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Production Notes

When there’s no one else to blame.

HOLLOWA Rob Sorrenti Film

INTRODUCTON

Award winning director Rob Sorrenti’s latest short film

Hollow is a sensitive observation about the nature of

addiction. Exploring the idea that love isn’t always enough

when it comes to getting clean and the inevitable sacrifice

that comes with sobriety.

Hollow was written by Lee Thomas and Rob Sorrenti. The

film was produced by Roopesh Parekh and Rob Sorrenti

and is a Future Time Pictures Production.

The film stars Morven Christie (The Sinking of the Laconia,

Lost in Austin, Oliver Twist), Martin McCann (The Pacific,

Killing Bono, Clash of the Titans) Haydn Gwynne (Sherlock,

Rome, Drop The Dead Donkey) and Nonso Anozie (Conan,

Brighton Rock, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang).

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SYNOPSIS

Hollow is a sensitive observation about the nature of

addiction. Exploring the idea that love isn¹t always

enough when it comes to getting clean and the

inevitable sacrifices of sobriety.

Alice and Marcus are young and in love. They keep

trying and failing to get over their heroin addiction

until they find out Alice is pregnant. Now it¹s not just

about getting clean, it¹s about staying clean. But can

they do it?

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TREATMENT

Alice and Marcus are a young couple, very much in love but

blighted by their heroin addiction. Alice is particularly desperate to

get clean, Marcus less so, and they are caught in a heartbreaking

cycle of trying to get clean, but not being able to stay clean.

Alice discovers she is pregnant. She and Marcus believe their love

for the baby is the spur they need to maintain their sobriety. They

ask social services if they can get onto a detox program. To their

frustration, the authorities tell them they should consider other

options, such as relocating and separating; that there are other

factors to consider apart from the physical ramifications. Alice

defiantly spurns their suggestions, telling them that they will do it

their own way - together, as a family-in-waiting.

Going cold turkey is torturous, but with the help of their neighbour

Angelo and their resolve to fight for their unborn child, they manage

to pull themselves through. They clean up their flat, recover their

health and vitality; Marcus even finds a job. They believe that they

have weathered the storm.

However, cracks in their new life soon start to appear. Marcus

comes home legless, after a night out with the boys from work. A

distinctly unimpressed Alice is placated by his gift; a top-of-the-range

buggy. Parading with the pram helps her enjoy the feeling of being a

mum-to-be, while Marcus revels in the feeling of being drunk.

Alice’s quiet confidence in her ability to stay sober becomes a

cocksure arrogance. She revisits the social workers to show them

that she has recovered by herself. She gets the plaudits she is after

but also a stinging appraisal; she is warned that if she relapses the

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baby may be taken into care. In her anger and pride, she

declares that she will never relapse.

Alice returns home to find Marcus having succumbed to the

needle again. A devastated Alice immediately throws him out of

the flat. He tries to grab his heroin but she ejects him before he

can get it.

Alice, in turmoil, has a drink. One drink leads to another, and

then another. Alice passes out and wakes up in the middle of

the night - alone, wracked and befogged. She turns to the old,

familiar solace, and shoots up with the gear Marcus left behind.

When Alice wakes she is full of self-loathing and horrified at

the potential harm she has inflicted on the unborn child. Alice

realises for the first time that her demons are bigger than her and

will floor her every time. She goes back to the social workers and

reveals that she wants to give the baby up for adoption.

She tells the social workers that after she gives birth she doesn’t

want to hold the baby for fear she won’t let go. They uphold her

request and after giving birth Alice kisses her baby once before it

is taken away.

Afterwards, a heroin-addled Marcus pleads his love for Alice. She

tells him that she loves him too but makes it obvious that this is the

end of their relationship.

Later, Marcus gives the buggy he bought to Angelo. A confused

Angelo offers him money for it; Marcus shakes his head and

pleads: ‘Don’t let me sell it.’ We see Marcus entering his flat with

another drug dealer just before Alice nervously enters a Narcotics

Anonymous meeting.

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Director. Writer. Producer – ROB SORRENTI

After graduating from the Ravensbourne School of Professional

Broadcasting in 2000 (the youngest student ever to do so), Rob

founded Future Time Pictures and produced, directed and edited

The Real Billy Eliot Diaries. It was broadcast on ITV and attracted an

audience of 1.75 million.

Short-listed for C4’s Young Talent Award for Best Director (2008) he

has worked on behind the scene featurettes for a range of features

including Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, Pride & Prejudice,

United 93, Bourne Ultimatum, Atonement, Rock N Rolla, Green

Zone and most recently 47Ronan. He has also worked as the digital

content director on the hit BBC comedies Rev and Him and Her.

Rob’s short film debut, Wednesday, was exec produced by Stephen

Daldry and to date has screened at 50 Film Festivals around the

world. Among the many awards it has won are Best Short Film,

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (2007); 1st Jury Prize,

Short Cuts Film Festival, Cologne (2007)and Best International Short,

Garden State Film Festival (2007). In 2010 Wednesday was sold to

i-Tunes and released worldwide.

Rob recently completed a new short, Hollow, which stars Morven

Christie, Martin McCann, Haydn Gwynne and Nonso Anozie. The

film has just started the festival circuit.

Rob is now working on his first feature with Elton John & David

Furnish’s Rocket Pictures.

Agent: Jessica Cooper at Curtis Brown E: JessicaC@CurtisBrown.co.uk

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Directors Statement - Hollow

In 2007 I was deeply affected by an article about babies born with heroin

addiction. The article described the heart-breaking ordeal these babies suffer.

The shock and distress I felt after reading the piece led me to investigate this

tragic subject matter further.

As my awareness of the circumstances surrounding heroin addiction grew I was

touched by the journeys that the mothers themselves undertake.

Amongst the horror stories I found light. Many women would stop using when

finding out they were pregnant. Against the odds their maternal instinct kicked

in and their love for their unborn child gave them the will to get clean. These

selfless acts showed me that even in the darkest of times hope could still exist.

These fantastically powerful themes of hope and change; choosing life

through self-awareness resonated deeply within me. Around that same time

I was developing Hollow, two close friends were going through NA and AA

respectively. It was truly beautiful to watch people I cared about completely

transform their lives.

Then, as if the film was waiting for its heart: the story about a heroin-addicted

mother, fused with my friends internal battle with addiction and Hollow became a

film about the nature of addiction.

Hollow isn¹t just a film about two young people taking drugs; it¹s about love not

being enough when it comes to getting clean and the inevitable sacrifice that comes

with sobriety.

Ultimately, the film is about hope and re-awakening. And it is my hope that our

audience comes away believing it is possible for people who have lived in the dark

to turn their lives around.

Rob Sorrenti November 2010

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Writer – LEE THOMAS

In 2006, Lee Thomas wrote, directed and edited the promo which was

integral to Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment winning the multi-million

pound contract to represent the commercial interests of the England

national football team.

He has several feature film projects at various stages of development

with a number of production companies, including two scripts with

Scala Productions. Lee recently completed The Rough, a contemporary

coming-of-age tale in the vain of Rebel Without A Cause, in conjunction

with [Scala Productions Head of Production] Ian Prior.

Other notable screenwriting achievements include an award from the

British Short Film Scriptwriting Competition for the script Bluebottle

Waltz and a commission from the Paramount Comedy Channel.

This year he has worked on Extraodinary Feats Of The Seventh Period,

which was directed by William Bridges and funded by Screen South and

the Film Council. Lee has also recently collaborated with award-winning

filmmaker Rob Sorrenti (Wednesday) on the short film Hollow.

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Producer - ROOPESH PAREKH

Roopesh gained international recognition when Chicken Tikka

Masala, the indie film which he wrote and co-produced was

nominated for a British Independent Film award in 2005. In

2006, Roopesh was named Producer of the Year by Triangle

Media Group, a particular honour, as other stellar nominees

included: Pratibha Parmer and M Night Shyamalan. In 2008, the

National Board of Review of Motion Pictures named Roopesh

the Best Producer for Out There (2008).

Recently, Roopesh has just finished producing Mad Hot

Birmingham, the sequel to New Line Cinema’s Mad Hot

Ballroom, based on Paramount Pictures bio-epic Take The Lead.

He also recently finished line-producing a Spanish feature film

Solito. Over the span of his career, Roopesh has produced 34

short films, 7 feature films and is accredited as one of the top

50 achievers in the UK in Global Mainstream Media. Roopesh is

currently attached as the line producer of BAFTA award-winning

director Stuart Urban and producer Alan Jay’s (founder of IMDB)

musical comedy Babes of Baghdad, distributed by Lionsgate.

Filming begins later this year.

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Editor - LEO KING

Leo has been editing for the last 8 years. In that time he has

won various awards, including Best Young Editor in Broadcast

Magazine’s B+ Young Talent awards and Best Breakthrough Editor

in Boards magazine’s, First Boards awards. He was also featured in

the industry magazine Campaign as a Rising Star of Post.

Leo has worked on a wide variety of commercials, music videos

and short films. Recently he worked on the World Cup campaign

for Ladbrokes, the Nina Ricci Global re-brand, the Doctor Who? 3d

launch commercial, Robbie Williams’ Bodies comeback music video

and the Robbie Williams / Gary Barlow Shame video.

Director of Photography – DAVID RAEDEKER

David Raedeker has been working as a lighting cameraman

for over 8 years. He has shot numerous shorts, music videos,

documentaries, commercials, two TV dramas and several features.

He has filmed bands such as the Magic Numbers, David Gray, and

Madonna and has shot campaigns for Nike, RAF, Marks & Spencer

and Peugeot. Recent features include Elvis Pelvis, which earned

a nomination for best film at Berlin 2007, and Ali in Wonderland,

produced by Ben Kingsley.

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Composer – CHRISTOPHER SLASKI

Christopher, who works from his studios in London, Madrid and Paris, is gaining critical acclaim for his work as a film composer and orchestra arranger.

Part of his education was spent in Italy, where he studied with Ennio Morricone. He received his musical training at Cambridge University and the

Royal Academy of Music, and has since created sophisticated scores and arrangements for a growing roster of directors, artists, computer games and

corporate advertising campaigns.

Feature film scores include Kevin Spacey’s Beyond The Sea, the art-house film The Pianotuner Of Earthquakes, directed by the Quay Brothers and

produced by Terry Gilliam, the Spanish romantic-comedy Semen Una Historia de Amor and the thriller Proyecto Dos. His most recent feature film was

La Vergüenza.

Recently, Christopher was awarded one of the most prestigious prizes in film music: Best Young European Film Composer at the World Soundtrack Awards 2009.

Casting Director – DAN HUBBARD

Dan is one of the UK’s leading casting

directors and has cast such films as United

93, King Kong, Tomb Raider, Bourne

Supremacy, Bourne Ultimatum, The Damned

United, Harry Brown and Green Zone.

Dan is currently working on a raft of

television and film projects including Peter

Jackson’s The Hobbit.

Stills Photographer – JONATHAN OLLEY

Jonathan Olley is a documentary photographer based in the UK. Olley’s work has been

widely exhibited and collected, most notably by the Imperial War Museum-London, the ICA

(Institute of Contemporary Art)-London, Museo Carrillo Gil-Mexico City, Tate; (Britain &

Modern)-London and SFMoMA-San Francisco.

He is the winner of two first prizes at the World Press Photo Awards, a Bronze and Silver

Association of Photographers Document Award and the Observer newspaper’s David Hodge

Memorial Young Photojournalist of the Year Award.

Jonathan has also worked as stills photographer on the Paul Greengrass films, United 93

and Green Zone. His most recent film-work was on Kathryn Bigelow’s OSCAR wining film,

The Hurt Locker.

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Alice - MORVEN CHRISTIE

Morven grew up in Glasgow, before moving to London to study acting at the Drama Centre. She

graduated in 2003 and has worked on stage, film and television drama since.

A year after playing Juliet and Hero for the Royal Shakespeare Company in their Complete Works

season, Morven was cast in Sam Mendes’ first Bridge Project theatre company, alongside Rebecca

Hall and Ethan Hawke. That same year she played Anya in Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of The

Cherry Orchard, and Perdita in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, which played in repertory at The

Old Vic in London, after a sell out run at Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, and a world tour.

Morven’s television and film credits include Jane Bennett in ITV / Masterpiece miniseries Lost in

Austen - a modern twist on Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, and Rose in the BBC’s Oliver Twist. She

played the leading role in ITV series Monday Monday and a supporting role in The Young Victoria.

She recently completed Alan Bleasdale’s The Sinking of The Laconia in South Africa alongside Franka

Potente, Brian Cox and Lindsay Duncan, which will be aired on the BBC towards the end of 2010.

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Marcus - MARTIN MCCANN

Lord Richard Attenborough cast Martin in his film Closing the Ring after seeing him play Alex in a

stage production of A Clockwork Orange. Lord Attenborough went on to recommend Martin to

Stephen Spielberg for the HBO miniseries The Pacific. Spielberg later cast Martin as RV Burgin in

the show.

In 2010 Martin was cast to play Bono in the U2 film Killing Bono. His other film credits include Clash

of the Titans, Occi Versus The World and Closing the Ring. TV credits include the HBO mini series

The Pacific and My Boy Jack.

Martin is also the patron of the local charity YouthAction NI’s Rainbow Factory, a cross-community

drama troop for Catholic and Protestant children in Northern Ireland.

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Child Welfare Officer - HAYDN GWYNNE

Haydn is best known for her lead roles in Peak Practice, Mersey Beat and Drop The Dead Donkey, winning three Royal

Television Society Awards for Best Actress, and nominations for a British Comedy Award and a BAFTA. Haydn also

played Calpurnia in HBO’s ROME and was most recently seen in the final film of the BBC’s new hit series Sherlock.

Haydn has made numerous appearances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Helena in A Midsummer

Night’s Dream, Olivia in Twelfth Night and Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, alongside Judi Dench &

Simon Callow.

Haydn recently returned from Broadway, where she recreated her role as the dance teacher, from the original London

production of Billy Elliot The Musical. In that role, she won Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards

for Best Actress in a musical, as well as nominations for an Olivier and a Tony Award.

She is currently shooting alongside Minnie Driver, in Hunky Dory, a film set in a Swansea High School in the long, hot

summer of 1976.

Angelo - NONSO ANOZIE

Since graduating from Central School of Speech and Drama, London in 2002, Nonso has had a successful and varied

acting career. He was the winner of the 2004 Magnolia Stage Performance Award in China and was the first non-

Chinese to be honoured with the prize of best actor. In the summer of 2002 he became the youngest person in history

to play William Shakespeare’s King Lear professionally. He was also awarded the Ian Charleson Award in 2005 for his

performance as William Shakespeare’s Othello in a production by Cheek by Jowl Theatre Company.

He played a small role as Think Tank in Guy Ritchie’s film Rock n Rolla. In 2009, Anozie appeared in the supporting

cast of the BBC TV three-part 2003 Iraq War drama, Occupation, where he played a US Marine turned private

military contractor. He also played Sergeant Jeffreys in the 2010 film Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, Dallow in the

2010 remake of Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock and Artus in Conan, directed by Marcus Nispel, which is currently in

Post Production.

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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION COMPANY

Future Time Pictures is a London-based production company specialising

in behind-the-scene featurettes for major motion pictures. Our films

include Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Pride & Prejudice, United 93,

Bourne Ultimatum, Atonement, Rock N Roller and most recently

Green Zone.

We also produce on line video content and EPK’s for hit West End

shows including Billy Elliot the musical, Hairspray the musical and Sister

Act the musical.

Our most recent behind-the-scenes work was for the critically acclaimed

BBC2 sitcom REV, and the forthcoming sitcom Him & Her on BBC3;

both for Big Talk Productions.

Being a small company we pride ourselves on our personal and flexible

approach to projects with an emphasis on creativity and quality.

Our clients include Universal Pictures, Working Title Films, Big Talk

Productions and Stage Entertainment.

Future Time’s next goal...

Due to the success of our multi-award winning short film Wednesday,

Future Time is now developing a raft of feature films. We aim to bring

our scripts to screen in the near future.

Website: www.futuretimepictures.com

Email: info@futuretimepictures.com

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Running Time 20:00

Format High Definition

Aspect Ratio 1.85:1

Sound Stereo

CREW

Director. Writer. Producer Rob Sorrenti

Writer Lee Thomas

Producer Roopesh Parekh

Director of Photography David Raedeker

Editor Leo King

Composer Christopher Slaski

Casting Director Dan Hubbard

CAST

Alice Morven Christie

Marcus Martin McCann

Child Welfare Officer Haydn Gwynne

Angelo Nonso Anozie

Producer of Marketing and Distribution Deb Walsh

Production Stills © Jonathan Olley

www.jonathanolley.com

“Hollow starkly illustrates the dispiriting nature of addiction

with all its false promises and its power to waste and destroy

more than one life at a time. Yet it offers the ever bright

hope of recovery, the potential for which is always there.”

Nick Barton, Chief Executive, Action on Addiction

“Director Rob Sorrenti vividly observes how ugly and dangerous the addicted life can

be, the struggle of falling apart, and the wonder of pulling oneself together again.”

Michael Stein, author of THE ADDICT: One Patient, One Doctor, One Year

“Hollow will help audiences not only understand

the problems addiction bring, but also the

routes to recovery for the person involved.”

AdFam, UK

“Hollow, from British director Rob Sorrenti, is an

unflinching portrait of addiction, withdrawal and

temptation, even in the face of every reason to quit.”

Cinequest International Film Festival

@robsorrentiwww.facebook.com/HOLLOW.aRobSorrentiFilm

Praise for Hollow