Colette is already a film with love at its core. The Galway-born brothers Jake and Luke are dedicated to producing the project through whatever means necessary - even if it means going to England.
It is also a project dedicated to real collaboration with a minority community beyond token ‘representation’. “We were looking for a project that kind of spoke to our values as a business,” says Jake. “And Luke came across a book of short stories by the Irish writer Nuala O’Connor.”
Luke first read it on a plane, reaching the emotional climax just as the trolly arrived with tea and coffee. “Literally as soon as they drew level, I was just weeping.” What did he get from the trolly? “A kinderbueno. Everything is bueno,” he recalls with a laugh.
The story follows an Irish woman with dwarfism preparing for a date.“The date is not a romantic date, but it’s a date with destiny,” Jake explains. The woman is going to meet her son, whom she gave up for adoption.
When they committed to making the film, their first call was to Annabelle Davis, a little actress from the UK, who jumped at the chance to join the project as executive producer.
“Luke and Jake’s passion for it from the get-go was really inspiring,” she says over the phone from England. “Having two enthusiastic filmmakers come to you for something is an honour.
“I am really passionate about more stories, authentic stories being portrayed. Adoption is very common in the little people community. But also, it’s a very sweet, gentle story and I think we need more of that nowadays.”
On the practical side, the Morgan Brothers have been making films since they were kids, and have been a business for ten years. Their work has won awards on the festival circuit, including for their short film The Boat, available to watch on YouTube.
“I feel like we’ve proved to ourselves that we’re able to make films,” says Jake. So for Colette, they just needed to finance it.
They first applied for funding through Screen Ireland’s Focus Shorts, but did not succeed. As Luke explains, “All of the funds here are competitive. You might have hundreds of people or teams that are applying to the same funds.” The brothers make clear that they harbour no “sour grapes” toward Screen Ireland.
But when they did not get the funding, they were at a crossroads. “You have this soul searching moment where you’re like, okay, is this dead now?” Luke asks. “Or is there another way to get this done?”
Jake then came up with the “mad idea” to produce the film in England. Luke was not on board at first, but the more they looked into it, the more it made sense.
In the UK, there is a tax credit (the AVEC ) available to independent fillmakers like the Morgan brothers. While Ireland has a similar very generous tax credit of 40%, the budget for the project has to exceed 250,000 euros to access it.
And as Luke points out, “a lot of filmmakers who are indigenous to Ireland who are emerging don’t have 250 grand to make a film.”
“The Irish government no doubt wants big clients who are going to commit to spending big money,” adds Jake. “But the situation for us is, in order to make this Irish story as an Irish company, we have to go abroad.”
They also plan to use a grant specifically for filming in Worcestershire locations. Last week, they went scouting with Annabelle and co-producer Hendrik Harms, who is based in Worcester.
“Every door that was closed to us in Ireland was opened for us in England, which is a surprise and national shame as an Irishman, and a proud one at that,” says Luke. “But as a filmmaker, you’ve got to go where the warmth is when you’re making projects.”
To make up the final gap in the budget, the team also has a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, which is still accepting late pledges. They have used it before, but it is not easy.
“We’re like in our influencer eras where we’re trying to post every day,” Jake says sheepishly. “We were quite daunted about doing it, to be honest, because we don’t like looking as though we’re going around with the begging bowl. But at the same time, we want everyone paid fairly – and we care too much about the project to not do it.”
The team is hoping to shoot in January 2027. They plan to take their time with post-production, because “we want this to be as good as it possibly can be.”
Cross-community collaboration
It is clear from talking to them how much pride the brothers take in their work. They are going to great lengths to make a film aligned with their artistic vision, despite having to go abroad. But more than that, they are striving to ensure the process of creating it is in line with their principles.
As Jake puts it, “We want this to be made in meaningful collaboration with the community, because we don’t have dwarfism, obviously, and it’s important to us as storytellers.”
On the other hand, he says, “We don’t feel like we can’t make a contribution to this story, because at the end of the day, it’s a story about a human being.”
“It’s really important that we get as many people on board in terms of the story but also in terms of filmmaking itself,” adds Annabelle. “This is not only going to provide representation on screen but actually provide opportunities for people with dwarfism behind the camera” through mentorship opportunities and collaboration.
She says “those connections are really important, those collaborations. So I hope that this inspires other filmmakers to start making films about other minority communities.”
When they decided to pursue film, the Morgan brothers did not necessarily have producing in mind. There was simply no one creating work meaningful for them, says Luke.
“We’re just producers because as mama says, you know, if you want something done properly, you’ve got to do it yourself.”
Updates on the film can be found at https://www.morganbrothers.ie/
Colette can be supported through the Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/morganbrothers/colette-a-little-film
