A Father’s Day
Today is special. Apocalypse or not.Unexpectedly reunited with his daughter amongst the ruins of the world as they knew it, a father is determined to make this day special, even if they are already dead.
An unusual take on the zombie genre and featuring special make-up effects from Shaune Harrison (Star Wars, Harry Potter) the film was made possible with financial support from Creative England and the BFI.
Director Biography
Mat Johns studied Film and Television at Salford University in the UK, and for the past ten years has been writing, directing, shooting and editing short films both on a freelance and independent basis.
‘A Father’s Day’, Mat’s latest film, is his most ambitious to date and was made with the support of Creative England’s iShorts, a short film initiative delivered as part of the BFI NET.WORK.
Mat’s previous short film credits include ‘Run’, ‘Kiss’ and ‘Radio Silence’. ‘Kiss’ was selected for a number of high profile festivals including the London Short Film Festival and the New York Independent Film Festival. Mat was awarded the accolade of Best Director for ‘Kiss’ at the Newport International Film Festival (International Film Festival of Wales).
‘Run’ has been regarded as somewhat of an internet sensation. Made from start to finish in under four days at the Filmonik Kino Kabaret in Manchester, the film gained much critical and professional acclaim after it was shared by Stephen Fry with his followers on Twitter. It has since gone on to be featured on aintitcool.com’s Saturday Shorts and shortoftheweek.com as well as dozens of other websites and blogs, gaining over 100,000 views.
Mat is currently developing a slate of feature films.
Director Statement
‘A Father’s Day’ is a twist on a short genre piece exploring the duality of the living and the dead in a post-apocalyptic world. Instead of a film following a group of hardened survivors, we follow the losers.
I love the idea of telling a short, emotional story that explores a father-daughter dynamic with lead characters who are usually the punchline in films like this. Audiences will hopefully be engrossed by the bizarre but relatable nature of the story as the characters rediscover one another in the remains of their town.
Mirroring the beautiful and the macabre has always fascinated me and in my previous films I have tried to marry the two. Previous projects have all been self funded and I see this film as a way to expand my body of work and hope that with ‘A Father’s Day’ I have created a short, sharp and ambitious piece that feels cinematic and packs an emotional punch.
Making ‘A Father’s Day’ was as incredibly rewarding as it was challenging. Limited time with child actors, the need to consider special make up effects and the need to have control over and dress predominantly exterior locations were some of the challenges that we faced. There were also a lot of visual effects and audio work to be done in post-production. However, this film has the biggest and best crew that I have ever worked with, and with the likes of Shaune Harrison on board leading our special effects make-up team it has been an incredible experience. I’m grateful to have been surrounded by such talented and committed artists in all departments.
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Mat JohnsWriter, Director and EditorRun, Kiss, Radio Silence
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Chris LaneProducer
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Garth MaundersKey CastArthur & Merlin, Lead Me to the Dark
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Hazel GibsonKey Cast
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Martin GibbonsCastingFour Lions, Make It Plumb
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William MorrisComposerMaking Sparks
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Olivia DarlingtonCostume Designer
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Shaune HarrisonSpecial Effects Make-UpStar Wars, Harry Potter, Captain America
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Rhiannon CliffordArt DirectorThe Johnny and Inel Show, White Settlers
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Sam TwymanDirector of PhotographyThe Loudest Minds
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Darren McGinnVisual Effects Supervisor
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Paul AshtonExecutive ProducerWish 143, Emotional Fusebox
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Jess LovelandExecutive Producer