Jamie Robson, Jowan Jacobs and Jack Brownridge-Kelly to star in ‘Open Country’

Up-coming short drama Open Country will feature actors from across Cornwall and Scotland, with Jamie Robson, Jowan Jacobs and Jack Brownridge-Kelly all set to feature in lead roles.

​Jamie Robson’s previous credits include the BAFTA Scotland winning short film My Loneliness is Killing Me (2018), Charlotte Wells’ Sundance nominated Blue Christmas (2017) and Ross A. Wilson’s up-coming feature Spin State (2022). 

Jowan Jacobs’ credits stretch across both film and theatre, most notably as Hugo Leigh in Mark Jenkin’s BAFTA winning feature film Bait (2019), as well as theatre work with Wildworks, The Minack Theatre and Coppice Theatre.

Jack Brownridge-Kelly makes his first step into film work, bringing an extensive background in theatre, with credits including The Minack Theatre and Ha-Hum-Ah’s production of Carl Grose’s Superstition Mountain (2022), Titus Andronicus (2018), Twelfth Night (2018) at the Globe Theatre, and The Velveteen Rabbit (2019).

Open Country explores a tense male relationship between brothers and cousins as they attempt to find common ground with each other following a death in the family. The film is currently being written and shaped through workshopping with the principle cast, with Jonny Dry writing the script in collaboration with each actor’s character development. 

The short film, directed by Jonny Dry, commissioned through the Exeter Phoenix South West Short Film Commission 2022, and produced through production company Studio Erma, is due to shoot in the summer in Cornwall. The finished film is expected to premiere at the Exeter Phoenix Two Short Nights Film Festival in 2023 before beginning its wider festival run.