SIMON FITZMAURICE is a 39 year old, multi-award winning writer and film director from Greystones Co.Wicklow. Five years ago while screening his short film THE SOUND OF PEOPLE at Robert Redfords Sundance Film Festival, Simon noticed a pain in his foot. On returning home, he was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (ALS) and given 3 years to live. He had two little boys and his wife was pregnant with their third. Simon was told that he would gradually lose all physical function, until his lungs would eventually fail, and he would be eased into death in hospital. However, when the time came, instead of choosing death, Simon fought to be allowed stay on a ventilator, and he won. Now, Simon is completely physically incapacitated except for the ability to move his eyes, and give a small smile. He speaks using Eye Gaze technology and the digital American voice is one his children know as their Dads voice. Simon and his wife decided to have more children, and they ended up having twins, so hes now a father to 5: Jack, Raife, Arden, Sadie and Hunter. Simon refused to allow his diagnosis to prevent his drive to write and direct a feature film. So in the face of this adversity, five years ago, Simon began writing a fiction feature film called MY NAME IS EMILY. It has nothing to do with his condition but is, instead, a teenage love story. Its told from the perspective of Emily, a teenage girl who escapes from her foster home and with Arden, the schoolboy who loves her, sets out to rescue her Father, a visionary writer, locked up in a far-off Psychiatric institution. Along the way Emily and Arden fall in love and in the end, Emily learns that she has to accept her Fathers madness in order to find happiness. Its a beautiful story of redemption and acceptance, a celebration of life and love. I received the script a year and a half ago, and fell in love with it immediately. Simon and I developed it together for a while, but as Producer, this will be my first feature. I didnt want Simon waiting years while I navigated film financing. So we brought it to Newgrange Pictures, a company with 20 years experience with films like STELLA DAYS with Martin Sheen and KINGS with Colm Meaney. They have been on board Producing with Kennedy Films for the past year. We have the support of The Irish Film Board, Swedish co-Producers Garage Films and we are undergoing casting at present. The overall budget is a tight one, we also have to think outside the usual Production Model to enable Simon to achieve this film. The crowd funding campaign we have launched on indiegogo has a figure of 200k, which is the lower end of the estimated amount we will need to support and enable Simon. This means everything from longer prep weeks, longer shoot weeks, crew hours, support director, to batteries, transportation etc. We want Simon on set directing his film by Spring 2014.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 11:17:24 +0000