New boxing film investigates mens' mental health

Directed by award winning Director Richard Weston and featuring Louis Emerick (Layer Cake, The Responder, Zapped, G'Wed, Brookside) a new film, Sparked chronicles the eve of troubled boxer's biggest fight of his life, falls into a terrifying spiral of mental illness where the central mindset becomes distorted.

Director, Richard Weston plays the main character himself in this hard hitting short film which focuses on the dichotomy between talent and a bipolar condition. Emerick plays his long standing mentor, Philly who is about to have his patience tested.

While the premise is about boxing, the overriding themes could be applied to a number of sports where pressure builds tension and aspirations become clouded by a so far undiagnosed psychological condition.

Olivia Frances Brown (The Gathering, Boiling Point, Archie) plays the boxer's unsuspecting mentor in a chance meeting at a railway station.

The film has now been shot around Birkenhead and Liverpool. The production company Citadel Pictures is now seeking funding for post production.

Richard Weston said: "We are delighted with how the shoot has gone and feel that we have much to say about the difficulties males face in a changing world.

Wirral based producers, Citadel Pictures do not shy away from taboo subjects with the first main feature a biopic about the war poet Wilfred Owen, The Burying Party (2018) winning major awards and sustaining good reviews across the major industry sites such as Amazon Prime. Other production such as Nocturne and the western, The Song of the Shrike have been distributed by Shorts TV

Sparked will first be presented to the major film festivals in the UK and Ireland such as Raindance, Dublin International, Leeds and London with the objective of expanding it to a full feature, once final funding has been secured.

"Investors should feel confident that their investment will not only raise further awareness about mental health but their brands would also gain exposure at the film festivals. Our ultimate aim is to expand the film as a major feature, Films about the sport in the past have done very well commercially." said Weston.

Video interview downloadable in mp4 format. Please contact us if you need a different format.

Notes to Editors

Contact Keith Thompson (Producer, Citadel Pictures) 07869 809351 in the first instance.

Director - Richard Weston

Director of Photography - Meurig Marshall
​1st Assistant Director - Sally Ann Morgan
​Executive Producers - Keith Thompson and Neil Perriam
​Line Producer - Paul Mackow
​Digital Imaging Technician - Sebastian Thornton
​Sound Mixer - Nick Ellmore
​1st AC - Eva Ragoo
​2nd AC - Tom Murphy
​Makeup Artist - Gemma Kirk

Stunt co-ordinators - Laurence Thompson (gym), Jamie McDonough (street)
​Gaffers - Stephen Bell and Carl Copeland.

Thanks to Kelly Loughlin and James Traynor at Liverpool John Moores University, Molly's Chambers, Birkenhead, SAE Institute, Shift4, Manchester, Linda and Gerry Miller, Dorothy Thompson (Catering).

2. Cast

Drystan Blythe - Richard Weston

Philly- Louis Emerick

April - Olivia Frances Brown

Lancey (sparring partner) - Laurence Thompson

Chris (sparring partner) - Christopher Wollaton

Assailant - Benjamin Longthorne

Assailant 2 - Jamie McDonough

Assailant 3 ​ - Paul Mackow