Roles: Writer, Editor, Director of Photography
THis WAS FRED
A low-level criminal with a conscience, Jude Cobie wants out of the local mob. This proves difficult when he and his partner are thrown a job beyond their expertise—ending in catastrophe.
Writer, Editor, Director of Photography
SYNOPSIS
Jude Cobie has drawn a bad hand. He and his partner Smythe are bottom-of-the-food-chain lackeys for a local mob boss. Brought up Catholic, Jude has a problem cleaning up after hits and disposing of bodies—though his more experienced partner has no qualms. Jude wants to leave, but at the crux of his decision, he and Smythe are given a job that might change their prospects, a job way out of their expertise—one with devastating consequences.
Exploring the internal struggles of a criminal with a conscience, This Was Fred is the story of a man’s attempt to overcome his circumstances and “get out” of a life where “getting out” generally involves a body bag.
Concept
Alex, Ricky, and I were big fans of Guy Richie films when we embarked on this project (my personal favorite is Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). We liked their grittiness, their situationally dark humor. It was an exercise of ours to capture that vibe and stay consistent with it in story and picture.
We knew we wanted a redeemable character (this became Jude Cobie); someone who was operating in hues of gray and wanted out. When I wrote the script, I initially wrote Cobie, our protagonist, as a secondary character because I enjoyed writing the character of Smythe, Cobie's partner. Smythe had a lot of vibrancy and was particularly rough around the edges, but he was a flat character with really no room for a lot of change in a short film. It made the story a lot more compelling to write Cobie as the protagonist. Besides, Cobie's desire to leave the mob added a natural tension that made his character a lot more interesting.
