'Slammer' at the Cannes Film Festival

Last month Ted Baybutt StB’97 was delighted to spend an action-packed week in Cannes screening his first feature film, Slammer, to the Film Festival 2023.

Since leaving Worth Ted has worked on projects which have enabled him to continue his love of film; from studying the subject at university to developing MovieSweep, a TV quiz show for movie buffs; from producing and directing award-winning short films and hundreds of corporate films, to working as the MD of a film festival consultancy company with stints at Tribeca and Berlin.

Ted's directorial debut, Slammer is a full-length sci fi thriller starring Felicity Kendal. When pioneering scientist Ann Waterman is kidnapped, becoming a human lab rat in a futuristic prison cell, she must confront her personal demons and decipher the identity of her captor to uncover a mystery of global significance. Influenced by thrillers such as Dial M For Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) and Oldboy (Chan-wook Park, 2003), Slammer is a story with a future-tech twist, presenting a combination of reality and alternative reality.

The story of the production of the film is a thriller in its own right, being shot during the Covid-19 pandemic with all the extra challenges to staffing and location strategies. Extra crew were brought in to ensure the appropriate safety measures were in place and to ensure compliance with the ever-changing rules, including daily testing for those involved in the production, with the enduring possibility that they would have to stop at any point. However, they got everything in the can, which made the first preview screening at a full-house event at London’s iconic Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square in September 2021 even more special.

The film is particularly special for Worth because, as an independent British film, it has been possible with the mentorship, encouragement and support of alumni brothers Richard StB’75 & Mark Breen StB'77, with much of the film being shot at their offices which became movie studios for a week!

Ted recalls doing his first work experience as a film runner at Ealing Film Studios during the summer holidays of his second year at Worth. As he recalls, “It was a seminal moment as it was whilst working on the film The Secret Agent - a great film to work on with a truly incredible cast – that I decided to be a film director, and that spark became stronger during my media studies lessons at Worth taught by Fr, now Abbot, Mark Barrett. Other Worth staff who helped me along the way were the late Fr Charles and St Bede’s Housemaster, Nick Robinson, to name a few”. It’s fantastic to see that spark survived and has contributed to Ted’s successful career in film and media so far!

Please follow www.slammerfilm.com for the release date.