Winning take on biblical tale

The Pitch film competition winner Andy Toovey from Pontypool South Wales has just successfully directed his winning film idea Only Child. Having spent the last five days on set on former Talywain Golf course in Aberyschan the cast and crew have worked tirelessly to achieve Andy’s vision.

His cast featured the South African born actress Eva-Jane Willis (Humans), alongside Welsh actor Julian Lewis Jones  (Under Milk Wood(2015),  Zero Dark Thirty(2012), and exciting new talent Jonny Holden from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Set within a gypsy community, Only Child, tells a story of love and hope, in the midst of tragedy and loss. Eva (Eva Jane Willis) is losing touch with her husband Yuri (Jonny Holden), but is beguiled by interest from the head of the gypsy community, Davro (Julian Lewis Jones). None of them can see the tragedy that lies ahead, nor where to turn when the storm breaks.

Since winning The Pitch in January Andy has rewritten his script ten or eleven times. Andy describes how the story has evolved over the months. “Initially being a story about loss it has become a story about connecting through grieving - it has become something really powerful.”

Catching up with him on day four he says, “Now the hard days are over I’m beginning to enjoy it.  I’m really appreciating what you can do with so much crew, as well. In fact, I’ve been blown away with how people have taken my vision on board and how the story is now so much richer and fuller than it would have ever been with just me telling it on my own.”

As director of his own film making company Andy is normally the expert but this experience has really taken him out of his comfort zone. “I’ve learnt the role of director, reshaped my vision, how to rely on other people and really appreciate working as part of a team.”

Luke Walton, director of The Pitch says, “Andy has great potential as a young director.  He has clarity of vision and the ability to work well with both cast and crew.  His flair for visual storytelling and attention to detail is really paying off.  Only Child promises to be a really stylish and extremely moving film telling a powerful human drama.”

Pitch competition entries need to be based on the Bible and Andy’s is inspired by the less well known side of David and Bathsheba’s relationship – the death of a child conceived during their brief affair.