Pragma
"Here we teach you to stand in love, rather than fall in it"
When Willow attends a Post Graduate Partnering Programme she faces the ultimate decision, should she trust science or her heart (or let's be honest...her burning loins)?
Interview with Lucy Heath, Eleanor Heydon, Phil Dunster
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Lucy: Well the inception of Pragma was somewhat of a tragic tale, I had recently left an 8 year long relationship at the same time as my parent's marriage came to a sticky end, so after many tear stained coffees with my friend Phil Dunster (co-star & producer) philosophising over love and romance, Esther Perel’ing one another, I became fascinated by the concept of finding an algorithm for ‘secure love’. Phil and I had always wanted to work together and so we decided to make a film on the very subject that we were obsessing over. Then I created Pragma, a ‘school for love’ that I (and virtually all of my friends) so wished existed.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Ellie: This film is for anyone who is, or ever has been single. It is a funny, warm look at how the fresh hell we’re supposed to approach dating in this day and age, with some actually quite solid relationship psychology thrown in so you should watch this film in order to have a laugh, learn something, and hopefully not feel so alone in the wild ‘love landscape’.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Phil: With the universal theme being love, in this case our desire to understand what makes sustainable love and how to give and receive it, alongside the day to day difficulties that arise when dating or even being in a long term relationship.
The personal being Willow’s own tussle between her need for Eros (the fiery love) and Pragma (the practical, sensible love).
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Lucy: Initially the script presented more like a dystopic drama with Black Mirror-esque qualities, however after bringing Ellie Heydon on board we all agreed that a more light hearted/comedic take on a somewhat futuristic notion, would create a much more original narrative.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Phil: Mostly from people saying that they wished Pragma exists irl because it would make dating much easier and they wouldn’t spend so much time on dates with people they’re not sure if they like or not…
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Ellie: What has been most interesting is how divided our audiences have been about who Willow should end up with. We thought that everybody would want her to follow her heart and leave PRAGMA with the sexy Jack, but actually about half of our audience were left pining for what could have been with Tom. This was so exciting for us as filmmakers and a real indicator of what people are looking for romantically now. We have loved being part of audiences watching the film, because everybody always wants to really talk about the world and what would happen if PRAGMA really existed, which always proves to be a fascinating conversation.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Phil: It’s really important to spread the word about Pragma because we’re so proud of our filming being Academy Award applicable after having been accepted into TriBeCa Film Festival and we want as many people to see the film either online or in person.
We also just want to talk about how proud we are of our incredible team of creators that helped bring Pragma to life. In particular our HODs that were made up of 90% female identifying creators.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
For the short film itself we would love to connect with buyers and distributors as we feel that the story has such relevance to anyone who is interested in how to love and to be loved and feel that the film would be enjoyed on short film platforms.
Ellie and Lucy are in the process of pitching the series to SVOD platforms and will be doing just that at the Creators Market at TriBeCa.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Lucy The film is meant as a love letter to my generation of ‘self improvers’, we can get wrapped up in getting things ‘right’ that we need to remind ourselves our fallibility is our greatest strength. I would love people to look at someone in a 50 year long marriage with equal curiosity as someone on their 7th divorce, who are we to say which is a more fulfilled life.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Do you think there is a superior kind of love?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Ellie and Lucy are developing PRAGMA into a Television Series. Ellie is currently in pre-production for her first TV show, lead directing new comedy for Merman and Sky. Lucy has her latest film, The Painter and The Poet, in post production and is writing her first feature film. Phil continues filming on Ted Lasso!
Interview: May 2022
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
Pragma
Length:
19:00
Writer
LUCY HEATH is a multi-award winning writer and actress. LUCY'S last film BETTER, directed by BAFTA Award Winner Michael J Ferns, won the prestigious Iris Prize, and featured on Channel 4 and Apple TV. BETTER received 5 stars from Indie Shorts. LUCY has already received a Best Screenwriter nomination for PRAGMA (Executively Produced by Jason Sudeikis) and she is currently in development as lead writer on PRAGMA the series with Monumental Television.
Director
ELLIE HEYDON is a Director/Creator and has been directing for screen since 2017. Her latest short, PRAGMA, was Executively Produced by Emmy Winner Jason Sudeikis. PRAGMA premiered at Underwire Festival in the UK, and will make it's International premiere at TriBeCa in June 2022, and serves as a proof of concept for a TV series that she is now co-developing with Monumental Television.
ELLIE is currently in pre-production for her first TV Directing role, working as Lead Director for Merman and Sky, on a brand new Comedy.
Producer
PRAGMA was PHIL DUNSTER's producing debut, his previous acting work includes Ted Lasso, The Devil's Hour, Strike Back, All Is True and Catastrophe. FAY MOHAMED 's producing credits include, Foundation, Ted Lasso, Top Boy and Hanna.
Key cast:
Lucy Heath (Willow), Phil Dunster (Jack) Nick Mohammed (Professor Frances), Amanda Hale (Professor Josephs), Sid Sagar (Tom), James Dryden (Taylor), Ryan Hutton (Fred), Karl Queensborough (Juanjo), Sky Lang (Oscar), Orla O'Sullivan (Brooke)
Looking for:
sales agents, distributors, journalists, film festival directors
Twitter:
Instagram:
https://instagram.com/pragmashortfilm
More info:
silverroseprod.com
Screens:
TRIBECA film festival/New York - 10th & 15th of June.