Four Mad Weeks

  Martin is an experienced screenwriter and director, who has made award-winning short films. These include his short thriller Toll Booth, which won several awards and was nominated for the Yorkshire Film Award at Leeds International Film Festival. Toll Booth is now in development as a feature film, with the screenplay a recent quarter finalist at Finish Line – a major screenwriting competition.

He currently works as screenwriter for Unrd, an immersive mobile fiction app. Martin was commissioned to adapt MTV's reality dating series Ghosted: Love Gone Missing into a two-episode drama, which was produced for the Unrd app. Working closely with senior executives at MTV and production teams at Unrd, the project was filmed remotely across 3 countries during the pandemic. Ghosted: Mae & Jax has just been released and has been positively received. Tech Crunch recently featured the project: https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/11/mtv-partners-with-unrd-to-create-a-mobile-version-of-ghosted-love-gone-missing/

Martin has received recognition for several of his screenplays, including Humble Pie, which was a finalist at multiple script competitions, and was commended by BAFTA Rocliffe judges. Earlier drafts were developed with Nick Goldsmith (producer, Son of Rambow).

Martin has written and directed numerous branded content films for clients including Halfords and EDF Energy, as well as business-focussed programmes which were broadcast on Sky TV.

Bully will be his next short film, which is currently in development.

Steve (mid 30s) hosts a dinner party to thank his closest friends for being there for him through his dad’s recent passing. Steve is a wounded bear of a man who struggles to keep his shit together at the best of times. And tonight is not the best of times.

With Steve close to tears as he opens up about what he’s been through, he is interrupted by the arrival of his best friend Celine. Steve has been madly in love with Celine for years. They had a brief romance years ago, which didn’t work out - something Steve has never really got over. In all the recent chaos, Steve has forgotten that tonight she is bringing her new boyfriend, Luke, for them to meet.

As the group welcomes Luke, something niggles at Steve. Luke looks real familiar, and Steve grows convinced that they’ve met before. Luke laughs it off, claiming he just has one of those faces, but Steve subtly interrogates him about his background. Each piece of information seems to confirm Steve’s suspicion that he knows Luke from somewhere. 

Steve realises that Luke reminds him of a kid who horribly bullied him in school years ago. He recounts an upsetting memory of this bully humiliating him in front of the girl he fancied. With Steve growing increasingly emotional, the atmosphere around the table takes an awkward shift.

After Luke changes the subject, Steve catches him in a lie about something he said earlier. The penny drops and Steve knows for sure that Luke is the school bully. Steve glares at Luke, his anger building as the dinner party carries on around him. 

Steve serves his guests the soup while he recounts a harrowing memory of the bully nearly drowning him in the school toilet. His intensity and anger build as he tells his story, intently holding Luke’s eye contact. 

When Luke looks away, Steve grabs Luke’s neck and thrusts his head into his bowl of soup, holding it submerged. The guests scream but are frozen in shock. Luke thrashes around, soup spilling everywhere. He splutters for breath as Steve continues to hold his head under, a murderous expression on his face.

After frantic pleas from Celine finally sink in, Steve releases Luke. Luke drops his nice-guy façade and reveals himself as the bully. He rages at Steve, admitting he wishes he’d drowned Steve back then.

The group is stunned. Celine stares at Luke in disgust, until he leaves. After struggling to process the sudden loss of her relationship, her gaze falls on Steve, who looks an emotional wreck. Steve admits that he’s a total mess and needs help. They stare into each other’s eyes, a palpable connection and tension, with neither of them sure where they go from here.