Fraser is at the top of his game. He’s the head chef of a successful restaurant in New York City. Yet when asked one night to personally make his “chef’s special apple crumble,” he is harkened back to his childhood growing up on a Glaswegian housing estate, and by thoughts of the woman who taught him his recipe— his mother.

Bitter Taste is a psychological drama about a successful Scottish chef in New York City who is stuck in a traumatic emotional cycle. As a teen, he is propelled to leave his working-class life and become a top-tier chef after experiencing a violent crime, the same crime which destroys his ability to experience pleasure while eating. Chef Fraser is left transfixed with recapturing his past through baking his favorite childhood dish over and over — his mother’s apple crumble.

Shot on a Sony C300 Mark ii with a budget of under ten thousand US dollars, Bitter Taste is a testament to the power of combining social realist techniques with 21st century film equipment. It was filmed in both Glasgow, Scotland and New York City, United States at real locations and with a cast of primarily non-actors. For example, Alexis Trolf, who plays the adult Chef Fraser, is a restaurant-owning Executive Chef in real life, and Young Fraser is played by Sam Kennedy, who was raised in the same city as his character.

Growing up under the poverty line myself, I wanted to make a film about how trauma drives someone’s life both positively and negatively and the emotional difficulties of scaling socioeconomic classes. Ultimately, the film is a critique both of the New York mindset and the very concept of social mobility.

All filming for the Bitter Taste scenes in New York City (two thirds of the total film) has been COMPLETED. It was shot on the C300 Mark II in stunning 4K by cinematographer Tyson VanSkiver who worked on the Sundance award-winning film Blood Brother. Our lead actor, Alexis Trolf, is a real-life award winning chef. We are now trying to gain funding for the second half of our production, which will be shot in Glasgow, Scotland, as well as for post-production, marketing, and festival costs.

For more information, please visit the Bitter Taste website at www.bittertastefilm.com

We will use finances raised to fly our core crew (director, producer, DP) to Scotland as well as cast, rehearse and shoot the second half of Bitter Taste:

In the event we reach our goal of $6,000 (Fingers crossed! Let’s do this!) we have stretch goals ($2,000) that would allow us to pay more towards our crew and cast as well as for post-production (sound design, music, color grading, and the DCP). Here’s a look at those numbers:

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP

If you are unable to donate to our film at this time, no worries! We are freelancers in New York City and understand the pinch. You can still take part and support the mission by sharing our campaign page on Social Media, liking us on Facebook and Instagram, and/or providing your email for updates on the film's progress and other opportunities to get involved.

Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] to be added to our mailing list.

WE ARE SUPPORTED BY: