Project Background
In 2019, the New Yorker published a story about a company in Japan, in which the employees are hired to perform as family members for any number of social, political, professional, or emotional reasons.
Digging into the psychology of this behaviour, and recognising what drives it within ourselves emotionally, is what sparked the idea for this film.
Funded via an Indiegogo campaign, and vast contributions of time from our collective networks, I Want To Make You Happy was a labour of love.
Synopsis
I Want To Make You Happy follows Tim, a man with a job that requires him to pretend he's the father in around 10 different single parent families, and he's really good at it.
Trouble arises when one of his previous 'daughters' learns about the lie and tracks him down. The company say they're taking care of it, but then Tim learns that her mother passed away and that no-one's looking after her. He has to decide between his own happiness, or the happiness of all of his other families.
Full Credits
Director
Ben Mallaby
Producer
Rebekah Renford
Written by
Mark Brennan & Paul F. Taylor
CAST
(in order of appearance)
Sharon
Tim
Midwife
Baby
Stephanie
Zoe
Penny
Melanie
Sharon's Dad
Sharon's Mum
Dickie
Rachel
Chris
Laura
Sara
Phil
Mrs. Archer
Alex (demo child)
Elaine
Lisa
Rebecca Shorrocks
Paul F. Taylor
Sally Armstrong
Denver Lyons
Stephanie Boyle
Zoe Boyle
Lilly Dewar
Rebecca Callard
Bernard Taylor
Susan Gwynne
Richard Rycroft
Anna Crilly
Amer Chadha Patel
Elena Saurel
Katharine Bennett-Fox
Sunil Patil
Jessica Fostkew
George Turner
Marie Lawrence
Ellie Bindman
CREW
Associate Producers
Production Manager
Production Coordinators
1st Assistant Director
Director of Photography
Focus Puller
2nd Assistant Camera
DIT
Sparks
Production Designer
Hair & Make-up Artist
Sound Recordist
Runner
Photographer
Editor
VFX
Music
Sound Design
Colourist
Titles
Angela Dee
Agnes Fabian
Rebekah Renford
Will Garrood
Freya Lawrence
Axel Garkman
Steven Gray
Jacob Sacks-Jones
Jay Notley
Neena Afzal
Amber Tunstall
Dan Wheatley
Edzus Viksna
Sam Hotson
Laura Smith
Olivia Mclean
Carlos Zaghis Junior
Holly Whitbread
James Frederick Barrett
Thomas Stevens
Michael Healy
Robert Telezynski
Finlay Maccaulay
Katie Linard
Ben Watson
SPECIAL THANKS
Charlotte Dewar
Victoria Emslie
London South Bank University
Possible London
Chris Jones at Chancery Lane Drafthouse
Piers O'Kelly
Russell Hinton
Saima Ferdows
Jody Smith
Alex Wilson
Carl Austin
Nico Ratanavong
Bernard Taylor
Susan Gwynne
Diane Bindman
Bella Mallaby
ALL of our amazing Indiegogo backers, especially
Martin Byrne
Sam Yafi
Karen Kay
Lisa Redpath
Amit Chauhan
Behind the Scenes
