Grotto
Lonely 15-year old Jess has been raised in foster care all her life after her mother died. She is labelled a 'freak' and is bullied for her bouts of mental illness. A ghostly vision of a beautiful woman appears to Jess and tells her to journey into the woods to find a special wooden box that will solve all her problems. Jess is mesmerised and promises to find it.
The rest of the gang decide to go with her; aggressive Caitlin is Jess' only friend and wants to go to protect her whereas Jordan and Jason want to go to laugh at her. They leave their run-down council estate and journey into the woods where all the tensions, insecurities and haunted pasts in the gang implode as Jess leads them deeper into the woods trying to find the box and prove her vision was true. The short film idea is now being developed into a feature length script.
Andy Mark Simpson's original idea was fleshed out using 'Mike Leigh' methods of improvisation and character development with the brilliant teenage cast from his previous short 'Mad About The Boy' and talented newcomer Linzi Wyard; she was cast in the lead then the role and the film was created around her - the decision is justified by her mesmerising and beautiful performance.
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Title: Grotto
Genre: Youth film Magic-realist drama Coming-of-age Fantasy Writer-Director: Andy Mark Simpson Producer: Andy Mark Simpson Bede Films Jess: Linzi Wyard Caitlin: Madeleine Clark Jordan: Alex Scott Jason: Dylan Turnbull DoP: John AC Allen Sound: Andy Leckonby Assistant: Dave Jewell 
Jess (Linzi Wyard) and Caitlin (Madeleine Clark)
Linzi Wyard, Madeleine Clark and Alex Scott rehearsing for railway line scene
Andy Mark Simpson and John Allen discuss the next shot
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