The Guard

The Cast

We were blessed to have cast two immensely talented TV actors:

Kathryn O'Reilly (IMDB) is an actress as well a writer. Trained at LAMDA, known for her roles in "Call the Midwife" (BBC), "Lewis" (ITV), "Holby City" (BBC) and recently in Billie Piper's "Rare Beasts", she has appeared in critically acclaimed plays.

Damola Adelaja (IMDB) is a Nigerian born, British actor trained at RADA as well as a filmmaker in his own right with 2013's award-winning "Fela/Sidy". Known for "Eastenders" and "Berlin Station" (2017), he is attached to star in the feature "Bored".

The Crew

Shot on a Red Raven 4.5k over 3 freezing cold nights in the autumn of 2018, The Guard was made by a women-led team forging a new way of working. From award-winning Writer-Director Shona Dutta Charlton and Producer Tamara Day to our talented DOP Haridas Stewart, 1st AD Esther O'Loughlin and a peripatetic crew of Sound Recordists, Grips, Gaffers and Camera Assistants… all braved the sneaky November rain at an exceedingly remote and spooky location in the forests of the Surrey-Hampshire border.

Production Notes

Producer: Tamara Day
Tamara has enjoyed an illustrious and successful career of over 15 years delivering complex multi-million pound projects and programmes. On a quest to follow her passion, she moved over to the film industry and set up her own production company Mellow Roll Productions. She is now involved in producing meaningful short films like What Just Happened and Hear For You.

Cinematographer: Haridas Stewart
Haridas is a Cinematographer and colourist with over 10 years experience in features, short dramas, documentaries, music promos and commercial cinematography. He has a comprehensive knowledge of creative framing and a unique flair for rich colours and bold, yet naturalistic lighting. Known for his work on the BAFTA-winning White Chamber.

Composer: Barbara J Weber
Barbara received a Best Score nomination for Baggage (Macabre Faire Film Festival, 2012) and her score for Once, When I Was Dead was also nominated for Best Original Score (FANtastic Film Festival, 2015). She was awarded the Diamond Award for Best Original Score at the NYC Film Festival for Alienated in 2015.

First Assistant Director: Esther O'Loughlin
Esther is an experienced Assistant Director and Script Supervisor from New Zealand. She moved to London in 2017 and has worked on film and theatre productions in the UK and abroad. Recent projects include The Honey Makers, Ashens and the Polybius Heist, the Watts series, Nobody's Darling, The Cookie Cutters, Unattended, Warda and The Ungrateful Biped. In addition to her film work she maintains her ties to theatre and is Access Ambassador at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Hair & Makeup: Sophie Russell
Sophie is a hair and makeup artist from London. Having been a hairdresser for some time she decided to retrain at the Christine Blundell Makeup Academy for Film and Television and now combines work on feature and short films, TV shows, fashion & editorial as well as private clients.

Costume Designer: Hana Happies
A versatile artist who studied Costume Design at FIDM, Hana began her career as a fashion designer for renowned British brand Tobi Hannah. She created 1920s, 1930s, 1950s and 1960s inspired wedding attire for over 1,000 individuals and her designs for TOWIE's Amy Childs are legendary in TV costume departments.

Sound Recordists: Anton Arenko, Mark Levien
Assistants: Amanda Nield, Savannah Seymour, Hannah Beach

Our Amazing Supporters

This independent short film would not have been possible without the generosity of our crowdfunding campaign supporters. We launched our campaign on Indiegogo a month before the principal photography was due to begin. So close to the deadline, we didn’t expect to raise much. So we were overwhelmed when we raised enough to comfortably afford the best equipment a low budget production can hope for.

A huge thanks to our friends, family and to the many film lovers who found us via our Facebook page.

Behind the Scenes

Pre-production Moodboards

Moodboards created by Shona to clarify the visual approach, lighting and art direction for the film. These reference boards helped the entire crew work from a shared visual language — from the DOP's lighting setups to the production designer's choices on set.

Costume Design

The costume and look of the mysterious doppelganger was based on the classic horror film Bell, Book and Candle. These boards were created by Shona to guide Costume Designer Hana Happies in crafting the character's unsettling silhouette — something timeless and otherworldly against the naturalistic woodland setting.