Daniel Morris meets the cast and director of a new film by Rocking Horse Media and the TV soap favourite giving her expert advice to local students.
A short film being made in Shropshire has provided unprecedented work experience opportunities for local students, and a national soap star is now on board to help give it an extra touch of stardust.
Produced by Rocking Horse Media, Holly & Ivy tells the tale of two teenage twin sisters, one who needs a lot of extra support and one who manages fine on her own. Or does she…?
It has given a wonderful opportunity to its two leads, local girls Betty Carter and Emily Stephenson along with other youngsters from Shropshire schools and colleges, and the project has also grabbed the headlines due to the involvement of an ITV stalwart.
Paula Lane, who only recently left our screens in Emmerdale and starred for years in Coronation Street as Kylie Platt, has signed on as an executive producer.
With Holly & Ivy giving the youngsters involved their first ever experience of working on a film set, Paula is delighted to be continuing her well-known support for the next generation.
“I’ve worked with young performers for over 10 years and any project that gives the younger generation a voice and also offers up work experience by being involved always has my heart,” explains the soap star, who also runs her own academy for young performers.
Paula cites serendipity for playing its part in her involvement with Holly & Ivy after she met the team behind the film in the most surreal of circumstances during a routine location recce for the project.
“I became involved with Rocking Horse Media via a chance encounter and I’m a big believer in opportunities that come along at the right time,” she said.
With this project, however, Paula is keen to stress that she is not the leading lady, and with that we turn to the two 15-year-old actresses looking to take the screen by storm.
Betty and Emily were thrilled to join Rocking Horse Media director Gareth Thomas’ latest project, and have both embraced their roles with gusto.
“I auditioned last September,” said Emily, who is playing Ivy. “I was in contact with Gareth beforehand, but had an audition in September with Betty. We’d kind of been talking about it for a while, but I think it kind of fit with work experience and stuff. So, this was just the perfect time to do it.”
While the production wheels have been turning, the experience has clearly been joyous.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Emily said. “I’ve really, really enjoyed it so far. And I feel like I’ve made a friend as well, which has made me very happy!”
Betty, playing Holly, feels very much the same and has great affection for both her co-star and her role – one that has given her an intriguing and complex character to explore.
“Holly has an eating disorder,” said Betty, who attends Ercall Wood Academy. “I feel like you can constantly see her hiding that. She views it as something to be ashamed of, but eating disorders can happen to anyone and I think it’s really important to spread that message.”
Holly’s sibling, Ivy, however couldn’t be more opposite to her twin sister. Described as “seeing the world differently”, Emily has also become entirely enamoured with her character.
“I love the way she sees the world and how she sees everything as if everything’s just great all the time,” said Emily. “Obviously, except when she’s arguing with Holly! I’ve had to learn to understand that she understands things in a different way and would view situations very differently to the character of Holly.”
Naturally, both Emily and Betty are interested in pursuing a stage/screen career and have both cited their time on Holly & Ivy as invaluable. Though both have a wealth of stage acting experience, this project has been a true eye-opener.
“I feel like for both of us, we’re both kind of more ‘musical theatre’ in terms of what we’ve done before,” said Emily. “This is definitely my first experience on a film set. It’s my first time being surrounded by professional filming equipment. It’s definitely surreal!”
“It’s just really cool,” added Betty. “Like Emily says, it’s very different to what we’re used to, but it’s like a new way of doing what we love to do.”
Indeed, as far as work experience placements go, this one with Rocking Horse, as part of their award-winning The Jack Morris Initiative, feels like a winner in every sense – teaching participants important industry skills, while letting them have fun and grow in confidence.
“I feel very comfortable with everyone here,” said Emily. “It doesn’t feel like work, but we learn so much.”
With anticipation surrounding the finished product set to build following the announcement of Paula Lane’s involvement, Emily and Betty are both excited to see their names up in lights, and are proud to be front-and-centre of a film that tackles some very important issues.
“I think telling a story on teenage eating disorders is so important. It’s a story that needs to be told. We have to shine a light on things like bulimia because they’re very real and, especially, I think, in young girls, they aren’t always talked about a lot.”
For any young, or, indeed, older people who want to follow in their footsteps as actors, Emily and Betty’s advice is simple.
“Just put yourself out there,” they both say together. “Don’t be scared about what anybody thinks.”
Delighted to have finally met Holly & Ivy’s bright young leads recently, Paula’s passion for the project is now at peak, and she took the time to talk with the young leads about their experience on set and pass on some words of wisdom from her own storied career.
“In my career I’ve always found that building relationships is the foundation to a brilliant and varied career,” she said. “Putting yourself out there and trying something new, even if it feels out of your comfort zone. Emily and Betty have already gone above and beyond and shown what true professionals they are! It was a pleasure to be able to share my experiences with them.”
Deeply proud of both Emily, Betty, and every youngster involved in bringing Holly & Ivy to life, Gareth Thomas added: “These girls have been an absolute dream to direct and have not put a foot wrong during production. The whole project has been one big shop window for why our award-winning work experience programme, The Jack Morris Initiative, is the best around for up and coming talents looking to break into the industry and Betty and Emily have been right at the heart of that.”
