Writer and director Damon Rickard has been an attendee at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest for a number of years. It was during a screening at the festival that he realised that he wanted to not just be watching films, but also making them. He then began work on some short films, which later screened at the event. This last weekend, Rickard achieved his ultimate dream – debuting his first feature, Never Have I Ever, at FrightFest. The film may be his first foray into features, but Rickard has managed to cast some familiar faces, including Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey’s Amber Doig-Thorne, Andrew Lee Potts, and FrightFest acting royalty, Graham Skipper.
In Never Have I Ever, Sam (Andrew Lee Potts) is having a bad day. He is battling an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, is late on a deadline for a writing gig, and risks having to pay back an advance he can’t afford to. Then a series of strange incidents start happening to him… A chance encounter whilst drowning his sorrows sends his already bad day spinning in directions he couldn’t have seen coming. All roads lead back to an incident from his youth and a butterfly effect, which sees him embroiled in a continually escalating game of deadly cat and mouse.
On the day of Never Have I Ever’s screening at FrightFest, several of the cast and crew walked the media wall. THN were there and spoke to Amber Doig-Thorne, Andrew Potts, Damon Rickard, and Beatrice Fletcher about how this film came together. We discussed Damon Rickard’s journey from FrightFest attendee to filmmaker, how Andrew Lee Potts and Beatrice Fletcher worked to create a safe space for the story, and why this was such an important film and role for Amber Doig-Thorne to be a part of.
Never Have I Ever had its world premiere at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest. News of a release is yet to be made but THN will keep you posted.
