PRE-PRODUCTION DIARY - #002

Written by Daniel Shepherd

Sunray is more than just a series…

My first exposure to what would later become Sunray was when I received a phone call from Sam, he had an idea. When Sam has an idea you know it’s going to be wild! So naturally, I was in.

This was a time pre-covid so I headed over to see for myself what he was gobbing off about. I was met with a wall full of post-it notes and mad ideas for a short film that was as ambitious as it was thrilling. Using a cast of former Royal Marines to create an action-packed drama seemed like the perfect storm, but we soon realised there was so much story to be told, it deserved more than a short film.

There was a lull in the battle, we thought we were too busy to go chasing dreams. But a few months later we conducted a re-org and vowed to make this crazy idea come to life. Sam, James and I began pitching ideas, names, cast and stories to each other. After far too many zoom calls and late-night WhatsApp planning sessions, Sunray was born. It hasn’t stopped growing since.

When we began shooting for our Kickstarter promotional content and trailer, the most extraordinary revelation was seeing the team come together, like-minded people working together with nothing more than faith in the project and trust that everyone would do their part. Working with a cast and crew of veterans brought that military bond onto the film set and it was glorious! The banter, the comradeship and the professionalism, we didn’t need to instil an on set ethos, it was already there from the outset.

Looking back, and speaking to some of our cast and crew, we realised that what we had achieved over a short period of a few days had the side-effect of becoming an outlet where people could be creative, express themselves, and at times have an open dialogue about difficult subjects, all on the safety of a film set, surrounded by people that lift each other up rather than put them down.

As we push forward into the next stages of production, we want to nurture this seed of community spirit and see Sunray become more than just a series, but also a platform for veterans and creatives to shout from the rooftops, even if no one hears them but the rest of us. 

All whilst making some really cool shit.