Screening of male mental health short film in Trim

'The Passenger', a short film with a powerful message on male mental health, written and produced by Trim film-maker Gerry Gormley, will be screened in James Griffin Pub on Wednesday 27th July at 7.30pm.

The film centres around a conversation between two friends in a coffee shop where the protagonist tries to open up about how he has been feeling, using the analogy that it's like being a passenger in a car to describe his feelings. The 10-minute film was shot on location in Wicklow in February at the Sally Gap and the 'Hug A Mug' cafe in Baltinglass.

Gerry told how the film tackles the stigma that is still attached to males discussing mental health issues with their peers, adding that the overarching theme of the film is that ‘it is ok’ to talk to friends or family about issues you may be having.

Originally from Trim but now living in Wicklow, Gerry works in technical support with Sky television. He is also a musician and most recently recorded a song 'I'll get you home for Christmas' for the Zak Rocks fund, which reached number two in the itunes chart.

Gerry studied media production management at Ballyfermot College of Further Education and worked in radio for five years. It was while working in radio that Gerry met the director of the film, John Redmond. They had collaborated on a number of music videos in the past and when he wrote the Passenger he immediately had John Redmond in mind to bring the story to the screen. A gofundme page was set up to raise the funds needed and Gerry has thanked all who donated and also Cllr Noel French for his sponsorship.

Gerry told how he started writing a book of short stories during lockdown and after writing the 'The Passenger', he thought it wouldn't be too difficult to make it into a short film and started working on the script, bringing John Redmond on board as director. Post production was done in Canada by Ryan Darnell.

"I was writing about a guy sitting in a car and I wanted to develop it a bit more. I did research and saw that the analogy of being a passenger in a car to describe how depressive moods can feel, was used already and it reaffimed what I was doing".

"I suffered from depression in the past and it did ring through, so I latched on to the idea a bit. I was able to get into that character sitting the car and it helped me to finish the story."

The film has been very well received so far and is now being sent to the festival circuit.

"It got a massive response when I sent it to friends and people in the industry. They are flabbergasted by what we were able to put together on the budget we had."

Steven Jess and Michael Woods play the lead roles and Gerry said casting was very important to him.

"The main thing was casting and getting the right people to portray the conversation that we wanted to have. It needed to be a natural conversation. There were some lines in it that they had to say, but we said how you join the dots is up to you. If you come up with something more natural, work it in yourselves.

"I think why it was such a success as a short film is down to how we let the two guys off with the script and develop it a bit themselves."

Advance screenings take place in James Griffin's Pub in Trim on Wednesday, 27th July and Hug a Mug cafe in Baltinglass on 28th July ahead of general release on 2nd August.