Sam Seeley – Royal Marine and Filmmaker
“If you know any bootnecks… we love breaking the rules!” But what we don’t expect to hear is this RM attitude applied to creativity.“Learn the rules like a basic or an amateur so can break them like a pro” …this is the ethos the three bootnecks turned film-makers on Sunray live by.‘Sunray’, meaning “Troop Boss or The Boss in Marine slang” also alludes to a ray of hope and came out of a difficult time in Sam’s life. Sam started writing as a release. 150 ideas on post-it notes and the thought, “I’m gonna have a crack at this” and Sunray was born.Sam brought his two former RM mates, Dan and James onboard, the three of them dubbed ‘The Unholy Trinity’, which they take as a compliment; and together they built a following on Instagram and raised £66k through a Kickstarter campaign in order to produce Sunray, “… a 3 part serial drama exploring the Veteran psyche”. ‘Survivor’s Guilt’ is a key theme and Sunray “… challenges the perceptions of mental health and the struggles that soldier’s face when reintegrating into civilian life.” They’ve each written the screenplay for an episode and will direct that episode, “… set against a backdrop of realistic, fast-paced action… we’ve got the cool tactical drills, we’ve got the amazing weapon systems and we’ve obviously got real-life soldiers implementing that. But at its core, it’s a human story.” So what’s the plot? Sorry, no spoilers here.To find out more head to the SUNRAY website or follow them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Find out more about the Company of Makers or sign up to our newsletter.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.This podcast is supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.If you’re a member of the Armed Forces community and need support with your mental health, Op Courage can help. Or you could phone the Combat Stress Helpline on: 0800 138 1619Company of Makers exists to support veterans and their families who are struggling on civvy street no matter how long ago they left the armed forces.We do this by running a programme of Podcasts | Talks | Workshops.Company of Makers are trying to reach, and better understand, all members of the armed forces community who are also gamers. We’re especially interested in those that have served in conflicts over the last 30 years.To find out more contact us.