1

THE MALTESE FIANCEE

Format: An interactive film with 3 main narratives.

Genre: Culture clash romantic-comedy.

Budget: £1,000,000

Filming: 2k digital 1:85 aspect ratio

Principal Photography: 6 weeks – January/February 2022

Language: English

Location(s): Malta

Length: Total of 240 minutes. One playthrough about 70 minutes.

Writer-Director: Paul Raschid

Producer: Neville Raschid

Log-line: A British-Indian man takes his fiancée to meet his traditional-but-eccentric parents on a family holiday to Malta.

Elevator Pitch: ‘Meet the Parents’ crossed with ‘Crazy Rich Asians’.

Narrative Outline

Arjun, a millennial British Asian male, meets 3 women from different social & ethnic backgrounds: Yewande (Black British), Nafisa (British Asian Muslim) and Matilde (White European).

Depending on the viewer’s choices, one of these encounters develops into a long-term relationship. The romance blossoms to the point that Arjun must introduce his fiancée to his traditional Indian Hindu family who live an eccentric life on the island of Malta.

The narrative can unfold in 3 distinct directions, depending on which woman Arjun takes to meet his family as each member responds differently to Yewande, Nafisa or Matilde.

Within each narrative, Arjun must make decisions to navigate an increasingly mad-cap visit to Malta. Most crucially, these choices will also define his relationship with his family and fiancée, even when one must come at the expense of the other.

All 3 narratives will explore familial preconceptions and the sociological/racial/religious prejudices that are notorious amongst South Asian families where romantic matchmaking is concerned.

2

WISH-LIST CAST

CHARACTER ACTOR NOTABLE CREDITS Four Weddings And A Funeral (Amazon), Artemis Fowl (Disney) Arjun Nikesh Patel

Industry (HBO), Cobra (Sky)

Matilde Marisa Abela

Doctor Who (BBC)

Nafisa Mandip Gill

Gangs Of London (Sky) Pippa Yewande Bennett- Warner Goodness Gracious Me (BBC), The Kumars Arjun’s Mother At No. 42 (BBC)

Goodness Gracious Me (BBC), The Kumars Arjun’s Father Sanjeev At No. 42 (BBC) Bhaskar

Goodness Gracious Me (BBC), Eastenders Arjun’s Aunt Nina Wadia (BBC)

Goodness Gracious Me (BBC), Blinded By Arjun’s Uncle Kulvinder The Light (Ingenious) Ghir

3

WRITER- DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The interactive film is a fascinating innovation in storytelling. If the video game is a ‘lean forward’ viewing experience and a standard linear film a ‘lean back’ viewing experience, then the interactive film is somewhere in between.

It gives the viewer new agency and challenges them to become much more involved in the story than a standard film. Thus, you get an immediate USP.

So far, I have made 4 interactive films in 4 different genres. ‘The Complex’ was a sci-fi thriller, ‘Five Dates’ a romantic-comedy, ‘Deathtrap Dungeon: The Golden Room’ a fantasy-adventure and ‘The Gallery’ a hostage-thriller.

Out of these genres, I want to return to the romantic-comedy as I feel there is so much more I want to explore. ‘Five Dates’ was about online dating during the pandemic. So, it was filmed over Zoom with me directing the actors and technicians remotely. As we emerge from the darkness of the pandemic, I want to get back to this favourite genre of mine without the confines of filming via Zoom and create an interactive story about in-person connection.

Why does the rom-com have eternal appeal? Because the challenge of finding one’s life partner is eternal. You can locate the rom-com in any country, in any language, time or context. You find your soulmate, you lose your soulmate, you struggle to win them back or maybe a new one emerges. The struggle is often the key.

At the heart of ‘The Maltese Fiancee’, are serious social issues relating to the South Asian (primarily Hindu) prejudices where matchmaking and marriage is concerned. That’s the struggle at the heart of the story.

Mahatma Gandhi said that some aspects of Hinduism were more abhorrent than British colonial rule. ‘The Maltese Fiancee’ deals with these aspects.

Malta is a fascinating place. It has been at the heart of a number of important moments in world history. The Romans settled on the island around 200 BC. It became a key part of Europe from around 1000 AD. For the next 500 years, Malta was an important element in the conflict between Christianity and Islam. This culminated in the Knights Templar being given charge of the island around 1530. The Templars repelled the planned Ottoman invasion of Europe in the 1560s. Finally, during WWII, Malta was a key base for Britain in its struggle against Nazi Germany.

I will be drawing on the above in the film.

4

INTERACTIVE FILMS

- Interactive films are of the moment.

- There has been relatively little content created in this innovative format of visual storytelling. In December 2018, Netflix released the interactive feature ‘Bandersnatch’ as part of the ‘Black Mirror’ series. In March 2019, Netflix announced a strong commitment to Interactive content following the success of 'Bandersnatch’.

- Some interactive projects have released exclusively on video game platforms. In 2020, Paul Raschid’s interactive films - 'The Complex’ and ‘Five Dates’, released on Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Steam and iOS/Android. Both were critically and commercially successful within the gaming community. Paul also wrote and directed ‘Deathtrap Dungeon: The Golden Room’ – an interactive fantasy-adventure short film based on Ian Livingstone’s multi-million selling ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ book series. It released in 2021.

- Paul is currently the world’s most prolific interactive filmmaker. Since April 2020, he has had 3 interactive film releases with a 4th currently in post-production.

5

PAUL RASCHID

Paul has 7 credits as screenwriter and/or director:

THE GALLERY an interactive hostage-thriller currently in post-production to be completed in late 2021.

DEATHTRAP DUNGEON: THE GOLDEN ROOM an interactive fantasy released in June 2021.

FIVE DATES an interactive rom-com released in November 2020.

THE COMPLEX an interactive sci-fi thriller released in April 2020.

WHITE CHAMBER a sci-fi socio-political thriller that played 10 film festivals around the world. Lead Shauna Macdonald won a BAFTA Scotland Best Actress More info & showreel: award for her performance. It released in 2019. www.paulraschid.com WINTERSTOKE HOUSE a psychological-supernatural horror completed in 2019.

UNHALLOWED GROUND a teen supernatural thriller which won awards at the British & London Independent Film Festivals. It released in 2015.

6

InterActivisions

- The Maltese Fiancee is the second title in the Aviary Studios series of interactive films titled InterActivisions.

- The first title in the series is ‘The Gallery’.

- The Gallery completed filming in March 2021 and is in advanced post production.

- Please visit the IMDb page via the link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14317746/

7

DEADLINE

‘Vikings’ & ‘Chronicles Of Narnia’ Actors Starring In Interactive Movie ‘The Gallery’ From ‘Five Dates’ Director By Tom Grater International Film Reporter

March 30, 2021 3:31am

The Gallery Rishi Rai

EXCLUSIVE: George Blagden (Vikings, Versailles) and Anna Popplewell (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe) will lead the cast of The Gallery, a UK interactive hostage- thriller project that will also be delivered separately as a linear film.

The feature contains two narratives, one following a female protagonist which takes place in London in 1981, and one following a male protagonist which takes place in London 2021. They both depict an art gallery curator being held hostage by a portrait painter who threatens to detonate a bomb unless their demands are met.

The project comes from director and writer Paul Raschid, who last year helmed the interactive romantic comedy Five Dates, which starred actress Mandip Gill and Vikings actress Georgia Hirst. That film was released on platforms including Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo and Steam.

The Gallery will be completed by October 2021. Shooting took place in February and March this year. The producers are aiming to release both a linear version of the film which can play at festivals, and an interactive version that can be released on online platforms.

Cast also includes Rebecca Root (The Queen’s Gambit), Shannon Tarbet (Beast), Fehinti Balogun (I May Destroy You) and Kara Tointon (Eastenders). The producer is former studio exec Neville Raschid.

8

- The Gallery was selected to be the centrepiece of an industry event at Cannes 2021. MARCHE DU FILM - CANNES NEXT

Stornaway.io – The Gallery Stornaway.io is the universal interactive storytelling toolkit designed by a team with deep knowledge and expertise of TV and Film production workflows. At its heart is a magically simple creative-friendly web application which lets you plan, produce and publish interactive video stories and games. Launched in May 2020 and already being used by top TV and film production companies on pitches for streaming platforms, Stornaway.io provides an affordable Saas product for independent video producers globally.

Paul Raschid is currently one of the world’s most prolific interactive filmmakers. In 2020, his interactive thriller ‘The Complex’ was released in April and was followed by interactive rom-com ‘Five Dates’ in November which Paul wrote and directed wholly in lockdown and filmed entirely over Zoom. ‘The Gallery’ is the first instalment of his interactive series titled INTERACTIVISIONS, a 4.5 hour interactive film created using Stornaway.io’s ground-breaking platform, which lets producers plan, edit and publish interactive films and video games as part of a regular film production workflow, letting the creator focus on the storytelling and putting all the budget on screen, not into the tech

9

COMPARABLE FILMS

Title Year Budget £ Revenues Comment Late Shift 2016 1,200,000 3,333,333 Actual The Complex 2020 750,000 1,250,000 Actual The Gallery 2022 850,000 1,500,000 Projected The Maltese Fiancee 2023 1,000,000 1,830,000 Projected

THE MALTESE FIANCEE – INVESTMENT PROFILE

Description £ Amount

Budget / Investment (1,000,000) 100%

EIS Rebates 300,000 30%

Filming Incentive 1 - Malta 320,000 32%

Filming Incentive 2 - UK 50,000 5%

Net Sales Income 1,306,947

sub-total Income 1,976,947

Net Investor Returns 976,947 98%

NOTES

1) The assumption is that the full £1,000,000 is raised from EIS Investors. Thus, EIS Rebates are 30 % of £1,000,000.

2) The Malta Cash Rebate is 40 % of the eligible spend. Per the Budget this is £ 800,000. So, 40 % of £800,000 or £320,000.

3) The UK Film Tax Credit is 25 % of the eligible spend. Per the Budget this is £ 200,000. So, 25 % of £200,000 or £50,000.

4) Net Sales Income of £ 1,306,947 comprises the 1,830,000 revenues less the profit shares to actors, writer-director and producers.

5) This Investment profile and the sales projections are based on Aviary publishing on the Game platforms as 1st Run.

6) There is the upside that one of the Hollywood Studios and their Streaming service or Netflix or YouTube buy the title for $5 million!

10

BUDGET - £ GBP

Budget Malta £ UK £ Total £ 1 ABOVE THE LINE a PRODUCER FEES 48,000 12,000 60,000 b SCRIPT & DIRECTOR FEES 52,000 13,000 65,000 c PRINCIPAL ARTISTES 100,000 10,000 110,000 Total "Above the Line" 200,000 35,000 235,000 2 BELOW THE LINE A CAST 34,500 - 34,500 B PRODUCTION DEPT. 61,450 - 61,450 C PRODUCTION DESIGN 49,200 - 49,200 D SFX + ACTION / STUNTS 43,100 - 43,100 E ACTION VEHICLES 3,000 - 3,000 F COSTUMES / WARDROBE 26,850 - 26,850 G MAKE-UP & HAIR 17,050 - 17,050 H CAMERA 53,400 - 53,400 I SET LIGHTING 44,700 - 44,700 J PRODUCTION SOUND 16,600 - 16,600 K TRANSPORT 6,000 - 6,000 L LOCATION FEES 50,000 - 50,000 M LOCATION CATERING 28,960 - 28,960 N LOCATION EXPENSES 50,000 - 50,000 O UNIT PUBLICITY 2,000 - 2,000 P ACCOUNTING 6,750 4,000 10,750 Q EDITING- OFF LINE - 18,250 18,250 R POST-PROD PICTURE/ON-LINE - 20,000 20,000 S VFX - 24,800 24,800 T MUSIC - 30,000 30,000 U POST PRODUCTION SOUND - 40,000 40,000 PICTURE DELIVERABLES V - 5,000 5,000 W AUDIO DELIVERABLES 5,000 5,000 X INSURANCE 4,300 1,000 5,300 INTERACTIVE ENGINEERING Y 90,140 13,950 104,090 Total "Below the Line" 588,000 162,000 750,000 3 INDIRECT COSTS a BANK CHARGES 8,000 2,000 10,000 b LEGAL FEES 4,000 1,000 5,000 Total Indirect Costs 12,000 3,000 15,000 TOTAL (1 + 2 + 3) 800,000 200,000 1,000,000

11