I can now tick “attend a red carpet film screening” from my bucket list thanks to the Bright Young Things Film Club.
On Tuesday 9th June 2015 I attended the film screening of Guidance by Canadian film director, writer and actor Pat Mills. I went with Maria from Pulse Laser Clinic – and because there’s “only” 8.6 million people in London… it turns out Maria already knew Bridget from the Bright Young Things Film Club, even though this was the first time she attended one of their screenings.
The event took place in the beautiful Screening Room at The May Fair Hotel in London.
The film Guidance is the story of former child actor David, whose life is going nowhere and therefore tries to re-invent himself by faking it as a teenage guidance counsellor.
The script is superb, combining wit, humour, social commentary and compassion. And then there’s Pat Mills’ on screen performance – I could not help to notice his resemblance to Philip Seymour Hoffman in his delivery and charisma. Pat manages to portray this heartbreaking sense of vulnerability and need for connection most beautifully.
I would definitely recommend watching Guidance: it’s 80% comedy and 20% drama – and the comedy elements come at the most unexpected moments, which makes them even more hilarious.
Pat Mills was available to answer questions during the Q&A session after the screening via Skype. He said that the film had only a faint connection to his real life – he was also a child actor on the Nickelodeon show “You Can’t Do that on Television” in Ottawa.
Pat went to film school in Toronto and started his directing career shooting short films and TV shows. Guidance is his first feature film: it was shot over only 15 days (but editing took 6-7 months for the sheer volume of improvisation footage).
Pat’s latest feature film is Don’t Talk to Irene.
Find out more about future film screenings from the Bright Young Things Film Club.
