Private Project

Unknown Number

So wrapped up in furious heartbreak, a young woman doesn’t notice that her frequent cold-callers are saying something she might actually want to hear.

An off-beat, romcom-drama about love, hate and spam callers.

  • Julie Mayhew
    Director
  • Julie Mayhew
    Writer
    As a novelist: Red Ink, The Big Lie, Mother Tongue, The Electrical Venus. As a radio dramatist: Stopgap, A Shoebox of Snow, The Electrical Venus, Polygamy Fpr Girls
  • Julie Mayhew
    Producer
  • Dan Rowley
    Producer
  • Jayne Trotman
    Producer
  • Anna-Marie Wayne
    Key Cast
    "Claire"
    The War Of The Worlds, Disappearing in America, Basement Jack, Spike
  • Dan Rowley
    DOP
  • Sam Hodge
    Editor
    The Choke, In Mud and Rain, Miss Edison, Aurorua, Beyond The Line, The Shipping Forecast, A Simple Night Blues.
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 45 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 12, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    1,900 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Julie Mayhew

Julie was a BAFTA Guru Pro mentee 2016, completed LOCO's Kickstart comedy film training 2017 and was subsequently chosen as a participant in the prestigious BFI Network x BAFTA Crew scheme for 2017/18 and 2018/19. Her debut short as a screenwriter, ELSIE: PRINCE OF DENMARK, completed principal photography in Julie's hometown Peterborough in 2017, with a cast that includes Sally Phillips (SMACK THE PONY, BRIDGET JONES, VEEP). Encouraged by female mentors met through the BAFTA Crew scheme, Julie is now directing her own work. The short, UNKNOWN NUMBER, starring Anna-Marie Wayne (THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, DISAPPEARING IN AMERICA) is her debut.

Beyond film, Julie is an award-winning author of five novels, RED INK, THE BIG LIE, MOTHER TONGUE, THE ELECTRICAL VENUS and the forthcoming lead Bloomsbury (Raven) title IMPOSSIBLE CAUSES. She has been twice nominated for Best Drama at the BBC Audio Drama Awards for her Radio 4 plays and was twice awarded an Arts Council England award for her stage plays.

Representation: Yasmin McDonald at United Agents (Media), Louise Lamont at LBA (Books).

More at www.juliemayhew.co.uk

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My novel writing tends towards the dark side, but in drama I naturally incline towards finding the light. As soon as I script two people talking, there is always humour - even when this seems least approriate. I'm hugely influenced by the heightened aesthetics of the silent era, and in a sense, I wanted UNKNOWN NUMBER to be a silent movie with sound. I am hungry for more comedy on short film programmes, and also for more short films that really are short. I also want to see more women-led stories, and more women leading the charge behind the camera. With all this mind, UNKNOWN NUMBER is my contribution. I love comedy that is trying, beneath all its light and playfulness, to say something serious, important or meaningful. I hope I've achieved this in some small way with Claire's story. She is trying to create a beautiful, organised external life, without paying attention to the chaos within. She is quick to feel hate, because hate is less scary and easier than love. Also, her situation raises the question of how we know what to listen to in a modern, noisy world.