A tiny-budget film made by Scouse mates in 11 days is getting rave Hollywood reviews

A debut feature film, made by Scouse mates in just 11 days on a tiny budget, has been hailed as superb by Hollywood critics.

Baby Brother was co-written by Michael J Long and Tom Sidney, who met over a decade ago at drama college, directed by Michael and produced by another friend, former Hollyoaks actor Keith Rice.

Shot mostly around north Liverpool, the film features Paddy Rowan – who was recently in Bafta nominated ITV comedy G’Wed – in the lead role of Adam.

Now almost four years since Michael and Tom decided to make it together, Baby Brother has won an award for Best Debut Film at a prestigious German film festival and been nominated for Best Feature Film at the British Urban Film Festival.

It’s also had a glowing review from the Hollywood Reporter which described it as a ‘brutal portrait of generational trauma’, praising its ‘superb performances’ and ‘audacious style.’

Acquired by Oscar nominated Peter Spirer at Rugged Entertainment in Los Angeles, the film is about to be released onto YouTube Movies and Google Play.

For 32-year-old Michael, who lives with his partner in Orrell Park, it’s an incredible outcome for a project which was personally funded by him, Tom and their family and friends.

He explains: “I started off as an actor and did a few theatre shows, but I realised writing and directing was what I really wanted to do. Me and a few mates started making short films to get our understanding of the technical side and we had some success with them at small festivals.

“Then during the pandemic the industry stopped, and my acting work disappeared so that made me focus more on writing my own stuff.

“At the end of 2021 I just rang my mate Tom and I said, ‘let’s make a film’. Originally I’d had the idea for a short film about lads hanging around outside a betting shop but when we started writing it, it became more about different themes which is when we decided to do feature-length. 

“Tom works in a school in Manchester with kids who’ve come from troubled backgrounds and we were talking about that and about some of the lads I grew up with. 

“And you think to yourself how lucky you were to have the parents you had because you see what happens to some kids who don’t. 

“You have this empathy towards people who commit crimes, who’ve maybe just grown up in a place where they didn’t have a chance.

“I wanted us to write a story that encapsulated that in a way.

“The lead character is Adam, played by Paddy Rowan who was Sean Mercer in Little Boy Blue. I remembered seeing him in that, he’s very talented, so I basically just messaged him on Instagram and asked him if he’d be interested. 

“Then we found Brian Comer, who’s another young talented Liverpool actor, to play Adam’s younger brother Liam.

“My pre-production was basically I rang my brother and said, ‘let me borrow your bike lad’ and I rode all over Liverpool finding locations I knew would be quiet where we could shoot; places like the Ralla off Walton Vale.

“We shot the main scenes in Bedford Road, in Kathryn McGurk who’s in the film’s nan’s old house, right by Byrnes chippy.”

Filmed in August 2022, Baby Brother finished post-production in summer 2023 and had its world premiere at The Oldenburg International Film Festival, one of the most respected film festivals in Europe.

“I’ve done stage performances at the Royal Court and I didn’t feel close to the nerves I felt when we were showing the film for the first time,” admits Michael. 

“But it went well and the next morning we were getting loads of messages saying the Hollywood Reporter had done a review. We thought they might kill us but they gave us an unbelievable review, so that’s when we thought maybe we’ve got something here. 

“The next screening was sold out and people were crying, they were in shock, and that was the goal – to introduce audiences to the darker side of some people’s lives, how they grow up with deep trauma and don’t always have a chance.”

So much of life is about having opportunities, adds Michael, which is why he’s keen to make more stories set in Liverpool.

“I know the talent Liverpool has, but they don’t always have the funds to go and live in London which is the hub of the artistic world, so instead of trying to chase that I want us to build something bigger here.

“I’ve already written another three or four scripts, TV series, other short films and feature films, all set in Liverpool.

“We’ve got people like Shaun Fagan who was in Boiling Point, Bobby Schofield, who’s amazing in Unforgivable, Paddy, James Nelson-Joyce, Lauren McQueen and Chris Mason, all future stars. They’re the ones I want in my next ones and I think we can make something really really special.”

Watch the trailer here.

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