A Universal Story of Love and Loss

Butterfly Effect Films is delighted that BBC One is launching their latest regional series Inside Out on Monday 15th Jan with their short film about love and loss. It tells the story of how a young, determined couple, Stan and Mary Bagwell meet on Sidmouth beach. Stan is the son of a fisherman, too poor to own a boat which makes him even more determined to buy one. Together, with a lot of hard graft, they build a thriving fishing business, only to have their world torn apart by a double tragedy in 1998. The women in the family pick up the pieces and it is Mary who leads the storytelling.

Mary is speaking, on the 20th anniversary of losing her son, Ian, at sea; to remind people of the ever present dangers of life on the waves. After viewing the short film, she told Jo Stewart-Smith, the film's producer "Ian was aware of the danger. He lost several friends himself at sea. He always said that if he went at sea he'd be forgotten, so I think he'd be very pleased and proud that his story is being told twenty years on."

The family first told their story for the film 'Working the Sea' made by Butterfly Effect Films for Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub which premiered at Sidmouth Sea Festival. The brief for this 40 minute documentary was a much wider sweep of history and included other members of the community using the sea. It is ultimately a film about how a mutual love and respect for the sea can draw a community together. The Coastal hub are delighted that the story is getting another outing and hope that the BBC film will draw new audiences to the wider community film.

The Bagwell's personal story of love and loss is also a universal story. As Mary says in the film "You never get over it. It's important to remember, but it's also teaches you to understand other people's suffering. So many mothers have lost sons and daughters - you understand..." Mary acknowledges that after the double tragedy she had a seriously tough time and didn't know which way to turn. She said to Jo, "you don't have a lot of choice. You just get on with it. You have to keep going for everyone else." But Mary and her inspirational family did so much more than that. Soon after the tragedy Ian's sister Lynn joined Sidmouth lifeboat volunteers as a tractor driver 'to try and give something back'. And all the family, including Ian's children have reached out to other bereaved people, raising money for the Fishermen's Mission and other charities.

The Butterfly Effect Films team of Simon Vacher as Director of Photography and Jo Stewart-Smith as writer, director want to thank the Bagwell family for trusting them to tell their story. Jo says, "the family were lovely to work with. Lively, with a sense of humour and very generous in the way they talk frankly about the fickle nature of fishing and a personal and often difficult, family story."

Watch the film on BBC One: Inside Out, Monday 15th January at 7.30pm. Afterwards it will be available on BBC iplayer for 30 days. Tap here to view a short trailer of the film

Stan and Mary Bagwell Photo copyright Butterfly Effect Films (All Rights Reserved)

Sidmouth Lifeboat launching from the tractor - Photo copyright Butterfly Effect Films (All Rights Reserved)

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ABOUT Butterfly Effect Films is a partnership between director of photography and editor Simon Vacher and writer and director Jo Stewart-Smith. Their mission is to help people share their stories by making films with high production values and great storytelling - films which will take wing and fly. jo@butterflyeffectfilms.com www.butterflyeffectfilms.com  

Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub www.sidmouthcoastalcommunityhub.org
Their Vision is to connect people with the sea and coast, promoting a greater understanding of the heritage, community identity, and social inclusion of Sidmouth and other coastal areas

Inside Out is the BBC’s regional current affairs programme

Butterfly Effect Films 'Captures the Magic' with their first film

Following the success of the boat stories film series, Jo Stewart-Smith (producer) and Simon Vacher (director of photography) formed the partnership Butterfly Effect Films to make more powerful short films which will fly far and wide. They've delivered their first film, 'Creating New Farm Wetlands' for North Devon's Biosphere

The film covers the hot topic: how to prevent agricultural runoff which can pollute the river system, force closure of fledgling shellfish businesses in the estuary and lower water quality on bathing beaches. The teams made a decision early on to ask the farmers to tell the story in their words (just like Boat Stories did with the fishermen.) Jo Stewart-Smith says, "I did wonder whether farmers working in the hills would want to talk about pollution in the estuary, but as soon as I listened to the farmers, a different picture emerged and I realised we rarely hear their side of the story."  As Phil Morrish from Stoneyard farm, near Barnstaple says "the last thing we want to do is lose precious sediment and nutrients into the river. By digging a simple sediment trap, we can actually return this nutrient-rich soil to the farm."

Jo adds, "initially the farmers may have felt outside their comfort zone speaking on camera, but their passion for the project overrode any worries and they were walking and talking us through like professional presenters." As Phil digs a series of ditches, he explains "the important thing I learned is slowing the flow of water gives the sediment and nutrients time to settle out and at the same time reduces the flash flood risk to nearby Barnstaple." The result is a positive, inspiring film which reveals that creating new wetlands brings numerous other benefits to the farm like saving electricity on the dirty water pumps or needing less bedding in the sheds. Andrew Mather's new wildlife ponds now form one of the attractions for caravaners visiting Hallsdown farm on the fringes of Exmoor. Tom Hynes, biodiversity officer for the biosphere, outlines the long term gains for all of us as the patchwork of new wetlands matures and the water quality in the estuary improves. As Phil Morrish says "this project benefits the farm and the river environment so it's a win win situation." Director of Photography, Simon says, "To make the link between the hills and the estuary we followed the course of the river Yeo weaving its way through some of the most scenically beautiful parts of North Devon to the wide open ocean. This area of the South West is a film-makers dream." Dawn Murphy from Morte Wildlife Group said "I thoroughly enjoyed watching the film and was interested to learn about the win win perspective the created wetlands have achieved.  The film has captured the ' magic ' of Boat Stories all over again!"

Simon Vacher filming Tom Hynes & Andrew Mather by the new pond - Photo copyright Jo Stewart-Smith (All rights reserved)

Simon Vacher filming Chris & Phil Morrish for North Devon's Biosphere 

Andrew Mather in the sheep sheds and Digging the new ponds

All Photos copyright Butterfly Films (All rights reserved)

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 The film can be viewed on the biosphere's estuary project page http://www.northdevonbiosphere.org.uk/estuary-project.html  or on butterfly effects http://www.butterflyeffectfilms.com   

It was made to inspire other farmers to create wetlands and take up available grants so don't forget to watch and share.