Introduction:
Easy Sell is a short comedy that explores what happens when politeness and absurdity meet in a charity shop. It was created after our screenplay won the Shark Awards Short Film Scriptwriting Competition. The brief was to tell a story of a wedding dress in a charity shop. After winning, we decided to fund ourselves to shoot it and bring it to life.
Inspiration:
We both love watching obscure dark comedies, especially shows like The League of Gentlemen, Spaced, and more recently, Inside No. 9. They’re full of weird characters and strange narratives that take place in a location where they shouldn’t occur. This influenced our story by taking the pedestrian nature of a British charity shop and filling it with strange characters and a bonkers story. We also knew people taking part in the competition would lean heavily towards sentimentality, so we opted to go for dark comedy.
The Process:
We filmed for one day in a charity shop in East London with a crew of about 20 people. The hardest part was finding the right charity shop that matched the blocking and framing we had planned in the storyboards. We must’ve visited all the charity shops in East London, all different shapes and sizes, before we found our perfect shop, which was great. Then they told us how much it would cost to shoot there, which wasn’t so great. But then, we stumbled across a really nice alternative. We had to make some minor adjustments to the script to fit that location, but in the end, it turned out to be the right choice for us. They had some bizarre real in-store items that made it in the film too.
What It Means to Be a Finalist:
Being selected and nominated for Best Screenplay at Worcester Film Festival really means a lot to us. It’s quite validating for us and we’re glad people find us funny, not just ourselves. Also, with competitions with specific briefs, it’s sometimes tricky to make a script that would resonate beyond that specific competition, so we’re glad people are liking our short film.
Where to Watch / Follow:
You can follow us on Insta @kenstagram45 and @ash_mesh87