SEASALTER ROAD
Directed by Will Kenning
Produced by Julia Parlato & Mark Rush
Produced by Julia Parlato, Mark Rush, & Will Kenning
Following the sudden death of their mother, a pair of estranged siblings must revisit their family home and fractured relationship.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Will is an award winning director, writer, and editor based in Bedfordshire. Originally trained as a classical actor, he transitioned into film in 2009 and has since directed commercial campaigns for global brands including Häagen-Dazs, Walmart, and Gillette. In August 2025, Will wrapped principal photography on the London gangster feature “Hit”;, starring Robert Davi and Shona McCarty, slated for release in 2026. He is currently in pre-production on his debut feature as writer-director, “Body Bank” - a bloody action thriller shooting in early 2026 in conjunction with Rebel Yeah!. His award-winning short films have screened at numerous BAFTA and Academy Award-accredited festivals worldwide. “Tap Boy” won the 2022 Challenge Alexa Award, supported by ARRI and Directors UK. “Geoff” made the 2019 BAFTA longlist and won Best Short and Best Director at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival 2018. “The Legend of Bob Leonard” won Best British Short at the Satisfied Eye Festival ands screened at over 35 international festivals. Will is also a member of BAFTA Connect.
Julia is an Italian, Maltese actress, writer and producer, born and bred in London. She co-wrote and produced the short drama, Seasalter Road. She recently co-wrote, co-produced and directed a mini-series of comedy shorts with her comedy trio ‘Unhinged Comedy.’ Alongside filmmaking, Julia performs on stage and screen and recently wrapped on the WW1 drama ‘Indian Summer.’ She also runs the writing collective ‘Scene Gym’, workshopping brand new scripts with emerging actors, writers and directors.
Mark hails from Kilkenny in Ireland and moved to London in 2010. He is a writer, producer and actor with over ten years’ experience in the industry. He co-wrote and produced the short drama, Seasalter Road, that was programmed by 18 film festivals across the UK, Ireland and the United States. Notable selections include Exit 6 Film Festival, North East International Film Festival, Dam Short Film Festival, and Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (Semi-Finalist). It recently received the Best International Short Film award at Short. Sweet Film Fest - a US short film only film festival curated by working filmmakers.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH JULIA, WILL, & MARK
Tell us about the genesis of Seasalter Road. Where did the idea come from?
JULIA: Mark and I were interested in exploring adult sibling relationships and the nuances and shifts that happen within them, compared to childhood dynamics. We’d had a quite a few chats about how our own relationships had evolved with our siblings and how certain patterns still played out into adulthood.
We were curious to explore our own experiences of these relationships within a narrative where both characters suffer the death of a parent and how this loss can precipitate change between them. Both Liam and Steph are forced to question their own patterns and face their grief in unique and personal ways.
MARK: I have always found it interesting how we often see our siblings through the lens of childhood. We have these ideas of who our siblings are and often they become fixed in our minds. When in reality, we all change and develop as we grow older and to not allow our perception of our siblings to also change is a disservice.
The initial ideas for a lot of the story came from my mum telling me about doing this exact same process with her sister. She told me how it was hard for them both, but how they appreciated this time together because they knew each other so much better at the end of it.
A particular memory she had was of going through my grandfather's clothes one day to decide which clothes to give away or to keep for us grandchildren. She found he had this coat and tails suit for going out dancing. And even though it was a boiling summer day in July, she decided to put it on, turn on some music, and have a dance around her parents' home. When she told me this story, I could see it play out in my head. It was almost like a short film, and I thought we had to include it in Seasalter Road. And we did adapt it for our story, but I'll let you watch the film to see how!
How did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?
JULIA: Mark and I had regular writing and brainstorming sessions, chats over tea, and walks out in the Suffolk countryside to hone our idea into the narrative that it is now. From the outset, we felt the film needed to be subtle and nuanced. In fact, in early drafts, the film had almost no dialogue at all. Once we started reading through drafts and sharing them with Will, what emerged from his feedback was that we needed to develop a pivotal scene where both characters confront each other about their mother’s situation and some of the secrets they have been suppressing are revealed. We workshopped this and crafted it into one of the pivotal scenes of the film, that forces Liam’s character to face up to the emotions he’s been suppressing.
WILL: A huge factor was our location. My Aunt owned an extraordinary house in Suffolk and after the death of her partner was looking to move out. She liked the idea of capturing the house on film for posterity as it's a home of incredible character. We jumped at the opportunity as we knew it would bring such production value to the short - a real example of how a location can bring added depth to a story. Everywhere you pointed the camera in that place was cinematic.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.
JULIA & MARK: Once our film was ready to go, we explored the festival route quite extensively and decided to seek advice from the lovely team at Festival Formula. Being our first short film release, we really benefited from guidance on which festivals to target with our film. Once we finished our festival journey, we started researching distribution platforms to host our film or help broadcast it out into the world. We are delighted to have found ‘Seasalter Road’ a home with Crafty Short Films and to have been selected for Kino’s Weekly Pick!
Did you experience much festival rejection? If so, how did you overcome that?
JULIA & MARK: Overall, we had a positive experience of the festival circuit, with some really nice recognition for our film - including a couple of awards and nominations. We definitely had a few festivals that we would have loved to have been selected for and were disappointed to have missed out on. I think we dealt with that by reminding ourselves that our film had found its audiences and by focussing on maximising our experience and involvement at the festivals where ‘Seasalter Road’ had been selected. What also helped us was reminding ourselves that festivals can have very varied tastes, and they can't always programme all the films they want to.
What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?
JULIA: Go for it! That idea that you’ve had for ages, write it! Festivals, networking events and writing labs are also such a great way to bounce ideas, keep motivated, accountable and find potential creative collaborators.
MARK: Assembling a core team - all of whom care as much as you do about bringing your short to life - is so important. When you find those people who live and breathe the same ideas as you, things really start to click into place. And when you're working on a passion project - possibly without a huge budget - it's even more important to have a team behind you who believe in what you're trying to make.
WILL: And keep your shorts short! Programmers may love your film but if they can't fit it in their programme there's nothing they can do about it. A well crafted 9 minute film will do better than an 11 minute one.
What are you working on now?
JULIA: Quite a mix of work to be honest! To take a slightly different turn, I’ve recently been writing, directing and producing a series of comedy micro-shorts as part of ‘unhinged comedy.’ Collectively, Mark and I have another short drama in early stages of development.
MARK: I'm currently in post-production on my next short film, Wire, which also deals with processing grief but it's told through the lens of the thriller and psychological horror genres. I'm very excited for it to hit the festival circuit so watch this space!WILL: I completed a gangster feature called 'HIT' last year starring Robert Davi and Shona McGarty. I'm now in pre production for another feature length action thriller called 'Body Bank' which we hope to shoot this autumn.
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
JULIA: Recently I’ve really loved ‘The Outrun’. Saorise Ronan gives such a raw performance and the film unpacks a lot around addiction and navigating difficult parental dynamics as an adult. I’m sure you’ve all seen it but ‘One Battle After Another’ was truly brilliant
MARK - I watched ‘Pillion’ recently, which explores sub-dom dynamics in gay male relationships. I've never seen this kind of a story on stage or screen before. It's very graphic, but in reality, it's an unconventional love story that's grounded in some terrific performances. Well worth a watch.
WILL - Check out Darren Aronofsky's thriller 'Caught Stealing'. I felt like it went largely unnoticed but it was so brilliantly crafted, original and funny. Aronofsky should do more genre pieces imho!
