01/12/2016 - Steven Ogg stars in the sci-fi thriller

Feature debutant writer/director Carl Strathie has commenced a four-week shoot at GSP Studios’ Yorkshire facilities on sci-fi thriller Solis. The film follows Space Engineer Troy Holloway who finds himself in a terrifying situation when he realises that his drifting escape pod is shooting towards the Sun. Commander Roberts, a disembodied voice on a weak radio link for Holloway is his only link to sanity as they fight a race against time before a rescue party can arrive. Having recently lost his son and now confronted by his immediate end, Holloway feels less enthusiastic about survival. But Roberts is determined to save his life, and both soon learn that the lives they have both lived influence each other in unexpected ways.

Well known Canadian voice and motion capture artist Steven Ogg, acclaimed for the game Grand Theft Auto V, and who received good notices for current HBO television series Westworld, and made an impact in AMC series The Walking Dead, plays Holloway. The production is eyeing a major actor for the role of Roberts.

Alan Latham of GSP Studios and Charlette Kilby of Strathie Film are producing the film. Financing is from GSP Studios, Premiere Pictures and Goldfinch Entertainment. Executive producers include Geoffrey Iles, Kirsty Bell and Paul Ward.

Strathie has directed numerous shorts including Hollows, Letting Yourself Grow, Glitch, Into the White, Elliot and 1989. The emerging filmmaker’s passion is science fiction and hard-hitting thrillers, riddled with suspense and mystery with a core of deep human emotion. He founded Strathie Films along with Kilby. 

Ogg said, “I’m so excited for this project on so many levels. Carl sent this script to me over two years ago and to be here now, shooting in England, is amazing. For him, Charlette and the entire team. I just love that it is a space film that really is not about space at all. To me its more Jason Robards on his death bed in Magnolia; a man who is wrestling with his past as much as his own mortality.” 

Strathie said, “We’re going down the rustic, rudimentary low-fi sci-fi route, similar to classics such as, 2001 A Space Odyssey and Alien, utilising old-school techniques such as miniatures, wire work and pretty much making everything as practical as possible on camera. At its core, Solis is a profound drama; a meditation of life and death set against a science fiction backdrop.”