HUMAN CARGO (2019)

Cyberpunk Studio's  Award Nominated Short Film

 Set in a future where Britain has a system in place to regulate the birthrate, Joanna and Greg are police officers assigned to collect women who breach this law and take them into custody for emergency procedures.

STORY BREAKDOWN

Human Cargo is a short film set in a dystopian near-future where Britain has a system in place to regulate the number of children being born in the country. This grew out of the MiHealth App, which scans your vitals via technology such as a smartwatch and gives you medical and nutritional readouts to keep you healthy. To combat overpopulation, the system has been subverted for the use of population control by detecting and criminalising any women who remain pregnant without a licence.​

Joanna Barnsley and Greg Snider are two police officers assigned to collect women who breach this law, and take them into custody for emergency terminations. Joanna, believing she's infertile due to endometriosis, eventually finds herself on the wrong side of the law when she's suddenly gifted with a miracle baby.

Knowing that she doesn't earn enough to meet the registration standards, and knowing this may be her only chance to have a child, she is left with a difficult choice. Take the termination fluid as expected, or break the laws she's upheld up to this point and become a criminal.

CAST

SAMANTHA ANDERSON as JOANNA BARNSLEY

Joanna Barnsley is a professional but sympathic cop whose duty is to bring in illegally pregnant women. As the story progresses,  she finds herself questioning the morality of her work and receives a nasty surprise...

LEWIS CARTWRIGHT as GREG SNIDER

Greg Snider, a sarcastic and unsympathetic cop. Working alongside Joanna to bring in unsanctioned pregnancies, Greg's  past is the key to his cold and often offensive demeanour, but his family situation is about to get a whole lot more complicated.

ALICE RYAN as DIANA FREDERICKSON

Diana Frederickson - A woman whose unsanctioned pregnancy starts the story rolling. The trauma, injustice and harm she suffers earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Romford Film Festival (2019).

Rory Joscelyne
Alice Ryan
James Wilsher
Craig Hallums
Toby Dunham
Joshua Evison

Daniel Keeble
Steve McCartney
Stewart Cope
Vanessa Leigh
Susie Brown
Michael Winborne
Scott Montague
Paul Joscelyne
Jane Joscelyne
DIRECTOR, WRITER, EDITOR
PRODUCER
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR
STORYBOARD ARTIST
SOUNDTRACK COMPOSER
POSTER ARTIST

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
SOUND ENGINEER
VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR
HAIR AND MAKEUP KEY
PRODUCTION MANAGER
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
CATERING
DRIVER, SPECIAL THANKS
SPECIAL THANKS
Samantha Anderson
Lewis Cartwright
Alice Ryan

Jimmy Allen
Sue Hickey
Zoe Berry
John Newell
Elizabeth Kaye
Drew Gosling-Stiller
Susie Brown
JOANNA BARNSLEY
GREG SNIDER
DIANA FREDERICKSON

SURGEON
DOCTOR
WAITING ROOM LADY
WAITING ROOM MAN
WOMAN AT CAFE TABLE
MAN AT CAFE WINDOW
COLOURFUL HAIRED WOMAN

PRODUCTION STILLS

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STORYBOARDS

Created on a £2000 budget and filmed over 3 days, this award nominated short has caused a ripple of excitement and controversy in its wake. A film about the destruction of the lower classes in a very near-future Britain, this film was produced prior to the appealing of women's reproductive rights in Alabama, and prior to the revelations that video game company Activision was requesting pregnant staff's healthwatch information. Timely, important, and brutal - Human Cargo's premise has given rise to demand for a feature, which we are currently using sales of this short to help fund. Purchase your copy on Blu-Ray or on Amazon Prime Video HERE.

Here we share a little art that goes behind the scenes to give you an idea of what goes into making the film. A few storyboards, several concept artworks and a smattering of behind the scenes content.

COSTUME DESIGN