Huge news, massive and gigantic earth shattering news – my feature film SOBER is due for release in April 2025.
Sober was written by myself (based on a script that was originally written in 1998) and the two lead actors Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax / Still Open All Hours) and Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow / The Archers).
Dean, Tom and I are all Leeds born and bred, and fans of Leeds United. The film is set in Leeds (and shot on location in Leeds) and features lot of Leeds United references (its set during the period that Marcello Bielsa was manager of Leeds).
We’re all hugely excited about the release of the film – Sober was made entirely independently and shot on a budget of £7,000 which myself, Dean and Tom raised. So, all the shooting and postproduction budget was entirely supplied by the three guys who wrote it.
Sober is a comedy drama, and at times very funny, and very dramatic. It’s my biggest project as a director so far – the film was shot (also by myself acting as camera and DOP) over a nine day period and has taken two years to finish. It’s also my first project which is comedy drama (my first four feature films have been in the horror genre).
I’m very excited to the see the audience reaction – the film has a lot of heart and is very tender in many ways.
A huge amount of the credit belongs to Dean Smith and Tom Gibbons who are amazing in the film as best mates, and really turned in a huge shift as actors / producers / co-writers and co-financers – the film would never have got anywhere with their unwavering commitment to the project (and belief in myself).
I’m truly humbled by how much faith they had in me as a director and partner.
The film will be released entirely on YouTube (in April) – so free to view for anyone who’ll be interested in watching. We don’t know the exact date yet – but keep checking back for more information.
Here’s some images from the film:
Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire and UK script consultant for over 25 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted, and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.
As a film director for hire he’s completed four innovate, low budget feature length horror movies including the recently acclaimed: H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
His latest feature film SOBER is near completion – a comedy starring Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax / Still Open All Hours) and Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow / The Archers) will be released in 2025.