Christopher at Sea
Christopher embarks on a transatlantic voyage as a passenger on a cargo ship. His hopes of finding out what lures so many men to sea set him on a journey into solitude, fantasy and obsession.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer/Animator Tom CJ Brown
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
The short began in 2015 after I heard about an artist residency onboard a cargo ship and became obsessed with this idea of a lone passenger on a merchant ship. It was a perfect setting for a romance story I’d always wanted to tell, but I felt the setting of a cargo ship was too predatory for a heteronormative love story and realized this all-male environment was the perfect place for a queer relationship. Exploring that theme and staring at the reference photos of beautiful boys I’d ripped from fashion magazines and stuck on my wall, I realized the real reason I wanted to write a gay love story was probably that I was gay… which was news to me. The love story became entwined with my own story of my own experiences as I struggled with identity, including a dramatic retelling of the communal showers in a hostel at Sundance 2007. It felt important to make this film and tell the world my story from my perspective as queer stories are underrepresented in film and particularly in animation.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Christopher’s journey gives you a peak inside the window of the disorientating world of identity and self-realisation. Whether or not you are interested in queer narratives, this is a story of the human condition of learning to understand and accept yourself. It’s also 20 minutes of sumptuous hand-drawn 2D animation that will take you on a wild ride from the commonplace into psychedelic fantasy.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The film is a very personal exploration of my queer identity journey, the loneliness and confusion followed by the will to act on desires. But I think that this film also tells a universal story of longing and self-discovery that anyone can relate to.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The first version of the script was more of a psychological thriller with Christopher & Valentin interrupting the cyclic daily routine of life on board a ship. But the film lacked an emotional thread and I worked with a script Doctor, Laure Desmazières, who eventually came on as a co-writer and helped me to realise Christopher’s coming out was a key part of the story that I was shying away from.
At the beginning of 2020, I’d been listening to Franz Schubert’s song cycle “Die Schöne Müllerin” on repeat, and after I read the libretto I realised Schubert’s Journeyman had a very similar story to Christopher. I decided to use the music in the score, cherry-picking emotional moments from the music to pair them with Christopher’s journey - giving voice to Christopher’s unspoken emotions.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
One of my favorite reactions from people is hearing how loveable Christopher is and this is in huge part to Jocelyn Si’s amazing performance as Christopher in the voice acting. I found Jocelyn, who is the lead singer of the Glaswegian Queer Punk-Pop band Walt Disco, through an interview he gave with the Gay Times and immediately knew his bashful yet boisterous demeanor would be perfect for Christopher. The animators also did an amazing job treating his performance with tenderness and melodramatic excess.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I have been surprised by non-queer audiences' reaction to the film, and how Christopher’s journey reaches beyond the boundaries of the Queer experience and resonates universally with audiences.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I’m always looking to build an audience for the film and find new people to show Christopher’s story. I hope that someone will see this film, and have the film resonate with them in some way.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
The film is right at the start of its festival journey, so I’d love more Festivals to screen it & find a home for it to be screened to wider audiences, be that Festivals, streaming services, or other screening avenues.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
This film is about discovering and living your truth, I hope it inspires people to be their authentic selves.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What happens at the end?
Would you like to add anything else?
I'd love to give a shout-out to all the incredible people who worked on this film to bring it to life, animation takes a village, and the animators, clean-up artists, designers, compositors, painters, composers, musicians, sound designers, producers, and actors all came together to make my dream a reality, and I can't thank them enough.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m developing a live-action feature to the short, Christopher at Sea, in which Christopher discovers his truth, the film will follow Christopher as he lives it.
Interview: January 2023
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Christopher at Sea
Christopher embarks on a transatlantic voyage as a passenger on a cargo ship. His hopes of finding out what lures so many men to sea set him on a journey into solitude, fantasy and obsession.
Length: 20:18
Director: Tom CJ Brown
Producer: Amanda Miller
Writer: Tom CJ Brown
About the writer, director and producer:
Tom C J Brown is a British filmmaker, known for his short films t.o.m. (2007), Teeth (2015), & Cousin John - The Arrival (2020) which collectively won 50+ awards around the world including Sundance, SXSW, Annecy, and AFI. His enthusiastic amateur Harping, rambling of English peaks, and love of Opera all feed into his work as a modern-day romanticist.
Amanda Miller is a Producer and Executive Producer, working in Animation and film.
Key cast: Jocelyn Si, Andrew Isar, Florian Desbiendres
Looking for: buyers
Twitter: @tomcjbrown
Instagram: @tomcjbrown
Hashtags used: #christopheratsea
Website: www.tomcjbrown.com
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: Miyu Productions, Psyop, Temple Carrington & Brown
Funders: CNC, ARTE
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Sundance Film Festival / Part City UT
Jan 22 - Park Avenue Theatre @ 9pm
Jan 23 - Redstone Cinemas - 2 @10pm