Director, Co-Writer & "Declan"

CRAIG ANDREW ROBERTSON

(craigandrewrobertson.com)

Declan has not had to face up to his insecurities and failings. Until today. Craig is a Scottish-Canadian filmmaker who has been making films for over fifteen years. The Thistle in the Kiss is his directorial debut feature film. This has been a labour of love for a while now. I love telling stories through film and I am so looking forward to sharing this one with as many people as possible.

Co-Writer & "Stephanie"

LEONORA COOKE

Stephanie's timing was always great. That was until she timed her breakup to land on Christmas Day. Leonora is an actor working across stage and screen. It's been an unexpected delight to see this film develop. When Craig approached me to work on this project way back in 2019, the idea was to create an improvised short film about a couple breaking up during a car ride. While we created loose backstories for Stephanie and Declan, all the dialogue was improvised. However, it was more than a year later when Craig told me that he and C.J. Lazaretti had used the footage from the short to develop a scripted feature length film! It's been amazing to see how they have taken this footage - which depicted fragments of a romantic relationship at its most fractured - and turned it into such a warm and uplifting story about the joys and complexities of sibling relationships.

"Rachel"

SARAH COYNE (spotlight.com)

Rachel always knows how to push her brother, Declan's buttons. Today she might push too far. Sarah has been appearing on stage and in short films throughout the UK for over ten years. Working on this film was a huge privilege. The character of Rachel interested me because I am passionate about Queer women being represented in film. I also wanted to delve into the mindset of someone who would probably be considered ‘unlikable’, who is capable of exhibiting real offensiveness and nastiness and working out the circumstances that may have led to her being that way and how she could go on to grow and develop as a person. Relationships between siblings are often complex and it was very enjoyable exploring the bond between this pair of adult siblings who both still have a lot of growing up to do! And who doesn’t love a good Christmas film?

Producer & Assistant Director

REECE STEEL

To keep the show on the road, The Thistle in the Kiss needed one helluva producer. Reece previously produced the acclaimed short film UFO written & directed by Harvey Gardner which won the 2020 RTS Student Award for Best Postgraduate Drama and screened at various festivals including Glasgow Short Film Festival and Encounters Film Festival. Reece is the Co-Founder and the sole founder of the respective film production companies 9:39 Cinema and Felt Like Running Productions. Reece has also produced and developed short films for 9:39 Cinema including the recent Worlds Apart which enjoyed much success on the festival circuit, most proudly screening the BAFTA recognised Carmarthen Bay Film Festival. The Thistle in the Kiss marks his first feature film as a Producer. Reece has also worked as a Production Trainee/Runner on the Barry Crerar produced film GIRL and the upcoming ITV/Britbox limited series Payback. He also served as a Covid Marshall on the upcoming Seventh season of Outlander. When Craig and C.J. pitched to me that they wanted to expand their wonderful short film Into The Bleak into a feature film I was almost immediately on board. Having not yet worked on a feature film I was excited (and nervous) at the prospect of the giant responsibility I would have to produce it due to the many constraints we faced such as our small budget and having to film during the pandemic. At the very start of my involvement in the project, I have to admit to having some reservations about Craig and C.J.’s ambitious ideas for the film such as filming the entirely of the present day scenes in the extremely remote, but breathtaking, Mennock Pass and Craig having the challenging but doable task of co-writing, directing and starring in the one of the lead roles. However I am very pleased to say that time and time again throughout the film’s development, pre-production, filming and post-production periods any worries I’ve had were constantly dissuaded thanks to Craig’s, C.J.’s and everyone else’s collective skill and determination to make The Thistle in the Kiss a film to be proud of.

Co-Writer & Film Editor

C.J. LAZARETTI (cjlazaretti.com)

Editing determines what you see and what you don't see in a movie. Or in a car. C.J. Lazaretti is a film editor based in Glasgow. Since his debut co-editing the documentary The Gospel According to St Derek (featuring Tilda Swinton), he has worked mostly on British shorts and TV shows. As one of three screenwriters in the project, I had a priceless opportunity to collaborate with many passionate filmmakers. Seeing a project through from its earliest days is not something I get to do on most projects I've edited. The Thistle in the Kiss speaks to and from a time when all our certainties get challenged every day. With great uncertainty comes great anxiety – this is something all of us can relate to. And with great ambition comes great collaboration: that's what has made this coming-of-age yarn so much fun to make, and to watch.

Director of Photography

CALUM MENZIES (blackthistlemedia.com)

To capture the drama in all its spectacle, The Thistle in the Kiss needed a great Cinematographer. Calum has worked on many major UK productions. His documentary, M.S., Mexico and Me has been acclaimed around the world. "Working on “The Thistle in the Kiss” was the biggest challenge I have faced in my personal cinematography/camera career so far. Together on location at Mennock Pass, we shot this over 5 days and 3 weekends which I personally think is a very impressive achievement for the duration of this piece. The crew chosen by Craig were a unit who within hours of knowing each other, bonded and got on with the job in hand of bringing this feature to life. It was genuinely an absolutely pleasure working with all of the crew and I miss working with this excellent team."

Music

Aidan Smith

Aidan wrote the music. He did not write anything for this segment...