The Driving Seat (2016)

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One Saturday morning, a middle aged couple decide to make love in their car in the driveway to put a spark back in their marriage – only to find it has rather the opposite effect..

Key credits:

Writer/Director/Exec Producer: Phil Lowe
Producer: Alexei Slater
Cast: Janie Dee & James Lailey
Scroll down for the full film, behind the scenes’ interviews, cast and crew details and more:

Festivals:

1. The Smalls Film Festival UK, 2016
2. Houston Comedy Film Festival USA, 2016
3. Aesthetica Film Festival UK, 2016 (BAFTA Affiliated)
4. Crystal Palace Intl. Film Festival UK, 2016
5. Los Angeles Comedy Festival USA, 2016
6. In The Palace Intl. Short Film Festival BULGARIA, 2016
7. London Short Film Festival UK, 2017 (BAFTA Affiliated)
8. British Shorts, Berlin GERMANY, 2017
9. We Like Em Short Film Festival USA, 2017
10. Cleveland International Film Festival USA, 2017 (OSCAR Affiliated)
11. Garden State Film Festival USA, 2017
12. Taos Shortz Film Fest USA, 2017
13. London-Worldwide Comedy Short Film Festival UK, 2017
14. Sunderland Shorts Film Festival UK, 2017
15. Crossroads Film Festival USA, 2017
16. The European Independent Film Festival FRANCE, 2017
17. Newport Beach Film Festival USA, 2017
18. 20 Min Max International Short Film Festival GERMANY, 2017
19. One 2 Arts Festival UK, 2017
20. Hollywood Comedy Shorts Film Festival USA, 2017
21. Southside Film Festival USA, 2017
22. East End Film Festival UK, 2017
23. The Shortest Nights UK, 2017
24. Lviv International Film Festival UKRAINE, 2017
25. Macon Film Festival USA, 2017
26. Ischia Film Festival ITALY, 2017
27. Jefferson State Flixx Fest USA, 2017
28. Dinard British Film Festival FRANCE, 2017
29. Heart of Gold Film Festival AUSTRALIA, 2017
30. Way Down Film Festival USA, 2017
31. Isle of Man Film Festival UK, 2017
32. (Danny Boyle`s) Shuffle Festival UK, 2017
33. Norwich Film Festival UK, 2017
34. Liverpool Independent Film Festival UK, 2017
35. DC Shorts Film Festival USA, 2017
36. Colchester Film Festival UK, 2017
37. Pittsburgh Shorts Fest USA, 2017
38. All Lights India International Film Festival INDIA, 2017
39. Thunderdance Film Festival UK, 2017
40. Rome International Cinefest ITALY, 2017

Awards/Nominations:
  1. Smalls Festival: Nominated, Best Comedy
  2. Crystal Palace Intl. Film Festival: Nominated, Best Comedy
  3. Houston Comedy Film Festival: Nominated, Best Actress & Best Cinematography
  4. London Worldwide Comedy Short Film Fest: Bronze Medal
  5. Taos Shortz Film Fest: Honourable Mention, Comedy
  6. Sunderland Shorts Festival: Special Jury Mention & Runner up UK National Films Category
  7. We Like Em Short Film Festival: Nominated, Best Actor & WINNER ‘Shortie’ Audience Choice Award
  8. Dinard Film Festival: Shortcuts Competition WINNER Hitchcock Audience Award (Pictured below).
  9. Isle of Man Film Festival: WINNER, Best Comedy Short (Pictured below with film critic, Mark Kermode).
  10. Danny Boyle`s Shuffle Festival: Nominated, Best Short Film
  11. Thunderdance Film Festival: Runner Up
Press:

Screen Daily Article following Dinard Film Festival, 2017 
Colchester Gazette
Battle Royale With Cheese – Review
Back To The Movies – Review
Good Short Films – Review
The Movie Buff – Review
Quick Flick Critic Movie Blog – Interview
London Screenwriters Festival – Phil Lowe guest blog
DannyStack.com – Phil Lowe guest blog

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Director`s Statement:

I like to use comedy as a vehicle to get audiences to engage with themes that are more substantial than they might have expected; they think they’re watching a comedy, then on their way home find themselves having a serious discussion about what they’ve seen. This film started as a fairly light comic premise – a middle aged couple deciding to have sex in their car – but as I worked on the script, and then rehearsed with the actors, we found that we were exploring something quite fundamental about long term relationships. I hope that audiences will also find it equally funny and thought provoking.

Cast & Crew:

‘Jane’ – Janie Dee
Janie Dee is a British actress and singer. She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, Evening Standard Award and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Play, and in New York the Obie and Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer, for her performance as Jacie Triplethree in Alan Ayckbourn’s Comic Potential. She also won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for her performance as Carrie Pipperidge in Nicholas Hytner’s acclaimed production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel at the National Theatre. Most recently, Dee won the TMA Theatre Award UK for Best Performance in a Musical in 2013 for her performance as Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly at Curve, Leicester.

‘Martin’ – James Lailey
James trained at the National Youth Theatre and studied at Cambridge University. He has over  twenty years of experience on stage, screen and radio as an actor, singer and musician, including a lead role in ‘Mamma Mia’ at the Prince of Wales Theatre directed by Phyllida Lloyd and a supporting appearance in the 2014 BAFTA winning ITV drama ‘The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies’, directed by veteran filmmaker Roger Michell. He has worked many times at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, the National Theatre and in the West End as well as at the Covent Garden Opera House as part of the Helen Chadwick Song Theatre.

‘Postman’ – Dennis Herdman
Dennis trained at Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre. Theatre includes: The Secret Agent (Theatre O/The Young Vic); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Told By An Idiot/Svenska Teatr) and Around the World in 80 Days, Bleak House (New Vic)Television includes: Close Up North, The Anorak and City Central (BBC).

Writer/Director/Exec Producer – Phil Lowe
Phil Lowe has a twin background in creative arts and business psychology: after reading English at Cambridge University, he trained as an actor at The Drama Studio London, and worked as a writer and performer in young people’s theatre, and in radio comedy for the BBC and Capital Radio. He also holds an MSc in Organisational Behaviour from London University and an MA in Screenwriting from the University of the Arts London. Much of his writing work draws on his business  background: he has co-authored two business books and was co-deviser and writer of seven series of The Board Game for BBC Radio 4. He has featured as a business expert on BBC Breakfast (BBC1) Today (Radio 4) and Newstalk (Radio 5 Live) and is a leadership consultant for a number of international companies.  Phil is the author of two novels, The Mouth of the Fleet and Dying to Be Famous. He is currently developing a touring comedy theatre show and several scripts for the screen, including the dark RomCom Get Happy!  which won the Grand Prize for comedy in the New York Screenplay contest. http://www.phil-lowe.com/

Director of Photography – Adrian Brown
Adrian has ten years of experience working in the camera department of shorts, features and TV programmes. Previous projects Adrian has worked on include the feature ‘Four’ starring Sean Pertwee, Martin Compston and Kierston Wareing from 2011, ‘Montana’ from 2014 starring Michelle Fairley and Lars Mikkelsen and the 2006 film ‘The Truth’ starring Elizabeth McGovern. http://www.adrianbrown.co.uk/

Sound recorder – Alastair Widgery
Alastair has over twenty years of experience working in sound recording on shorts, features and TV programmes. Alastair worked on Turn The Slate Productions` previous film ‘Scarlet Says’. Alastair is repped by Sara Putt Associates.

Production Stills – Daniel D Moses
Dan has been working in production for over a decade as a Filmmaker and Photographer of portraits and production stills. Dan shot stills on both ’82′ and ‘Scarlet Says’ for Turn The Slate Productions. http://www.danielmoses.com/

Editor – Nick Saunders
Nick is the lead in house editor at Great Guns UK and cut both ’82′ and ‘Scarlet Says’ for Turn The Slate Productions. http://www.nicksaunders.tv/

Hair & Make-Up – Diandra Ferreira
Originally from Brazil, Diandra works in London as a hair and make-up artist for film and television and has amassed a lot of experience on set in that capacity and as an assistant director in her native Brazil. http://www.diandraferreira.com/

Script Supervisor – Magdalena Drahovska
Magdalena is a graduate of the London Film Academy`s Screenwriting Diploma course. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7590966/