Joanna Lumley
MyAnna Buring
Poppy Gilbert
Mika Simmons
Georgina French
Mark Oxtoby
Mrs Foster, a retired, middle-class woman, whose cup is half empty, is starting chemotherapy and is understandably anxious. The last thing she needs, is to have to share the treatment room with a ‘know it all child’ who wants to grow up to be a lesbian! But through an unexpected friendship, Maisy Jones gives Mrs Foster much more than just a glimmer of hope.
Joely Richardson
Ray Fearon
Camilla Rutherford
Andrew Horton
Jessica Webber
Mika Simmons
Sally Humphreys Wood
James Tonkin
With the new craze for stolen-on-demand requests at its height, Bonny turns her professional eye to a stakeout for the latest batch being delivered. But when Billy, an uninvited work acquaintance appears, it’s a battle of perseverance as they await the news at sunrise.
Tara Fitzgerald
Imogen Waterhouse
Joe McGann
Sharon Maughan
Mika Simmons
Jackie Green
Roberta Moore
Nick Ball
Daniel Heath
Tom CC
Rain Stops Play is a modern day comedy of errors which addresses the key issues of mistaken identity, modern technology and female ageism. Although we see the world from a male perspective through our protagonist Adam, it is a story for a female audience with searingly current themes.
The basic action of Rain Stops Play is the portrayal of a man who, in mid-life, falls into an extreme fantasy about a younger woman, Alice. The story exposes a husband in crisis whose desperate quest for something other hilariously backfires.
The experience I’m most trying to communicate with Rain Stops Play is that of a feeling of breaking something open. While this film has a serious undertone it also exposes how deeply funny life can be in its most humiliating moments. I have used female beauty and comedy as a weapon to try and teach us about ourselves and expose man’s fallibility. It is really a social analysis of sex in society today so in some ways a very big film although here, told through a very small intimate story. It is definitely a film for a female audience, but hopefully it is an invitation to laugh at our humanity and compulsive behaviours. I feel very strongly that it’s important that, in the face of a period of heightened confessions, blame and change, that we can also maintain a lightheartedness and sense of humour about the sex and the sexes.
Rain Stops Play staring Tara Fitzgerald, Joe McGann, Imogen Waterhouse and Sharon Maughan is a comedy short written produced by Jackie Green and Roberta Moore.
In 2019 it was selected for Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival, That Film, Underwire, Portobello, Houston Film Festival and Milwalke International Film Festival.
Sharon Maughan is an actress and producer, known for The Bank Job (2008), She’s Out of My League (2010) and Time Lapse (2014). In 1993, Maughan received excellent reviews for her debut directorial production of Widowers’ Houses in London. In 1997 she and Trevor Eve founded Projector Productions with Charles Haswell. With Trevor as producer, she went on to Executive Produce and star in Cinderella alongside Kathleen Turner, and Executive Produce Twelfth Night, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Joseph McGann is an English actor. His most well known role is the lead role of Charlie Burrows, the “housekeeper” in the TV comedy series The Upper Hand (1990–96). He was also a key character in ITV’s soap Night and Day, who had an affair with the underage main character Jane Harper before her disappearance.
Joe has most recently been on tour with multi Grammy award winner Sting’s new play, The Last Ship.
Imogen Waterhouse is an English model and actress known for Nocturnal Animals and Stan Lee’s Lucky Man (2016) and Braid (2018). She is currently filming The Outpost.
Tara Fitzgerald is an English actress who has appeared in feature films, television, radio and the stage. She won the New York Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play in 1995 as Ophelia opposite Ralph Fiennes in Hamlet. She won the Best Actress Award at The Reims International Television Festival in 1999 for her role of Lady Dona St Columb in Frenchman’s Creek. Fitzgerald’s appeared in the West End production of The Misanthrope at the Comedy Theatre with Damian Lewis and Keira Knightley, and in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the Donmar Warehouse. Since 2007, Fitzgerald has appeared in more than 30 episodes of the BBC television series Waking the Dead and played the role of Selyse Baratheon in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
Mika Simmons is a British actress and writer known for her roles in a diverse range of work on stage and screen – including television dramas ITV’s Frenchman’s Creek and Unforgotten, the BAFTA award winning Falling Apart and the ongoing role of Queen Anora in the animation game Dragon Age. In 2016 Mika played Kate in Film London’s Balcony which went on to win the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. In 2019 she will be seen in Dictynna Hood’s Us Among The Stones.
Rain Stops Play is Mika Simmons’ Directorial debut.
Jessica Webber is an actress, known for Breach (2020), Followers (2021) and #Starvecrow (2017).
Andrew Horton is an actor, known for Jupiter’s Legacy (2021), It Came from the Desert (2017) and Doctors (2000).
Camilla Rutherford is known for films Gosford Park, Vanity Fair and Phantom Thread. And the television series Rome.
Raymond Fearon is known for playing roles in The Protege; His Dark Materials; The Girlfriend Experience and Nathan Harding on ITV’s long-running soap opera Coronation Street
Joely Richardson is known for her role as Julia McNamara in the FX drama series Nip/Tuck and Queen Catherine Parr in the Showtime series The Tudors and films 101 Dalmatians, The Patriot, Anonymous, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
James Tonkin is a Filmmaker and Director of Hangman Studios, a London-based creative studio. James originally started out in music production graduating with a degree in music technology, but he soon found himself drawn into editing and directing and in 2001, backed by music management company IE Music, he setup Hangman Studios.
Sally Humphreys Wood is an actress and producer, known for Breach (2020), Fleur (2022) and 7 Days: The Story of Blind Dave Heeley (2019). She has been married to Ronnie Wood since December 21, 2012. They have two children.
Mika Simmons is a actress, writer and director known for her roles in a diverse range of work on stage and screen – including television dramas BBC Showtrial, ITV’s Frenchman’s Creek and Unforgotten, the BAFTA award winning Falling Apart. Rain Stops Play in 2019 was Mika Simmons’ Directorial debut and won the best comedy and Houston Film Festival and was shortlisted for 3 other awards.
Poppy Gilbert is known for roles as ‘Barbie’ in the Netflix series STAY CLOSE and the title character in the BBC One series CHLOE.
She will soon be seen in feature film PERFECT ADDICTION and in BBC One series SHERWOOD.
Further credits include Amazon’s LEONARDO and BBC One’s THE PALE HORSE.
MyAnna Buring has recently been seen as a leading role on BBC One in THE RESPONDER and as a leading regular in the returning hit Netflix series THE WITCHER. She will soon be seen as the female lead in airplane hijacking action thriller 97 MINUTES.
TV credits include: RIPPER STREET on Amazon/BBC1, DOWNTON ABBEY (ITV) and BANISHED on BBC 2. She was most recently seen starring in THE SALISBURY POISONINGS on BBC1. Other credits include leads in Danny Brocklehurst’s IN THE DARK (BBC), PREY (ITV) and WHITE HEAT (BBC).
FILM CREDITS include: Cult classics such as THE DESCENT and KILL LIST (for which she was BIFA nominated, Leading Actress), TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN PART I & II; Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)’s feature JÖNSSONLIGAN; HYENA; LOST IN KARASTAN and OFFICIAL SECRETS.
THEATRE credits include: ‘Marina Litvinenko’ in Olivier Nominated A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON at The Old Vic; THE WASP at The Trafalgar Studios/ The Hampstead Theatre Studio; STRANGERS ON A TRAIN in The West End, produced by Barbara Broccoli and directed by Robert Ackerman.
Joanna is the statuesque comedienne behind Patsy, Absolutely Fabulous’ champagne-swilling, chain-smoking former rock chick.
One of her earliest breaks was as a Bond girl in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a role she echoed on the small screen as Purdey in The New Avengers.
Joanna continues to appear on both the big and small screens in projects such as Cold Comfort Farm and Maybe Baby. She was awarded an OBE in 1995.
Mark Oxtoby is an Award-Winning Writer, Actor and Voice Over artist. He is known for My Week with Maisy (Pre-Production), Blood Means Nothing (2019), David’s Here (2018).
In 2021 Mark took on the lead role of Doc Brown in Back to the Future -The Musical at the West End Press Night with virtually no rehearsals! He went on to receive rave reviews including: ‘All hail West End Actor Mark Oxtoby’ The Sunday Mirror. ‘Mark Oxtoby absolutely stole the show’ ‘…. to see him seize his moment and steal the the entire performance was wonderful.’ Quentin Letts, Sunday Times.
He has appeared in Death of England (2021), David’s Here (2018), The Muppets Most Wanted (2014) and The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall (2011)
Mika Simmons is a British actress and filmmaker.
Mika’s directorial debut, ‘Rain Stops Play’, won the Silver Remi for best comedy at Houston World Film Festival in 2019 and was nominated at Underwire Festival and BAFTA qualifying Portobello Film Festival and CBFF.
In 2021 Mika won Best International Director for her second short ‘Breach’ at Portland Film Festival. It has also been selected by BAFTA award winning BUFF and screened at Montana Film Festival and Knoxville Film Festival.
In 2022 Mika will be directing Mark Oxtoby’s acclaimed short film My Week With Maisy, with Joanna Lumley in the lead role of Mrs Foster.
As an actress Mika has played in a diverse range of work on stage and screen – including the BBC’s upcoming ‘Showtrial’, ITV’s ‘Frenchman’s Creek’ and ‘Unforgotten’; BAFTA award winning ‘Falling Apart’; Film London’s ‘Balcony’ which went on to win the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and BFI nominee Dictynna Hood’s ‘Us Among The Stones’.
When not working as an actress or making films, Mika hosts The Happy Vagina podcast which empowers women through inspirational content that both educates and entertains.
In January 2021 Mika was featured as one of Harpers Bazaar’s female Visionaries.
French Fancy Productions is a fresh and exciting British production company, passionate about developing and producing original, thought provoking and entertaining films, to connect with an inquisitive and thinking audience.
Working in collaboration with emerging and established talent, we have produced numerous short films, including the Film London ‘London Calling’ funded ‘Prick Thy Neighbour’, and award winners ‘What happened to Evie’, ‘Night Armour’ and ‘The Touch’.
We believe in promoting the female voice and imagination in film, with material that allows women to be fully represented and authentic. French Fancy is currently in advanced development with its first feature ‘Amsterdam’, a love letter to the mature woman and female friendship, written by Lisa Ray-Jacobs and directed by the British actress Tara FitzGerald. ‘Amsterdam’ was awarded development funding from Film London’s & Creative England’s ‘Alumni’ scheme. It was also selected for Film London’s ‘Microwave’ development slate, their ‘Build Your Audience’ training scheme and ‘Micro Market’ at the PFM .
Our current slate also includes ‘Valerie & Me’ written by Bex Harvey & Christian Azzola and directed by BIFA nominee Jane Gull (‘My Feral Heart’). One of six projects selected for EIFF’s Talent Lab Connects 2020.