Getting cheeky in film

CHALLENGE: WHEN STEVENS WAS TOLD TO STICK TO TV, HE SAID 'WHY?'

- Hein Kaiser

(Pictures: Supplied)

Imagine deciding to make a movie because someone else told you that you can’t and that you should rather stick to your knitting? Well, that’s exactly what happened when a film industry professional told Yusuf Stevens.

In 2018, Cheeky Studios had just won a Safta for Winging It, a reality show that did very well for the company. Stevens already had an itch to do something beyond TV and his dream at the time was to produce a feature.

“I was chatting to another winner backstage who basically said that film wasn’t for me and we must just carry on doing what we are good at” he said.

“That pushed me. I went home thinking, you know what, we'll see about that.”

Cheeky Studios had built its reputation on television, commercials and unscripted projects. After the snub, Stevens began exploring what it would take to make the leap into film.

“I caught up with actor, presenter and director Jonathan Boyton Lee, who’s always had a love for cinema and we started brainstorming ideas,” he said.

“By early 2020, we had shot a teaser trailer, calling in every favour we could. Then lockdown hit and suddenly we were editing remotely and sending files back and forth, trying to make it work.”