a mother’s reflections of her experiences with her family whilst driving a well-loved car she was off to sell.
The film-making team are back with another emotional tale, a fantasy called MAXIMUS, which reflects on an old time hero at the Battle Of Agincourt and his relationship with his sister.
Film And TV Now spoke with the team about the new short.
Check out some ‘Behind The Scenes’ footage here:
FILM AND TV NOW: The film is reflective of a young girl’s desire to escape to face her fears in light of the challenges her brother goes through. Tell us about the family the film is based on.
RACHEL PRENDERGAST: The film is based on now 10 year old Max and 7 year old India Rowlandson. Max was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2010 and the whole family went on the difficult journey from diagnosis through treatment and then finally into recovery.
They are an incredibly inspirational family who have gone on to raise money and campaign for other children in Max’s position. India is a curious and bright little girl who dealt with her brother’s illness with great courage, which is why we wanted to tell the story through her eyes and her translation of the bravery of her big brother.
FTVN: The film is reminiscent of films like LORD OF THE RINGS, EXCALIBUR and the recent A MONSTER CALLS with Sigourney Weaver and Felicity Jones. What was the start off point for the script?
RP: In the summer of 2019 Director Richard received a call from Ben Pryke, head of film studies at West Suffolk College, asking if I would be interested in directing another short film.
I was persuaded to take a look as it was part of a program run by WSC designed to bring students and industry together, something the team strongly believe we need more of.
Additionally, the source material is based on a true story, which always interests Richard. Mother of two, Jodie Rowlandson, wrote a heart breaking account of her child’s illness. Whilst Jodie’s testimony sadly isn’t unique, a single line describing their consultant read; “as far as I’m concerned, he is God”. It really caught Richard’s attention and this simple line was the inception for the story of Maximus.
Brits are extremely fortunate to have access to universal health care, but every now and then something prompts a reality check for just how grateful we should be. The idea that we have buildings full of ‘gods’, possessing powers that can mean the difference between life or death, all free at the point of use, should make us stop and count our blessings.
Those ‘gods’ are of course doctors and therefore human, a fact often overlooked. Maximus tips the hat to one of the hardest professions on the planet and reminds us how extremely lucky we are to have our health service.
FTVN: Tell us about your cast.
RP: As ever casting is such an integral and key part to the process that, coupled with a unique idea of who our cast should be, meant a lot of time was spent casting for the lead roles in Maximus. Once we found the right people, it was seamless.
Solly McLeod who plays older Maximus, was found by one of our student’s Ryan whilst casting, very early on. He showed an instant understanding of the role and the anguish Max was going through represented in his self tape. Solly is a relatively new actor on the scene, but since Maximus, he has taken on great roles in Boxing Day (due 2021) and Series 6 of Outlander and will be filming for a large Sky1 series and big HBO series later this year.
Consultant Mike, was a tough character to find. We wanted to find someone who bridged the gap between the hero Doctor and fantastical Wizard seamlessly. We came across Albert Clogston who fitted the role perfectly. Alberts natural calm and patient persona was ideal and his natural rapport with actress Maisie Prendergast (India) was wonderful on screen. Albert has eyes that are so alive and full of character, he is engaging to watch as both Doctor and Wizard.
The role of India was played by Maisie Prendergast, the daughter of Director Richard and Producer Rachel. We initially had a different actress lined up for this role but due to Covid, just a week before filming the other actress was unable to join. Suddenly Maisie was cast and expected to learn a script very quickly! To say she did the role proud is an understatement. She portrayed the geeky and overly curious characteristics of India perfectly, which in hindsight are a reflection of how similar India Rowlandson and Maisie are in real life.
Finally, casting student, Jack, found Cailiean Galloway – a young Scottish actor with excellent sword fighting skills and great acting experience. Cailean also bravely agreed to shave his head for the role, donating his precious long ponytail to the Princess Trust. A true professional. Making up our Zodiac Army we were very lucky to have the support of brilliant Viking re-enactment group Wuffa. The group were choreographed by the great team at StageFight, spear headed by Raph Aldis, to bring the fight scenes to life.
ABOVE: Max Mason.
FTVN: Tell us about your production team.
RP: The production was driven forward by writer and director Richard Prendergast and producers Max Mason and myself. Having met a year previous on the festival circuit of their own short films, Max, myself and Richard united as a tight team in early February.
Previous to this, Richard and myself worked closely with the course leader, Ben Pryke, and finance lead, Andrew Wheeler of West Suffolk College, who collaborated with the production team throughout the production of Maximus. The students made up a large number of the production team from start to finish and came in to their own on set.
Due to Covid, much of the pre-production was done over Zoom, with Max later bubbling up with Richard and Rachel to get through the huge amount of logistics the shoot required, not to mention the added challenge of ensuring everything was Covid safe.
On set, the production team consisted of trusted production crew Max and myself had worked with on their previous films; DP, Paddy Bartram, 1st AD Jonny Cass, 1st AC Tom Coe and Sound Recordist Blai Escayola Bosch, all joined the crew. The team were also incredibly lucky to have Script Supervisor Charlotte Brownlee, Gaffer Simon Battensby, Prosthetic MUA Sophie Flynn and Fight Director Ralph Aldis on board along with their respective teams.
Alongside our amazing professional crew were an army of budding filmmakers and creative students from West Suffolk College, who became an integral part of the production. Ben Pryke lead the film studies students who took on producing and camera support roles, while Victoria Crichton, head of Makeup lead an incredible makeup department, with talented students producing prosthetic work to rival professionals.
Han Schofield, head of Performing Arts, supported her students as they took on the roles of our lithe beasts, choreographed again by Stage Fight. The entire process was a seamless collaboration between film industry professionals and student and course leaders. Such an ambitious film required a lot of hands and everyone involved put their all into producing the high quality results.
BELOW: Richard Prendergast, Rachel Prendergast.
FTVN: Where did you shoot and for how long?
RP: We shot the majority of the scenes in Thetford Forest, with huge thank to the Thorpe Woodland Activity Centre, who enabled us to stay and film on location, with the space to allow for Covid safety measures.
The main battle scenes were shot over 4 night shoots followed by 5 days at various locations making up the other half of the film. In particular the University of east Anglia, which gave us the perfect back drop for the hospital bench location.
FTVN: How did you raise finance for the short?
RP: Back in November 2019, the head of the film and media course at West Suffolk College, Ben Pryke contacted Richard Prendergast to write and direct the story of Maximus.
The theme was already in place, with Ben having a personal vested interest in telling the story of Max, but it required Richard to write the narrative to suit a short film structure. The idea was simple, Ben wanted to incorporate the making of a film into his student’s curriculum in order that they may benefit from real, on set and first-hand experience in the world of filmmaking.
West Suffolk College supported the project with funding from the Place 21 scheme and European Social Fund which, at it’s core, is about the convergence of skills from professionals with years of experience and students. Fresh off the back of his critically acclaimed and multi-award winning short film ‘Sylvia’, Richard stepped up to the plate and adapted the script, based on the true story of the Rowlandson family, into a short film that told the heroic story of Maximus.
FTVN: Given the ongoing challenges we face with the current global status quo, do you see the film as a beacon of hope for families?
RP: MAXIMUS definitely sheds a light on the incredible work of those in the medical profession, which after the past year, is more apparent than ever. Maximus was written before Covid19, when we already wanted to showcase the power of Doctors, Nurses and the teams of people that help to save lives, and this message is now stronger than ever.
Max’s Mum, Jodie, is quoted in the film as seeing the consultant that helped her son as “being like ‘God’” and I think many of us can relate to this. This story ends positively for Max and thankfully he is still cancer free 7 years on, which may not be the case for all families.
What this film shows is the resilience and strength young people have to fight, and not just the patient, but their siblings and parents. We can earn a lot from the positive and robust way in which children take on and tackle very difficult situations, also reflected in this past year.
FTVN: What is it about the fantasy genre that fascinates you?
RICHARD PRENDERGAST: You can be creative with the story telling, without being restricted by facts. The fantasy elements are the view of Max’s story through India’s eyes, and she has pulled this elaborate visual story together from her own imagination and of course films she has watched. It allowed me to creatively borrow elements from well known films to piece together her fantastical re-enactment of her brothers fight, which she animatedly shares with Mike.
FTVN: There are themes in the film that would certainly work in a feature version. Are there plans to expand the short into this?
RP: There are definitely enough elements to this story for it to be a feature film and there is an enthusiastic audience for new family friendly fantasy films, proven by the Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia popularity. Although it is not currently in the works, we may put this in to play later this year.
FTVN: What’s the immediate plan for the short in terms of distribution and festivals?
RP: MAXIMUS has now been submitted to film festivals worldwide and we hope to see audiences of all ages enjoying the film and following it’s adventurous journey online. You can follow the story and upcoming screening of Maximus on Facebook and Instagram
FTVN: Finally, what are you most proud of about MAXIMUS?
RP: There is a lot to be proud of with this film, but the overarching challenge was to achieve something very ambitious in the height of an unprecedented pandemic, whilst also providing an invaluable education experience for the team of students we had on board. Regardless to say, this was achieved with great results.
The online premiere of MAXIMUS will be hosted by Bird Box Films on 28th April 2021 and all proceeds will go to charities Team Max and Beads of Courage.
