Watchers Summer Update 2025...

And just like that, it’s deep into the summer of 2025.

It has been a busy six months since our last update - both as watchers and as individual projects: Rhys Jones has been busy working on post production of the second Black River Meadow film by Gareth David-Lloyd, with it being released in the next coming months; Terrance Marshman-Edwards has been treading the boards once again in a production of The Importance Of Being Earnest, and Matthew Ford has had continued success with his feature film script My Child - winning Best Horror Script International at the International Horror Film Festival, as well as being a semi-finalist in the Midwest Weird Fest feature screenplay competition.

While as Watchers we have had a very busy six months! We have the last three Strange Tales of Season Three on-going; they’re all very different short films and all heavily in different stages of production.

ALL ALONE, Not By Myself

This animated Strange Tale, written and directed by Matthew Ford, is currently undergoing colouring and background art. Work continues - and there is a lot of work to be done on this one! It is very likely to be the final tale of Season Three to be released. We don't want to set a date for when it will arrive, but it is one of the most interesting projects we have worked on and is shaping up to be very special.

LOCKED

Written by Eleonora Mignoli and directed by Teddy Smith, starring Angharad L Ford as Kay Starr, Lucas Eisele as Peter, and Rob Murphy as Alfred Wyre.

In the future, Justice is delegated to machines: infallible and objective, these AI dispense fair punishments. Kay is accused by her neighbour of dropping trash on their lawn. It's a civil infraction, and while it was only an oversight on Kay's part, she's charged with a small fine. Kay is about to leave when her hand is locked, and the machine accuses her of murder – of somebody Kay has never met. Her only chance at survival is to prove her innocence, but while the AI begins drawing a net of guilt around her, we're left asking ourselves if she’s as innocent as she looks.

Locked finally got in front of cameras and wrapped last summer. We are just awaiting the music score, and then it will be released very soon.

Chapter Two

The film in production at present is a late addition to Season Three’s line up.

Written by Matthew Ford & Matthew Fisher and directed by Rhys Jones, the film stars Jennifer Higgins as Lowri, a widow and single mother, struggling with Cardiff’s dating scene. Her late husband was her childhood sweetheart; she hasn’t the first clue about apps or first date etiquette. Chapter Two explores the perils of dating when you’re widowed. Rejection is tough for anyone, even more so when you’ve lost the person you love. Lowri is not just looking for Mr. Right, she’s looking for Mr. Right who understands and accepts what she has been through. The title is a phrase used amongst widows and widowers who have found love again.

Filming began last summer in August. We filmed with the talented Victoria George-Veale and Matthew Doman who kindly gave us half a day of their time to film a cameo for the film, set in the 1940s.

We then began principal photography on the project on September 28th 2024 and we wrapped two young cast members - Ruby Wilson and Steve Ryan. They play Becca and Aidan, Lowri's children.

After a hiatus over the winter months, we picked back up on May 17th 2025 with Christopher Maxwell joining the cast. We shot on top of Billy Wynt and we were extremely lucky with the weather - the sun came out for once!

We had our next day on July 17th 2025. One day, 10 actors, and one green screen for half of one scene! We are extremely grateful to all the actors who came along that day to give up their time for their hilarious, cringy, and (in one case) downright disturbing cameo roles.

We have one last day of filming on August 9th which will bring us to wrapping around a year after we started filming. This Strange Tale is somewhat of a first for us: it’s primarily a comedy and also will be a longer film. Post production will happen as soon as we wrap, but the scenes are being edited as we shoot and we are hoping to turn it around pretty fast.

Once we have completed these last tales, we will finally bring an end to Season Three of Strange Tales. What's next? Well that would be telling...