King Wray

In a neon-noir world, we tell the story of Nate, an insecure 21-year-old who performs a mediocre cover act show for a living. When he is contacted by his suspected father Ike, a legendary masked musician called ‘King Wray’, star-struck Nate thinks fate has come knocking. But Ike’s acceptance of Nate is conditional. Together with a ruthless record label owner called Meg, they make an outlandish proposal. Nate must wear Ike's iconic mask and perform as King Wray onstage, while a crippled Ike sings from behind the scenes – together faking an epic comeback. Craving validation on all plans, Nate agrees, and they set off on tour. He rises to the challenge but soon realises Ike’s dominating presence is crippling his potential. Egged on by Dawn, a troubled and rebellious band member, Nate begins to take over. Ike pushes back, considering his son a direct threat to his identity, and refuses to yield control. Surrounded by depravity and hedonism, the electropunk tour slowly descends into mayhem.

Director’s statement
The themes we address in this film spawn from our own personal experience as brothers growing up with an over-controlling parent. We ask - how hard can it be to break away from parental influence if your father is an icon adored by millions? With Anton drumming in a garage punk band, this has surrounded us with the perfect anarchic backdrop to our film, which we’ll bring to life by using a one-of-a-kind hybrid technique. We’ll combine live-action filming (character relatability) with 2D/3D animation (music and emotional personification), blending both into a captivating and original style.