Following the sudden death of his best friend in 2013, estrangement from his family in 2014 and redundancy ending his career as a Film Lecturer in 2015, writer/director Brett Gregory suffered a total emotional, psychological and spiritual breakdown, and subsequently withdrew from wider society.
He returned in 2016 however with a strange yet compelling story about his experience: the visions he had seen, the voices he had heard, the versions of himself he had met ... In turn, on his hard drive, he had a 120-page screenplay called, ‘Nobody Loves You and You Don’t Deserve to Exist’.
While still suffering flashbacks, Brett proceeded to scour Greater Manchester to relocate film crew members who had worked with him in the past on productions such as the music documentaries ‘Iceland: Beyond Sigur Ros’ (2010), ‘Manchester: Beyond Oasis’ (2012) and ‘Liverpool: Beyond The Beatles’ (2014). The production brief he gave them was simple: to help him tell his story of tragedy, trauma and truth in the most vivid, most detailed and most memorable way possible.
There were two catches however: there was no money and no schedule.
Now, over 5 years later in 2021, principal photography on the feature film is nearly complete and, against all logic, those who have seen an early cut are genuinely asking out loud, ‘Is this the most ambitious micro-budget feature film ever made?’
As well as over 40 locations, ‘Nobody Loves You and You Don’t Deserve to Exist’ features 16 professional and semi-professional actors from across the North West, including David Howell (Brassic, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks), Julie Hannan (The Matriarch, Elizabeth is Missing, Supernova), Wendy Patterson (Shameless, Coronation Street, The Worst Witch) and Reuben Clarke (Peaky Blinders).
It has been shot in 4K on a Sony A7R III by director of photography, Gwyn Hemmings (Peaky Blinders, Happy Valley, Disney Europe), and its unique and haunting medieval soundtrack has been composed by Andrew McCrorie-Shand (Teletubbies, Rosie and Jim, Brum).
As Brett Gregory states:
‘Over the past 5 years a multitude of actors, technicians, musicians, artists, designers and film graduates from all across Greater Manchester have been drawn to this highly original and brutally honest production like pilgrims to a holy site. They’ve communicated, they’ve collaborated and they’ve created. And all for no pay! It’s an incredible achievement.’
