Red Productions are having a bumper year and their latest ITV offering, Prey, is set to add to their success.

Based in Manchester the drama follows Marcus Farrow played by John Simm, on the run from the police as he tries to prove he didn’t murder his wife and young son.

This is the first script from writer Chris Lunt, ‘It was a long process but I’m definitely pleased with the result. The story and the characters evolved quite naturally and then when we met with Nick and Tom and they got the vision for the show just right – it just all came together.’

Prey is gripping, fact paced and filled with emotion and as ever with drama production had to be done on a fairly tight budget. A range of new techniques were used which meant resources could be spread differently than that of a ‘traditional’ shoot.

‘We did lots of things differently and although budget is always a consideration, it wasn’t the main motivating factor in this case’, explains director Nic Murphy. ‘This shoot needed to be quick and efficient – any changes we made were with that aim’.

‘One of the biggest differences’, says director Nick Murphy ‘is that we didn’t light in the traditional way. We had a great DoP who helped us to get the most out of our cameras. So we only had a couple of battery panel lights and the rest was natural or available lighting. Not only did we save money but also rigging time.’

We also scrapped the ‘video village’ and instead just had two small wireless monitors. It meant everyone was much more mobile and involved.

The shoot involved some ambitious stunts including flipping a police van across a dual carriageway and the lead actor jumping from a motorway bridge but actor John Simm wasn’t put off,’ I loved everything about this shoot, it was unlike anything I’d ever done before.’

Exec Producer, Nicola Schindler added, ‘We’re really proud of Prey – this kind of production wouldn’t work for every project but the results here just blew us away.’

 

Prey is a Red Productions film for ITV