Alan Mcdonald and Ryan Mchenry Starring

Home , Anna and the Apocalypse, Mark Benton, Paul Kaye, Roddy Hart

Directed By: John McPhail

Written By: Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry

Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcom Cumming, Ben Wiggins, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Marli Siu, Mark Benton and Paul Kaye

Produced By: Naysun Alae-Carew, Nicholas Crum and Tracy Jarvis

Running Time: 92 minutes

#AATAMovie

Table of Contents

p.3 Introduction Synopsis p.4 About the production

p.5 The origin of the story p.6 Setting the Tone The Characters and Cast p.8 The Shoot p.9 The Music p.11 The Look

p.12 About the Cast p.14 About the Crew p.19 Credits

2 Synopsis

A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven - at Christmas – forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world and, with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other…

Long Synopsis

From Orion Pictures comes the zombie holiday musical ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, directed by John McPhail and based on the 2010 BAFTA winning short “Zombie Musical.”

In ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven - at Christmas – forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world and, with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other…

ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE stars Ella Hunt (“Robot Overlords,” “Cold Feet”) as Anna alongside a breakout cast including Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins and Marli Siu. The film also stars Mark Benton (“The Halcyon”) as Anna’s father Tony and Paul Kaye (“Game of Thrones”) as Mr. Savage, the villainous school headmaster.

McPhail directs from a screenplay written by Alan McDonald and the late Ryan McHenry (“Zombie Musical,” “Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal” videos); with original music by Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly. Naysun Alae-Carew and Nicholas Crum of Blazing Griffin and Tracy Jarvis of Parkhouse Pictures produced the film.

Orion Pictures presents a Blazing Griffin Film in association with Parkhouse Pictures Creative Scotland and Constellation Creatives, “Anna and the Apocalypse” is set for release in select for November 30, 2018 with an expansion through the holidays.

3 ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas…

About the Production

From director John McPhail and a fresh young cast of breakout stars comes a fun, action-packed, music-driven horror comedy with original songs by composers Roddy Hart & Tommy Reilly conceived in the spirit of the late Ryan McHenry's BAFTA-winning short film "Zombie Musical."

A story of innocence lost, growing up too quickly, and the perilous burden of a ravaged world left in the hands of the young, ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE is — despite its morbid premise — a rousing, furiously inventive, and unforgettably entertaining musical experience destined to enchant audiences for years to come.

Bridging the gap between The Rocky Horror Picture Show and High School Musical while anchoring its story within present-day concerns, the film arrives at a time when the cultural conversation is dominated by the excesses and shortsightedness of the ruling generation, and the difficult choices the next generation will be forced to make in the not-so-distant future.

"This film has a very clear message — it's about the kind of world we leave behind for our kids," says Ella Hunt, who plays the lead role of Anna. "Our producers worked hard to ground the story in reality and play up the emotions as authentic — to show these characters as relatable and real people. These are not stereotypes, and I think that's what sets the film apart from other musicals and teenage stories."

Young people growing up in an uncertain world and contending with death and destruction is also very much on the movie's mind. "All zombie films are a social commentary in some way, and this one grapples with what we're leaving behind for our kids," says McPhail. "The movie is concerned with where the

4 next generation is headed. It's about growing up, leaving high school and facing life's responsibilities — but also taking stock of the world your parents have left in your hands."

The film is also designed to be a collective experience and seasonal hallmark, enjoyed in a group setting across repeated viewings, with sing-alongs strongly encouraged. "Five years from now, I would love to see people going to cinemas and singing along to the movie as a holiday favorite," says McPhail. "That would be my dream."

THE ORIGINS OF THE STORY

The film began its journey to the big screen as a short film conceived by director Ryan McHenry and co-writer Alan McDonald as a school graduation project, which in time grew to become the BAFTA-winning short film "Zombie Musical." Inspired by the 2006 Disney Channel phenomenon High School Musical, McHenry wanted to push that film's premise one step further by having his own characters eaten by zombies. "It was while we were making the short film that we all began to realize how much fun it would be to make a feature version of 'Zombie Musical,'" says original producer Nicolas Crum, who went on to producer ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE.

In his spare time, as "Zombie Musical" came together, McHenry was also making Vines in a series called Ryan Gosling Won't Eat His Cereal, which went viral, making the young filmmaker Internet famous. "There was a huge opportunity to push ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE because he had so much visibility with the Ryan Gosling Vines," says producer Nasun Alae- Carew, who grew up with McHenry.

But tragedy struck at the moment "Zombie Musical" was completed, and the Gosling Vines were turning McHenry into a hot commodity online. He was suddenly diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Everything was put on hold while Ryan went through treatment, insisting as he battled cancer that the feature film be completed no matter what his fate.

McHenry passed away some months later in 2015, just as his production team was beginning the development process of the feature. "In some ways Ryan's death gave the project a lot more meaning because the story had always been about what it means to be young in a violent world, and what it means to survive in a world left behind by your parents," says Alae-Carew. "But our film took on a much more personal meaning at that point because we were young people in our own right dealing with personal tragedy."

McDonald completed the feature-length script and Alae-Carew and Crum began looking for directors to bring McHenry and McDonald's vision to life. When director John McPhail was approached, he fell for the script immediately — and not just because of its hilarious original premise. He also warmed to the project's considerable heart. "I really love film that have good characters and heart and story," says McPhail. "When I read the script, I was bowled over by the jokes too. I felt like I could have written it and I instantly wanted to be a part of it."

5 British actress Ella Hunt found herself equally won over, warming to the script's highly original take on a zombie musical set during the holidays. "From the first read I could see that despite all the craziness in the world of the story, Anna was a completely authentic, relatable and complex character," says Hunt. "I auditioned and met the whole team, we did some chemistry reads, and it felt very natural and real. We all clicked together so quickly, it was an absolute dream."

SETTING THE TONE

ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE is set in the sleepy town of Little Haven, somewhere in Scotland — though it could be any town in the world. Taking its primary inspiration from Kingston Falls in the classic summer hit Gremlins, Little Haven has all the hustle and bustle of any small town, while harboring dark and lonely corners where zombies come to lurk at every turn. Little Haven is a place that is familiar to many, whether they grew up in a town like it, visited one at some point in time, or experienced it through other movies. It's an idealized version of the idyllic hamlet many grew up in and longed to escape. What happens to Anna when the apocalypse comes to Little Haven could happen to anyone...

At its heart, the film is a character piece with a unique tone, carried along seamlessly by a fresh, young ensemble of actors playing teenagers trying to navigate everyday life in the wake of a zombie apocalypse. Custodians of a scary new world, the kids band together in song, dance, and zombie slaying, as they try to make sense of their strange new surroundings.

In the skilled hands of its young cast and crew, audiences laugh, shudder and cry in the tradition of genre sensations like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, films in which character and comedy mix together seamlessly. While the death count in these works is high, and several heroes are lost along the way, horror comedies like these tread a fine line between gut wrenching and heartwarming. For every scene of visceral carnage, there is comic relief close by to warm the cockles and tickle the funny bone.

"ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE starts out like a zingy teen comedy before it dives into the music and the characters on a slightly deeper level as you get to know them and share in their horror," says Hunt. "By the third act, it's full- fledged blood and guts, though you've come to love these people. Throughout the entire shoot, our director John McPhail was adamant about making people laugh as well as cry."

THE CHARACTERS AND THE CAST

Banding together to fight their way out of their zombie-infested town, the young heroes of ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE echo the central relationships in familiar classics like The Breakfast Club to Stand By Me. A character piece with an indelible ensemble, the film's unique and diverse young cast grounds the story while keeping audiences on the edge of their seats. The film's producers spent months looking for the UK's most exciting

6 emerging young talent — performers who could sing, dance, act, and kick zombie ass.

"While this is very much a zombie musical set during Christmas-time, it's also a coming of age story," says Hunt. "It's about a group of young people who don't know what to expect in their last year of school. They all have aspirations and dreams outside of the conventional (ones) and the movie traces their loss of innocence when the zombie apocalypse hits and they have to find a way to survive without their parents."

Adds McPhail: "The characters in ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE are crucial to its success, and the script takes its time building them up. The first act is a teen comedy — we're getting to know our characters and the world they inhabit. The second act is a horror comedy with a bit of mayhem and danger, and we lose some of the characters here. At the mid-point, everything shifts, and you start to really feel what these kids are dealing with. By the third act, you're committed to these characters, you'll go anywhere with them. I'm a firm believer that if you can make people laugh, you can make them cry."

To play such well-rounded and complex characters, McPhail looked for one key quality when it came time to cast the film — they all needed to be thinkers and questioners, like the young characters they were playing. "We always had an open conversation about character and dialogue for everybody in the cast. I very much wanted their thoughts to be a part of the process."

Following in the footsteps of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Katniss Everdeen comes central protagonist Anna, the next level of take-no-prisoners teenage heroics. Eighteen years old (though beyond her years), she's smart, independent and desperate to experience the world. Having lost her mother at a young age, she has a close relationship with her father, Tony, but she's come to outgrow her small-town life, determined to make her mark on the larger world.

Anna's best friend is John, played by newcomer Malcolm Cumming, a true friend in every sense of the word and an artist at heart. John sees beauty in life's fleeting moments, and dreams of going to art school. Despite his all-too- familiar struggle to survive the daily indignations of high school, as he fights to win Anna's heart, John remains the eternal optimist. In his fashionably illuminated Christmas sweater, he always finds a way to light up the room.

Steph, played by Sarah Swire — who also choreographed the movie's multiple musical numbers — is an intelligent and ambitious aspiring journalist who wants to report on the big issues and make people care about important things happening around the world, only nobody seems to be paying attention. Her parents live abroad, and her girlfriend lives in another city; both relationships remain strained. While she's comfortable alone, her natural pessimism leaves her feeling isolated, requiring more friendship and connection than she cares to admit.

Lisa (Marli Sui) and Chris (Christopher Leveaux) are a high-school couple, inseparable in their mutual affection for one another. Lisa's world revolves

7 around three things: performance, gossip, and her boyfriend. She could be the stereotypical Mean Girl if she weren't so lovely to the people she cares about. Everything enchants Lisa, and high school is her natural domain. She's full of advice and is never too busy for her friends. Chris is idealism personified and lives his life through his camera phone. A film buff soaked in pop culture, he views the world through a camera lens; whatever he focuses on receives his full attention and everything else blurs into the background. Except for his muse Lisa — the only thing more important to him than recording every little thing that happens in life and at school.

Army brat Nick (Ben Wiggins) is tough, handsome and driven by a need to assert his alpha superiority. Surrounded by a rough and tumble band of hangers-on, he's cultivated a bad-boy act and a dangerous reputation that has served him well in high school. But he makes up stories about his female conquests because he can't make himself vulnerable enough to attempt an honest interaction.

When the zombie apocalypse hits the sleepy town of Little Haven during the holiday season Anna and her friends have to fight, sing and dance to survive. As they quickly discover, being a teenager is just as difficult as staying alive during a crisis — even one playing out at the end of the world.

Heightening the emotional stakes is Anna's close relationship with her father, Tony, played by British actor Mark Benton, a veteran of several Mike Leigh features. Over the course of the film, father and daughter find themselves trapped at opposite ends of the small town they have lived in for their entire lives — with an undead horde keeping them apart. Anna's efforts to reunite with her dad, battling zombies with the help of her friends as they try and reach the safety of their high school, becomes the core journey of ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE. Losing loved ones along the way, the exhausted teens encounter additional conflict in the form of deputy headmaster Mr. Savage (Paul Hyde), who has gone crazy inside the school.

THE SHOOT

The producing team assembled a strong crew for the shoot, which took place on location in Port Glasgow, East Lothian and Falkirk, Scotland during the winter. Set against the backdrop of the Clyde River, the location's exteriors exuded a sense of rugged beauty and authenticity. "It's a rough part of town but the rolling hills are quite picturesque," says McPhail. "That's part of the charm of it."

Much of the action was shot in an actual school, temporarily vacated for the holiday break. "We had the run of the place and our first three weeks of shooting was based entirely in the school," says McPhail. "When the actors first arrived, they felt like they were back in high school again hearing people running and joking up and down the corridors."

The five-week shoot demanded absolute commitment from everyone involved, with cast and crew enduring the Scottish winter with pluck and smiles. With such a short shoot, the cast had to be quick learners. "Sometimes we would

8 have only an hour to learn a dance routine," says Hunt. "Often I was having to learn the fight choreography ten minutes before we shot the scene. We had to be on the top of our collective game — we didn't have time to not be."

Action is also a key part of ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, and the character of Anna has several action-packed scenes, making Hunt's physical training a priority prior to filming. Hunt trained with fight coordinator EmmaClaire Brightlyn, who sent her home after sessions to practice throwing punches in her bedroom mirror. "I had to start believing in myself as a survival fighter, and it took a lot of practice," says Hunt. "I took so much inspiration from the women around me, who encouraged me to be the most kick-ass version of myself I could be. Usually sets are very male-dominated but we had Emma, and female director of photography Sara Deane, and Sarah Swire doing choreography at the same time she played Steph."

Adds Hunt: "What's most interesting about Anna is the fact that she's kick- ass, but she's also real — she's terrified and wants to find her father, which gives her a mission, and in turn makes things slightly less frightening for her and her friends."

Hunt also battled freezing weather during the shoot, frequently wearing three jackets in between takes and having several hot-water bottles at the ready when cameras stopped rolling during exterior sequences. The Devonshire- raised actress also took some time getting used to McPhail's thick Scottish accent. "He's the most Glaswegian person you will ever meet," says Hunt. "When we started shooting I would have to wave to slow him down while he was talking; sometimes he'd just resort to sign language. But we were really connected in our vision for the character and he always took time to listen to me. He's a wonderful balancer, and there was no hierarchy — everyone could voice their ideas and opinions."

For many in the cast and crew, shooting ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE was a once-in-a-lifetime bonding experience. "This machine is filled with hundreds of cogs and if they don't work together then the machine doesn't operate at full capacity," says McPhail. "You need everyone to be working together towards the same end and that's exactly what I got, from the runners through to the Heads of Department. It was quickly evident that everyone involved in the film were unified in a vision to see it fulfill its huge potential."

THE MUSIC

Mixing genres and musical styles, the music in ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE was composed by songwriting team Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly and recorded in Glasgow before filming commenced; six songs had already been written by the time McPhail boarded the production, giving the director confidence that the project's musical structure was firmly in place before cameras rolled.

Producer Alae-Carew had met Hart on the set of a previous feature, Sunshine On Leith, where the young composer was working as an associate musical director. After agreeing to write the songs for the zombie musical, Hart turned

9 to his friend Tommy Reilly for help in conceiving the numbers. Songwriting partners from Glasgow, the pair had met while touring in 2009. Hart, who performs in the group The Lonesome Fire, is also a presenter on "The Quay Sessions" for BBC Scotland; he released the album Swithering in 2016. Reilly received a Scottish BAFTA nomination for his composition work after winning the Channel 4 reality TV show "Orange Unsigned" and sending his first single, "Gimme a Call" to #14 on the UK Singles charts. He currently has a publishing deal with BMG Music.

The duo gave themselves a week to compose two or three songs as ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE continued its development phase; but they found themselves in a flurry of creativity, creating several numbers that wound up in the completed film.

"We had an absolute blast writing these songs because you're jumping from motivation to motivation from a character point of view, as well as from genre to genre," says Hart. "One minute you can be doing a pop song and the next minute it's this weird samba/New Orleans jazz-influenced fusion of styles. For two repressed individuals who had been trapped in the singer-songwriter musical format for years, we had an absolute field day."

"They are such a good team and I knew right away I could trust them with my life," says McPhail. "Roddy is the thinker and Tommy is the one who takes action; watching them work in tandem was just amazing. It became a very collaborative process before cameras rolled, we'd meet on a Friday to talk about the script, the scenes, the individual songs, and where they were all going. They would share with me their most recent ideas as our vision assembled."

During the songwriting process, it became vital that the music and songs were interwoven seamlessly with the overriding narrative and texture of the film. The songs were developed in tandem with the writing of the script to ensure a propulsive plot, making the character arcs more powerful and emotive and at the same time strengthening and reinforcing the comedy at the heart of the story.

For the songs, Hart & Reilly fuse together a love of classic songwriting traditions found in such beloved stage shows as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, West Side Story and The Book of Mormon, while trying to capture the spirit, energy and nostalgia found in the great rock and pop songs the musical directors both grew up listening to. Roddy and Tommy wrote songs for the film that felt like they belonged on a classic lost album from the late '70s or early '80s, calling to mind the songs of Tom Waits, Queen, Hall and Oates, ABBA, The Smiths, and Bruce Springsteen. The result is a movie musical that sounds like no other.

For practical reasons, the musical numbers were recorded in a studio before shooting took place. Hunt, who had just wrapped principal photography on the feature film The More You Ignore Me, had to jump right into ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, having already rehearsed with Hart and Reilly before she began the previous feature. "It was a bit mad, but it was great to be thrown

10 into it already knowing the songs," says Hunt. "All I had to work on during filming was learning how to fight. It was a matter of working on Anna's physicality."

For McPhail, preparing for the song-and-dance-laden shoot meant brushing up on watching classic musicals. Prior to filming, the director's favorite contemporary musical was South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut; he was a newcomer to High School Musical and took in a production of the popular Broadway musical Wicked, before watching every classic musical he could find on DVD. "I love West Side Story now," says McPhail. "There's a wee nod to that in our film."

During rehearsals for one song that plays near the end of the film — in which Hunt was required to fight zombies while singing — the performer found the multi-tasking that was required of her to be particularly challenging and invigorating. Song rehearsals, and subsequent takes, were split up into specific sections, allowing sufficient time and space to cultivate the necessary emotions. Some songs required heightened emotions, others required physicality, or a combination of the two. "When you fight, you find yourself becoming breathless," says Hunt. "It was about getting the balance right between saving your breath and making the singing sound nice. Fortunately, we had plenty of time to master the musical takes, which was a luxury."

THE LOOK

In ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, the holiday season is the foundation of the film's production design, lighting scheme and color palette. Despite otherwise dark themes, it's a bright and colorful production, full of reds, blues, greens and yellows, particularly during the first two acts. As the story grows bleaker, and the world of the characters becomes more serious, the tone changes and the bright colors become murky. Taking inspiration from the '80s, in particular movies like Gremlins and Die Hard, the film opts for a mixed palette rather than the oversaturated look of more contemporary Christmas- themed films.

Visually, the camera was kept primarily wide during filming, especially during dance and action sequences, many of which were choreographed by actor Sarah Swire. As the tension in the story escalates, and the zombie apocalypse takes hold, closer shots were used. Director of photography Sara Deane combined gently crafter camera movements with drone shots to take in the epic scope of the apocalypse, allowing the audience to fully appreciate the spectacle of story, music and dance fused together.

"The dance numbers provide further subtext and heighten all the other components that are already there, so you're drawn into the story in an even deeper way," says Swire. "Numbers like 'Hollywood Ending,' which start out (light and frothy), become something more aggressive, anarchic and yearning. We had to learn how to use the space in the most efficient way possible, taking advantage of all the tools and tables and lights and fixtures, making all of them a part of the number."

11 ABOUT THE CAST

Ella Hunt (Anna) recently wrapped the new season of Mike Bullen’s award- winning comedic-drama "Cold Feet." She also has the lead opposite Sheridan Smith in the independent feature The More You Ignore Me, which will receive a significant release in 2018. Previously Ella has been seen opposite Ben Kingsley, Gillian Anderson and Callan McAuliffe in Jon Wright’s feature Robot Overlords, which premiered at the London Film Festival to strong reviews. She also had roles in the Clive Owen horror Intruders and the smash-hit film adaptation of Les Miserables. Ella plays leading roles in two upcoming feature films, starring alongside Victoria Justice in Summer Night followed by Boudica Films’ Kat and the Band with McFly’s Dougie Poynter.

Malcolm Cumming (John) is a Highland-born actor, currently based in Glasgow. He is completing his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Cumming has worked as an actor and Musical Director across Scotland with Eden Court Theatre, in the Edinburgh Fringe and in writing and devising his own work. ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE is his feature film debut.

Sarah Swire (Steph; Choreography) is a Canadian actress, choreographer and composer/musician. She is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her feature and short film credits include Listen Up Emily, God Help the Girl, Acres and Some Other Place. Recent theatre credits include Love Song (Dundee Rep Theatre), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Edinburgh Royal Lyceum), The Den (Barbican Theatre), and Little Red Riding Hood (Nonsense Room Prod.) She has worked as a choreographer and performer in music videos such as "Messiah" by Prides and

12 "Perfect Couples," "Allie" and "Nobody’s Empire" by Belle and Sebastian as well as choreographing Belle and Sebastian's 2015 tour across America and the UK.

Chris Leveaux (Chris) trained at ArtsEd in London. He has appeared in films including The Wicker Tree, Love Me Till Monday, Writer's Retreat and The Greatest Living Englishman. His theatre credits include the lead role of William in Punk Rock, directed by Emily Moir, the lead role of Julian in The Green Bay Tree, directed by Tim Luscombe and roles in Peter and Alice and Privates on Parade, both directed by Michael Grandage. Television credits include "When Boris Met Dave," "Well Funny," "Dark Matters," "37 Days," "The Crimson Field," "Theresa vs Boris," "The Halcyon" for ITV and most recently "Murdoch Mysteries" for CBC.

Marli Siu (Lisa) graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a First Class BA Hons in Acting and English Literature. Prior to that she was a member of the National Youth Theatre. Her television credits include "Dixi" and "Still Game," while her film credits include Grimm Street, Day Again, Scoring, Run and 7 Minutes. Siu has performed in the stage plays Misalliance (Orange Tree Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing, Little Red and The Wolf, The Witness For The Prosecution (Dundee Rep Theatre), Dead Letter Office and Emma (New Celts).

Ben Wiggins (Nick) has appeared in the films Mary Queen of Scots and Cam2Cam, while his theatre credits include Henry V (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Middle Temple Hall), Son of a Precariat (Southwark Playhouse), Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hayfever and Romeo and Juliet (all for Changeling Theatre), Here: The 99% (Lyric Hammersmith), Proof and Lord of the Flies (Sell A Door Theatre Company), Motortown (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). He has been seen on TV in "Will," "Doctors," "Casualty," "Rules About Making Money," and "Which is Witch."

Mark Benton (Tony) is one of the UK’s most-loved actors. Hailing from Middlesbrough, he trained at RADA and went on to work with Mike Leigh on Career Girls and Topsy-Turvy. His most recent film credits include Richmond in Eddie the Eagle, opposite Taron Edgerton and Hugh Jackman, and David Walliams’s Ratburger. Mark has been leading many TV series for over 20 years, including "Clocking Off," "The Street," "Land Girls," "Waterloo Road" and "The Halcyon," and comedies like "Early Doors" and "Outnumbered." He also lead the "Northern Lights" series for four

13 years. Mark is about to be seen as a title role in new BBC drama Shakespeare and Hathaway.

Paul Kaye (Savage) is a multi-award winning leading British actor. Originally training in theatre design, Paul came to prominence via his creation; the celebrity interviewer Dennis Pennis who adorned the television screens during the 90s, a character he finally killed off in the feature film Dennis Pennis R.I.P. He is known for his work in the feature films It's All Gone Pete Tong, Blackball, Cass, Waz and Dracula Untold, to name a few. In television Paul has had extensive success playing leading roles in shows such as "Two Thousand Acres of Sky," "Kingdom," "Pulling," "Stella," "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell," "Doctor Who" and "Fungus The Bogeyman." More recently Paul has been seen internationally as Thoros of Myr in the HBO smash hit series "Game of Thrones" and as Duncan Hammer in "Lilyhammer" for Netflix. Paul's performance in BBC's harrowing drama "Three Girls" was met with critical acclaim in 2017, when he also joined the cast of BBC and Netflix’s drama "Wanderlust," opposite Toni Collette.

ABOUT THE CREW

John McPhail (Director) began his career working in the camera department. Six years later he made his first short film, a romantic comedy called "Notes." The film picked up the Best Scottish Film award at the Bootleg film festival in Edinburgh. "Notes" has gone on to screen all over the UK and North America, picking up awards including Audience Choice, Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor and Best Editing. Later that year, he released "V for Visa" and "Doug & Steve's Big Holy Adventure." "V for Visa" went on to win the Best Director accolade at TriBeCa Film Centre in New York as part of the Bootleg Film Festival. John’s next short "Just Say Hi" was entered into to the Virgin Media Shorts Competition, winning two out of the three awards, making him the only director in the competition’s history to win multiple awards. The film was later picked up by the Très Court International Film Festival where it was screened in over 100 cities in 23 countries. John’s crowd-funded feature film Where Do We Go From Here? had its world premiere at the Sydney Indie Film Festival in Australia where it was nominated for eight awards and won Best Film, Best Score and Best Supporting Actress.

14 Ryan McHenry (Co-Writer) burst into Internet fame in 2013 with his "Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal" Vines. The weird, high-concept 6.5-second videos captured a huge audience on the nascent social media platform, with journalists claiming his videos validated the existence of Vine. Within a couple of months of Ryan’s success, he was diagnosed with a rare kind of bone cancer. The Vine community rose up in support around him, launching a successful crowd-funding campaign. His fans and the media followed his treatment until he sadly passed away on May 2, 2015. ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE is based on Ryan’s original BAFTA-winning short film "Zombie Musical," and was being developed as his debut feature.

Alan McDonald (Co-Writer) has written extensively across multiple media and has a number of projects in development with Blazing Griffin as well as several spec television pilots in industry circulation. He is currently working on the upcoming CBBC show "Fear Falls." He was narrative writer on video game Distant Star, which won a Best Video Game BAFTA in 2015. His supernatural television pilot "Bastion" was a quarter-finalist in the Screenwriting Goldmine competition 2012, and was recognized in the Channel 4 Screenwriting Course in 2013.

Naysun Alae-Carew (Producer) is a Co-Founder and Executive Director of Blazing Griffin, focusing on business development and building its film production and post- production departments. By bringing together three distinct companies: Blazing Griffin, Picturelock Media and Haphazard Media, and structuring substantial investment into the new Group, Naysun propelled the new Blazing Griffin Group into the prime position of one of Scotland’s major media companies. Between 2010 and 2013 Naysun worked as a junior producer with Black Camel Pictures, where he developed and helped deliver Outpost 2, Outpost 3 and Sunshine on Leith. He was also Transmedia Producer for the Outpost films, as well as editing the third film. In 2011 he won a New Talent BAFTA for Best Producer for the short "Zombie Musical," which was also nominated for Best Director and Best Original Music. His other shorts have won numerous festival awards. Naysun is a graduate of the University of St Andrews with a first class MA (Hons) in Economics and International Relations. He won the William Blair Memorial Prize for Best Academic Performance in Economics because he loves spreadsheets so much.

Nic Crum (Producer) is a Film Producer at multimedia studio Blazing Griffin, focusing on building a slate of projects across film and TV. Before moving to Blazing

15 Griffin, Nicholas was a Producer at Haphazard Media developing new and exciting commercially oriented film and television projects. In 2014, Nicholas produced the feature film All The Ordinary Angels, based on the 2005 award-winning play of the same name, for the British Youth Film Academy. In 2013 Nicholas produced two concept shorts, "City" starring David Hayman and "Exodus 21:24" starring Dom Watters. From November of 2010 to December 2011 Nicholas was Development Associate with Leo Media & Entertainment Group, working closely with writers on story and script for numerous international TV and feature film projects, as well as helping to develop their financial packages. In 2010 Nicholas was recognized as one of the top 6 emerging producers in the North West and subsequently supported through the Produced By scheme, run by North West Vision and Media and Forward Films.

Tracy Jarvis (Producer) is the Founder and Executive Director of Parkhouse Pictures, a British film company dedicated to making high quality feature films and television for audiences in the UK and around the world. Tracy has gone on to produce a modern adaptation feature film of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which was shot in Austria and is currently in Edit. Tracy has decades of experience in the world of media and finance having spent over 10 years working for a top International bank and is also the co-founder and executive director of renowned UK Theatrical Agency Beresford Management. She has years of experience working with major film companies including Walt Disney, HBO, Sky, BBC and ITV and has an expertise and passion for casting, particularly when discovering new talent.

Roddy Hart & Tommy Reilly (Composers) are a Film and TV songwriting partnership from Glasgow, Scotland. Independently of each other they have released a number of critically acclaimed solo albums and met in 2009 whilst touring across the UK. The music for ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE combines a love of film with their diverse indie background. Alongside his band The Lonesome Fire, Hart has worked with Coldplay/Morrissey producer Danton Supple and Mogwai/Arab Strap’s Paul Savage. In 2014 he was nominated for the Scottish Album Of The Year Award, which was followed by a six-night residency performing on CBS’ "The Late Late Show" in the USA. Hart acted as Associate Musical Director on the motion picture musical Sunshine On Leith, and also works as a broadcaster, presenting "The Quay Sessions" for BBC Radio Scotland every week. His most recent record, Swithering, was released late 2016. Tommy Reilly has a Masters in Sound For The Moving Image

16 from Glasgow School of Art, and received a Scottish BAFTA New Talent nomination for his composition work in 2016. He first rose to prominence after winning the Channel 4 TV show "Orange Unsigned." Shortly after, Reilly's first single "Gimme a Call" reached number 14 in the UK Singles Chart. He is currently published by BMG Music and is due to release a new record in 2018.

Sara Deane (Director of Photography) has been working as a DOP for nine years after graduating from the NFTS, shooting 14 features and numerous shorts since. Her work has screened in festivals such as Berlin, Locarno, Sitges and London, winning best cinematography at the Van d’Or Independent Film Awards 2012. She has shot documentaries in the Grand Canyon, on mountains in Mexico, on boats in the Atlantic, and in settlements in the Philippines. Her commercial work has been nominated for Best Cinematography at Milan Fashion Film Festival and Underwire, as well as Best Branded Content for Shots. Prior to becoming a DOP she worked as a clapper loader for many years.

Ryan Clachrie (Production Designer) hails from Dumfries and with a strong interest in art and design began his film career in his teens, making shorts with Ryan McHenry and Naysun Alae-Carew. He has a degree in Animation and Design, designed the BAFTA New Talent Award winning "Zombie Musical" short film in 2010, before heading to Glasgow to pursue a career in the Art Dept and Props Dept in Film and TV. Since then, he has worked in a variety of positions within Art and Props on projects ranging from short films to blockbuster feature films such as Trainspotting 2, Avengers: Infinity War and Outlaw King.

Maxine Dallas (Make-up Designer) has had a varied and exciting career in Film & Television for over 15 years. She worked with many respected and award-winning designers in her career before stepping up to make-up designing herself. Recently she has been Make-up Designer on Warp Films feature For Those In Peril, Black Camel feature Outpost3: Rise Of the Spetnaz, BBC drama "Shetland II, III and IV," BBC's "Jonathan Creek" and ITV's "Benidorm." She was the make-up artist on feature films Filth with James McAvoy, The Wife with Glenn Close, Legacy with Idris Elba and Valhalla Rising with Mads Mikkelsen.

Fiona Morrison (Costume Designer) is a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art and has been working in the Scottish Film and Television industry since 2011. Independent short films provided an excellent training ground to develop her

17 design aesthetics and on-set skills. Following that she worked as standby and supervisor on a variety of contemporary and period drama filmed in Scotland, including the recent remake of Whisky Galore, BBC's "Rillington Place" and "The Replacement." She has recently returned to education at Glasgow University to pursue a Masters degree in Dress and Textile Histories, and further her interest in costume and dress as a tool for studying identity and social history, while continuing to work as a Costume Designer.

W I T H P E R S O N A L T H A N K S T O

CARM ELI A ALAE-CAREW • V EN US & KEN ALAE-CAREW • D EBBI E BAM FORD & JOH N STOKER • W I LLI AM BARBER • STEV E BARKER • M AGGI E & STUART BROW N LI E • ALASTAI R CALLAGH AN • M I KE CALLAGH AN • D AV I D CRUM • H EATH ER CRUM • AN GELA & STEV E CRUM • V I CTORI A D ABBS • ALLAN D AV I D SON • I AN D AV I ES • JEN D OLAN • RUTH FOULI S •

AN D REW FREELAN D • M ARK GED D ES • SCOT T GI LM OUR & CLAI RE M CKEN Z I E • TH E D RAM A & SH OW KI D S OF GREEN FAULD S H I GH • M ARCUS H ARBEN • SAM JACK • SCOT T JOH N SON • ELI Z A M . Y. LAU • D AN I EL LI T TLE • PETER M ACRAE • D I N AH & H ARRY M ARRI OT T • STEPH EN M ARTI N • JOYCE M ATTH EW S •

ELEAN OR & TOM M CD ON ALD • M EN AI M CD ON ALD • JOAN N E M CGUI N N ESS •

AN D REW M CI N TOSH • FAM I LY O F RYAN M CH EN RY • JACKI E & JOH N M CPH AI L • PAUL M CPH AI L • CYRI L M ÉGRET • GRAN T M I D D LETON • ALAN M OSS • N EI L N ORM AN • LEO ROBB • M AN DY SH AN N O N

Footage used under license from Shutterstock.com

Filmed on location at Port Glasgow, Greenock, Glasgow, Livingston and Falkirk

Developed in association with Black Camel Pictures

In association with the South West Scotland Screen Commission

Forward Films supported by the BFI's Film Fund

Supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland

International Distribution by AMP International

This film is a work of fiction and the characters, locations and events portrayed in this film are also entirely fictitious. Any resemblance between them and actual characters or events is therefore entirely coincidental.

The motion picture is protected under the laws of the United Kingdom, the United States of America and other countries. Any unauthorised exhibition, distribution or reproduction of this motion picture or any part thereof (including soundtrack) may result in severe civil and criminal penalties.