Sunray: Fallen Soldier is a revenge story with a strong USP: it's made by, and stars real-life former Royal Marines. Innovation and kinship helped this gritty action film become a reality. FILMHOUNDS sat down with the Sunray team to discuss the journey of getting this film made, and how things have continued to evolve leading up to the film's release.
How did the concept for Sunray come about?
James Clarke (Co-director): It came to me and Dan during lockdown. Like everyone else, we were bored, and not doing much. We really wanted to do something for our people in the Marines so we got brainstorming. We wanted to shed light on things such as mental health and PTSD that veterans experience after service. It's a deeply personal thing for all of us. Originally, this was going to be a webseries that we were just going to put out on Youtube, but things escalated and now it's become a feature film.
What was it like putting this film together?
Daniel Shepherd (Co-director): This was very much a collaboration with a lot of great people. We've worked on other smaller projects before, but Sunray is far bigger than any of those. We've learned a lot along the way, different ways to shoot certain things, we'd always be talking with the guys to experiment with different things.
James Clarke (Co-director): We had a lot of great people help us along the way. Some of the film was crowdfunded and we had a great sponsor come on board that helped the project come together.
This project has gained a lot of traction over the past several months. You guys are gearing up for a big premiere in London's Leicester Square, how does it feel to get to this point?
Steven Blades (Harper AKA Echo 4): It's all been really surreal. We had our premiere at Edinburgh Film Festival last year and it's just grown and grown since then. That was the first time it was seen by a big crowd and it was great, but I think that the London premiere will be where things become a reality and we realise just how major this has all become.
Tom Leigh (Smudge AKA Echo 2): It's crazy. The event went on sale and it sold out in just a few minutes. It's exciting and the fact that we're doing this big event in Leicester Square is just something we never expected when we were all shooting this thing together.
There is a lot of great action in the film, but the parts that really stand out were the more quieter moments between the group. What was it like shooting those?
Tip Cullen (Andy AKA Echo 1): It's very personal. We've all served and this film is not only for ourselves, but for all of our people. We wanted to shine a light on mental health and PTSD that our people suffer from and to show just how hard it can be to come back to normal life. The quiet moments were the hardest to film for sure. In a way, this film really helped us all deal with things that have happened and it all felt like a form of therapy.
Daniel, what was it like for you coming into this as someone who isn't a former Royal Marine?
Daniel Davids (Cassius): The guys were great and really made me feel welcomed into their group. I think that I was the last to be cast and it wasn't long until we started shooting, so it was all very hectic, but it was great experience. It was important to have someone like Cass in this film to represent civilians and how his grief journey is different to Andy's, but they're also dealing with the same loss.
TC: Yeah, they're both dealing with the same thing but in very different ways. It was great to have someone represent civilian life amongst all of the action. It helped ground the film.
What's next for you guys?
Sam Clarke (Co-director): Me and Dan are actually working on our next feature right now, which is exciting after everything that's happened with Sunray. It's helped open a lot of doors for us.
Sunray: Fallen Soldier is available on digital platforms.
