Martina Silcock & Claire Leona Apps, Happy Outlier Pictures
Language: English
Based On: Original Screenplay
Project Type: Feature Film (Scripted)
Genre: Mystery
Stage of Development: Seeking cast and financing
Estimated Length (minutes): 115
Director: Claire Leona Apps
Director Bio:
Claire Leona Apps is a British-Canadian award-winning writer and director raised in Hong Kong and educated at Imperial College and the London Film School. Working across film, audio, and prose, With a folk-horror, noir eye, she crafts films with a striking visual language, shaping moral perception and questioning how the audience assigns fault to her characters.
Her debut feature, And Then I Was French (2018), is a psychological thriller that subverts the romcom into a whimsical yet violent take on obsession. Her other writing/directing credits include the Arts Council commissioned Girl Blue Running Shoe, Gweipo, Ruminate, and Ages of Man, the latter screening at 15+ international festivals and winning numerous awards. Her fiction shorts have aired on the BBC, been shown at the Great North Museum, and premiered at festivals including St. Louis, Cork, East End, Florida, and North East International. Her work spans documentary and music video, and she has worked with outstanding actors such as Francesca Annis and Rebecca Hall.
Her Audible Original fiction podcast Aqua Tofana (12×30-minute episodes, 2027) reimagines the 17th-century poisoner Giulia Tofana as the matriarch of a death-dealing sisterhood. Half prose, half audio play, the series is in talks for a TV adaptation and audiobook edition. Her short fiction has appeared in For Page & Screen Magazine, The Basilisk Tree, and Permafrost (print).
She is currently in development on Grip of the Kelpie Mother, winner of the Bold Voice Award at The Writers Lab Canada 2026. A BAFTA Talent and Stowe Story Labs Scholar (2023), she is also the Founder of Dog Eared Studios, a creative hub and production space in Central London.
Percent Confirmed: 0 - not including applicable tax incentives
Currency: CAD
List names of confirmed partners:
Nova Scotia Producer - Melani Wood/Small Engines Film Production Inc. Eligible for Nova Scotia Tax Incentive. Seeking clarity on ability to use Screen Nova Scotia Content Creator Fund. Speaking with BFI about additional UK funding.
What is this project seeking?
Financing, Distribution, Sales Agent, Canadian Agency Info
Logline:
Haunted by tragedy, Ines, an outsider in the remote town of Glenbray, uncovers a body on a Cape Breton beach. Determined to reunite him with his mother, she must confront the town's generational trauma - and her own - before the shape-shifting spirit of a kelpie lures her into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Contact Information: martina@happyoutlier.com
