Two Hats Films

Two Hats is a not-for-profit organisation set up by a collective of professional actors, writers, musicians and directors in 1997 to produce high quality theatre and film for the local communities in Warwickshire.

With many critically acclaimed productions to their name, the company maintains this ethos

Calling the Tune

Calling the Tune is a co-production with Wartime Productions

Based on Roger Harding’s 2002 studio production, Calling the Tune starts in 1980 in the Loire Valley, mid-western France. Elizabeth visits her estranged, housebound mother Gisele. But is she really housebound ? Why has she not ventured out for 30 years ? Why does she keep the shutters closed ? Slowly Elizabeth teases out Gisele’s past –  though she would much rather not reveal the real reason for her shame. 

But music lies at the heart of the mystery .....

... took us back to 1980 where a mother and daughter were battling with their troubled relationship. As the secrets of the past unfolded with a deliciously complex plot the audience was taken to France during the German occupation in the Second World War.

The unusual subject helped the play and somehow the two actors in a bare farmhouse kitchen managed to recreate the fear and excitement of the war...

... it was the plot which carried the play. Its inventive twists and teasing way we found out about the lives of the characters was a delight. - Emma Hardwick ****

Leamington Courier

  • We have enlisted the help of Lee Craven pyrotechnics to liven things up a bit. 

Here is a sample of the explosive effects produced by Arc of Fire

We are pleased to say that the 21st Infantry have agreed to help us shoot some of the flashback scenes. We shot this sequence for publicity purposes

  • Aaron square.JPG
  • Bob square.JPG
  • Tsukushi square.JPG
  • Emma clip
  • FB_IMG_1595676091425
  • Aaron square 2.JPG
  • FB_IMG_1595676067222
  • FB_IMG_1595543269098
  • IMG_1706
  • Aaron square 3.JPG
  • Gustave square.JPG
  • Team square.JPG

Lockdown Recitals

During lockdown we have not been idle, recording four lockdown recitals at the Holst Museum, with social distancing. We hope to have the recitals edited and uploaded by the time the museum opens, hopefully on Holst's birthday in September. Sukushi, John, Adam and Aaron were a joy to work with

  • Clock square.JPG
  • IMG_20200315_150046258
  • 20200308_120716
  • Group square.JPG
  • Kitchen window square.JPG
  • Cooker square.JPG
  • Scales square.JPG
  • Bob Emma W square.JPG
  • Bob Emmeline square.JPG
  • Parlour square.JPG
  • Table square.JPG
  • Skullery square.JPG
  • Emma W dress square.JPG
  • Rog Millie square.JPG
  • Emmeline square.JPG
  • Setup square.JPG
  • Tabe 3 square.JPG
  • Bob square.JPG
  • Skullery 2 square.JPG
  • Emmeline dress square.JPG
  • Sally square.JPG
  • Rog square.JPG
  • Team square.JPG
  • Emmeline Emma W square.JPG
  • Team 2 square.JPG

A Woman's Life

Just before lockdown, we completed shooting A Woman's Life by Sally Jones, at the Holst Museum in Cheltenham. Imagining a meeting between Clara Holst

and Mrs Beeton, Sally's script highlights the living conditions of women about a century apart. A Woman's Life stars Emmeline Braefield and Emma Wilkes

A trailer is available here

STOP PRESS

AWL is now on Film Hub, which helps distribute films to different channels.  It went live on 29 November and has already been taken up by a channel called Reveel, so here's hoping more channels pick it up soon!

Stop Press

A Woman's Life finished the preliminary round of @liftoffnetwork in 1st place! Thank you so much to all those who voted! 

We are now in the finals, so keep your fin#liftoffglobal 

#awomanslife #indiefilm #liftoffglobal

  • IMG_20210505_105958164.jpg
  • IMG_20210505_174439546.jpg
  • IMG_20210505_153001314.jpg
  • IMG_20210505_152933073.jpg
  • IMG_20210505_100148411.jpg
  • IMG_20210505_123732240.jpg

Shooting of A Woman's Life has been completed, with a couple of days of pickup shots at the Gustav House Museum in Cheltenham - a lot of the shots lit by candle light. Pleased with the results !

  • SH Warwick corner shop 2
  • SH Warwick corner shop 1
  • SH The director puzzles over his own script
  • SH Spooky finds
  • SH SH 1950s phone
  • SH SH 1940s wireless
  • SH Preparing the hanging sequence
  • SH Period milk bottle
  • SH Outside Loft Theatre 5
  • SH Outside Loft Theatre 3
  • SH Outside Loft Theatre 2
  • SH Kitchen scene lighting
  • SH Kitchen scene 2
  • SH Kate Willis
  • SH Kate Willis 2
  • SH Hanging setup
  • SH Ghostly exterior lighting
  • SH Exterior 6
  • SH Exterior 5
  • SH Exterior 2
  • SH Equipment check
  • SH Ed Pinner as Hatton
  • SH Cal the Camera on slightly damp grass
  • SH Cal lying down on the job
  • SH Cal 4
  • SH Bob the Boom
  • SH Bob the Boom 2
  • SH Andrew ready for his bedroom scene
  • SH Aircraft
  • SH Adam 2
  • SH Adam 1
  • Laurels square.jpg

The Shakespeare Hauntings

We made a TV pilot for Birmingham TV and also entered it for the Filming Shakespeare competition - for which it was sortlisted. Andrew Cullum, Kate Willis and Gus MacDonald brought the characters to life

Trailer for The Shakespeare Hauntings

  • The Wrong Funeral 62
  • The Wrong Funeral 63
  • The Wrong Funeral 71
  • The Wrong Funeral 72
  • The Wrong Funeral 73
  • The Wrong Funeral 76
  • The Wrong Funeral 78
  • The Wrong Funeral 79
  • The Wrong Funeral 81
  • The Wrong Funeral 82
  • The Wrong Funeral 83
  • The Wrong Funeral 85
  • The Wrong Funeral 87
  • The Wrong Funeral 88
  • The Wrong Funeral 90
  • The Wrong Funeral 91
  • The Wrong Funeral 93
  • The Wrong Funeral 94
  • The Wrong Funeral 95
  • The Wrong Funeral 96
  • The Wrong Funeral 97
  • The Wrong Funeral 99

The Wrong Funeral

When octogenarian John Corvin innocently mounts a one-man production of King Lear, he inadvertently exposes a trail of suspicion, corruption, deception and carnage leading all the way to the Ministry of Defence - involving MI5 surveillance, murderous undertakers and five of the world’s most detested dictators. The Wrong Funeral – featuring the slowest car chase in cinema history. An Independent British feature length film  

Trailer for The Wrong Funeral

We filmed about 30% of the film in six days for use in pitching. Since then there have been about 26 re-writes - and the screenplay is now much tighter and funny, thanks to the input of Joe Pavlo. 

In these dark days, maybe a black comedy is exactly what is required ....