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City of Ghosts creator Ryan Patch directs; Casting underway
Sheffield-based Far North Film has boarded the upcoming psychological thriller Half Way Down as international co-producer alongside Storytellers Ink. The feature is set to shoot on location in Yorkshire in October 2025, with casting currently underway.
The project marks the feature debut of City of Ghosts creator Ryan Patch, who also helmed the award-winning sci-fi short Regulation, which was acquired by Gunpowder & Sky’s DUST streamer. Patch co-created and directed the acclaimed 10-episode audio drama City of Ghosts, which was acquired by Realm and optioned for television by eOne. He is repped by CAA.
Written by emerging British talent Patrick Monger, Half Way Down is a taut, character-driven thriller centered on a grieving rural couple whose fragile quiet is upended by the arrival of a teenage girl with secrets of her own. Monger’s script was a top 5% semi-finalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship and selected for the BBC Writersroom’s London Voices programme.
The film will be produced on location in Yorkshire using local crew, in line with Far North Film’s commitment to developing regionally grounded, independent storytelling. The Watts brothers’ Far North Film is best known for Playhouse (FrightFest Official Selection), which secured international distribution, and Black Daruma, which released globally in 2024 and is currently spawning a sequel.
“We were drawn to the raw emotional core of this story and its quiet, mounting sense of dread,” said producers Toby and Fionn Watts. “With Ryan at the helm and Yorkshire as our backdrop, we’re excited to bring this singular vision to the screen.”
Executive produced by Stacey Parks (Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game) and shot by Andrew Ellis (The Creator, The Way of the Wind), Half Way Down is described by its creators as a slow-burn domestic thriller in the vein of Lady Macbeth, Beast, and Parasite.
