Milk Before Meat - Short Film
Donation protected
Milk Before Meat is a Final Major Project short film created by students of Ravensbourne University. The film follows Oliver Berry, a closeted gay Mormon serving a mission in London. During his time there he meets and gradually falls in love with Alex, a British man, all while hiding his sexuality from his mission companion and his church.
Many people (especially in the UK) don't know much about Mormonism. First things that come to mind might be multiple wives, Amishism or possibly Mitt Romney.
However there are 3 million members of the church, and nearly 186,000 of them reside in the UK, according to the Mormon News Room. Missionaries are located in 6 different key areas in the UK, and are bringing more and more people to the church. Yet many aspects of Mormonism are still stuck in the past. Mormons believe that members of the church can ‘have homosexual thoughts’ but cannot perform ‘homosexual acts’, else be excommunicated from the church, separating them from their family and often leaving them with nothing.
The Team:
Producer/Writer - Amber Cherry
For me this project is not just something to complete my final year at uni - this is a passion project that I am excited to bring to life.
The first time I heard about Mormonism was through Trey Parker and Matt Stone's musical The Book of Mormon. It was funny and fabulous and actually taught me a lot. It also sparked my interest. Then it wasn't until a couple months later I read Autoboyography by Christina Lauren (a beautiful YA book about a bisexual male teen falling in love with a male Mormon), that I realised I wanted to research this lesser-known religion.
I also love creating short dramatic films and have already written and created several within my student life. Since this is my big, final project I would love to create something that myself and my team are incredibly proud of.
Director - Abir Mohammad
'Milk Before Meat' is a project that I feel strongly about as it tells a story unlike any other. There are characters with depth and a cast that is bringing them to life wonderfully. With any form of donation we'll be able to tell a story that isn't told often, by a dedicated team that will make the most of every penny given.
DOP - Maisie Middlewick
For me, joining this project was an easy choice as I knew it was one where I could display my love for camera work - particularly conveying emotional and sensitive subjects such as this.
There has been some interesting films in British LGBTQ+ cinema recently, particularly the style and photography of Gods Own Country (Francis Lee, 2017) stood out to me - a love story between two males working on a farm in Yorkshire. And it is styles and subjects like this that inspire me and drew me to a project like Amber’s. Any penny you can spare to make the process easier would be greatly appreciated! Most importantly we hope you enjoy the final result that we have worked so hard on.
How You Can Help:
The main ways that our funding will be spent will be on covering our actor's travel and food expenses, sourcing props and costumes and acquiring filming locations.
Once these costs have been covered we will then be using any extra funding to cover the travel and food expenses of the crew, and for film festival submissions!
Any donation is majorly appreciated, regardless of its size. £5 can cover the cost of a white shirt, while £50 can cover four actor's expenses for a day! Whatever you can offer will be greatly helpful. Anybody who donates £10 or more will get a thankyou credit in the film.
If you can't spare any money but still want to help our campaign then please share this page with your friends and family. This will help raise awareness of our project and we'd grateful for your support.
Thank you for taking the time to read about this project and supporting us in making this film.
Many people (especially in the UK) don't know much about Mormonism. First things that come to mind might be multiple wives, Amishism or possibly Mitt Romney.
However there are 3 million members of the church, and nearly 186,000 of them reside in the UK, according to the Mormon News Room. Missionaries are located in 6 different key areas in the UK, and are bringing more and more people to the church. Yet many aspects of Mormonism are still stuck in the past. Mormons believe that members of the church can ‘have homosexual thoughts’ but cannot perform ‘homosexual acts’, else be excommunicated from the church, separating them from their family and often leaving them with nothing.
The Team:
Producer/Writer - Amber Cherry
For me this project is not just something to complete my final year at uni - this is a passion project that I am excited to bring to life.
The first time I heard about Mormonism was through Trey Parker and Matt Stone's musical The Book of Mormon. It was funny and fabulous and actually taught me a lot. It also sparked my interest. Then it wasn't until a couple months later I read Autoboyography by Christina Lauren (a beautiful YA book about a bisexual male teen falling in love with a male Mormon), that I realised I wanted to research this lesser-known religion.
I also love creating short dramatic films and have already written and created several within my student life. Since this is my big, final project I would love to create something that myself and my team are incredibly proud of.
Director - Abir Mohammad
'Milk Before Meat' is a project that I feel strongly about as it tells a story unlike any other. There are characters with depth and a cast that is bringing them to life wonderfully. With any form of donation we'll be able to tell a story that isn't told often, by a dedicated team that will make the most of every penny given.
DOP - Maisie Middlewick
For me, joining this project was an easy choice as I knew it was one where I could display my love for camera work - particularly conveying emotional and sensitive subjects such as this.
There has been some interesting films in British LGBTQ+ cinema recently, particularly the style and photography of Gods Own Country (Francis Lee, 2017) stood out to me - a love story between two males working on a farm in Yorkshire. And it is styles and subjects like this that inspire me and drew me to a project like Amber’s. Any penny you can spare to make the process easier would be greatly appreciated! Most importantly we hope you enjoy the final result that we have worked so hard on.
How You Can Help:
The main ways that our funding will be spent will be on covering our actor's travel and food expenses, sourcing props and costumes and acquiring filming locations.
Once these costs have been covered we will then be using any extra funding to cover the travel and food expenses of the crew, and for film festival submissions!
Any donation is majorly appreciated, regardless of its size. £5 can cover the cost of a white shirt, while £50 can cover four actor's expenses for a day! Whatever you can offer will be greatly helpful. Anybody who donates £10 or more will get a thankyou credit in the film.
If you can't spare any money but still want to help our campaign then please share this page with your friends and family. This will help raise awareness of our project and we'd grateful for your support.
Thank you for taking the time to read about this project and supporting us in making this film.
Organizer
Amber Cherry
Organizer