Pet Name | Romantic Déjà Vu Haunts an Anxious Avoidant Relationship (Award Winning Short Film)

Pet Name is an award winning darkly comic exploration of the anxious-avoidant relationship dynamic. On the morning of his birthday, anxious Sophie discovers that avoidant James has recycled her cutesy pet name “Goose” from a previous girlfriend. With their special day now poisoned and the relationship beginning to unravel, they both embark on a desperate search for authenticity in a world that feels increasingly unoriginal.
Pet Name stars 2022 BAFTA Breakthrough artist Ambika Mod (This is Going to Hurt, I Hate Suzie) and Spotlight 2019 nominee and stage actor Conor Joseph (A-Typical Rainbow, The Tempest).
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Pet Name by Dan Boaden
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"From the start, we had the story structure built around that vicious anxious-avoidant relationship cycle, so we knew the journey each character had to go on to reach the final story beat. We then spent a while bouncing around scene ideas and dialogue, unearthing microaggressions that either resonated with our own experiences or those we’d seen leave tiny scars on others. From there we looked for moments where we felt either wronged or very much on the ‘right’ side of the argument and tried to re-examine it (with enough time having passed) and think, “Did I paint that person as the villain because it was easier that way? Did they really say that thing in that tone?” When you imagine the other person’s recollection of that fight you start getting an entirely different story altogether."
Read our full interview with Dan
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// Credits //
Director - Dan Boaden
Producer - Amille Jampa-Ngoen
Writers - Amille Jampa-Ngoen and Dan Boaden
Cinematographer - Andrew Butler
1st AC - Trevor Murphy
2nd AC - Keith Williams
Gaffer - Alex Rigert-Harnden
Spark - Khulu Khabo
Spark - Tom McGoldrick
Production Designer - Laura Little
Hair and Makeup Designer - Eva Allan
1st AD - Richard Holmes
Sound Recordist - Harrison Ridley
Casting Director - Sydney Aldridge
Location Scout - Beth Ellsmore
Editor - Louise MacGregor
Composers - Aaron May & David Ridley
Colourist - Alex Marshall
Sound Design and Dubbing Mixer - Guy Chase
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