The Talent

*BIFA-NOMINATED*
*In-competition at Oscar-qualifying festivals including: Clermont-Ferrand, Palm Springs ShortFest, deadCenter, ShortShorts, Busan ISFF*

On the set of a luxury car commercial, an overlooked assistant seizes his chance to get noticed by the star.

Filmed on a Virtual Production Stage, THE TALENT is a tense exploration of masculinity, desire and becoming.

Starring Golden Globe nominee Emma D'Arcy.

  • Thomas May Bailey
    Writer-Director
  • Ellen Spence
    Producer
    Baked Beans (2022)
  • Emma D'Arcy
    Producer
  • Emma D'Arcy
    Key Cast
    "Tommy"
    House of the Dragon, Mothering Sunday, Truth Seekers
  • Leo Suter
    Key Cast
    "David Murphy"
    Vikings: Valhalla, Sanditon, Victoria
  • Rhianne Barreto
    Key Cast
    "Stella"
    The Outlaws, Share, Honour
  • David Mills
    Key Cast
    "Host"
  • Karl Queensborogh
    Key Cast
    "Lee"
  • Andrew Bone
    Key Cast
    "Miles"
  • Robert Rapoport
    Key Cast
    "Brian"
  • Marco Alessi
    Executive Producers
  • Ray Okudzeto
    Executive Producers
  • Matt Hichens
    Executive Producers
  • Anna MacDonald
    Cinematography
  • Frankie Bradshaw
    Production Design
  • Tom Foskett-Barnes
    Music
  • Rosie Lakin
    Editor
  • Matt Waites
    Sound Design
  • Luke Hunter
    Virtual Art Department
  • Joseph Bicknell
    Colour Grade
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Thriller, Satire, Black Comedy
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 21, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • BIFA Nominee: Best British Short
Director Biography

Thomas May Bailey is a London-based writer and director. He began working in film in 2020 after an eight-year career as a theatre director, during which he trained on the National Theatre Director’s Course and worked as Resident Assistant Director / Digital Associate at the Donmar Warehouse in London. Theatre directing includes: 'Isolate Ensemble' (Donmar Warehouse), 'Callisto: a queer epic' (Arcola Theatre), and 'Romeo and Juliet' (Southwark Playhouse, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre).

In film, he worked as Assistant to the Director on 'Persuasion' for MRC / Netflix. He wrote and directed the 'Filmcase' series of micro-shorts for Identity Drama School in association with Netflix. He was awarded a Developing Your Creative Practice grant by Arts Council England to explore emerging narrative technologies, which included Virtual Production.

https://www.thomasmaybailey.com/

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The Talent explores the vividness of imagined destinations and the difficulty of reaching them.

Emma D’Arcy plays Tommy, a transmasculine production assistant working on a high-end car advert. Tommy longs for recognition, respect, adoration. When movie-star David arrives to feature in the commercial, Tommy starts to follow a trail of breadcrumbs that might just lead him to stardom, to David, and to the truest version of himself.

Reflecting Tommy's adrenaline-induced ambition, the film flits between bustling on-set life, a raucous late-night chat show, and the artificial zen of a faux-philosophical car advert.

When you really want something, the imagination takes over. The future can feel so tangible that it starts to feel like fate. But when you know what you want but don't know how to get it, a gulf opens up: between where you are, and where you want to be. It's this gulf that adverting exploits ('buy this, you'll become a better version of yourself'). Our protagonist desperately wants to become a better version of himself. The car advert he's working on seems to provide all the answers he's been looking for.

These themes — of self-actualisation, of longed-for masculinity, of advertising intersecting with fate — bubble just below the surface of the thriller-like plot. They're underlined through visual motifs like reflections, frames, monitors, watching from afar, and through a fast-paced edit that juxtaposes different possible realities all vying for supremacy.