The Long Player
About
Tina gets more than she bargained for when selling her mum's old record player.
We are delighted to announce we're officially in post-production with this drama short. Explore the cast and crew below.
Director: Calvin Duffy
Producer: Natalie Yates
DOP: Daniel Llobera
Writer: Benjamin Peel
Photo credits: David Addison
Director's Statement
Director Calvin Duffy talks all things The Long Player below;
An unrealised or unreconciled relationship (be it between friends, family, or lovers) is like a square of light cast on an interior wall from an unidentifiable, exterior source: it brightens one small part of the room, but puts the rest in deeper shadow. It transfixes the onlooker with a concentrated point - be it certain past memories, unshakeable feelings of loss or anger, or just the incapacity to let go - while preventing them from taking in the details of the wider space before them.
Our film is about breaking out of that fixation. On one side, Tina always imagined her absent father as a monster, shrouded in the cruelty of his absence, but when suddenly confronted with his presence in her front room, she's compelled to consider the possibility that he's just another incomplete human, who simply made mistakes: many selfish ones, but some well-intentioned as well. On the other side, Jack has always conceived of himself as the tack-sharp, no-nonsense Good Man, who made the best of everything and never let himself be treated as a fool. Yet when he stands before his daughter who he abandoned, it's impossible for him to cling to both his idea of his own truthfulness, and also his imagined sense of infallibility.
Amidst all this we have our record player. Unlike our modern streaming music apps, which organise our personal soundtracks down to the exact minutes of our annual listening time, vinyl records have an organic randomness: you can drop the needle down wherever you like, and never be entirely sure what you're going to hear - so probably, you listen more intently. The same is true of people: for the most part, you never completely know what the person opposite you is about to say next, which is why you have to listen, even when that's harder than you'd like.
The Long Player is a film about breaking fixed ideas, letting go of false principles of ego, and asking the piece of light in the corner to fill up the whole room. The question is, can Tina and Jack bear the pain of listening more closely?
GoFundMe: OPEN NOW
We're thrilled to announce that our GoFundMe campaign for The Long Player is live now. Follow the link below to read our Director's statement, meet the cast & crew and learn more about the short and where the money goes.
Awards and Selections
The Long Player is currently in Post Production. Check back soon for updates on its progress.
To explore which of our films are currently screening or on their festival run, visit Post Production & Beyond.
Meet the Cast
Tina
Tina
Tina
Eleanor May Blackburn
Eleanor May Blackburn is a disabled and neurodivergent writer/actor/theatre-maker/poet/facilitator from Sheffield. She has created, produced and performed 3 solo shows to date that have toured all over the country and to the Edinburgh Fringe to 4&5* reviews. In 2025 she sold out at the Crucible, Sheffield Theatres wit
Eleanor May Blackburn
Eleanor May Blackburn is a disabled and neurodivergent writer/actor/theatre-maker/poet/facilitator from Sheffield. She has created, produced and performed 3 solo shows to date that have toured all over the country and to the Edinburgh Fringe to 4&5* reviews. In 2025 she sold out at the Crucible, Sheffield Theatres with Does My Fanny Look Big in This? and later this year she takes her 3rd solo show A Sudden, Disturbing To Do List to the likes of Theatre Deli, Alphabetti and 53two. Eleanor had her first full collection of poetry Sleeve Heart published in 2025 by Stairwell Books and chapbook Ghost and Found published in 2021 by Cerasus Poetry. Other notable projects include: Pidge the narrator (lead) for the Royal Ballet and Opera’s Tales Untapped, playing the titular role in JW Theatre’s The Witching Hour and lead in The Devil's Game, Robin Hood in Same Difference’s Robin Hood, starring in Apartness alongside Sylvester McCoy and Linda Marlowe, playing the lead in Kevin Short’s feature film Bonnie & Clive. She spends her free time performing her own spoken word at open mics and slams and likes to write about disability, mental health and feminist narratives.
Jack
Tina
Tina
Richard Galloway
Richard Galloway is a Northern Irish actor who trained at Bretton Hall 2004. He also co-founded Yorkshire based; Buglight Productions 2014. He has just finished development of a new musical How could I forget? with Sheffield Theatres, other theatre highlights include: Home Truths (Cardboard Citizens), one man show The Lif
Richard Galloway
Richard Galloway is a Northern Irish actor who trained at Bretton Hall 2004. He also co-founded Yorkshire based; Buglight Productions 2014. He has just finished development of a new musical How could I forget? with Sheffield Theatres, other theatre highlights include: Home Truths (Cardboard Citizens), one man show The Life and Soul (Red Ladder), ‘Entertaining Mr Sloane’ (Plays the Thing), Stones in his Pockets (Contexture), And three shows with Bad Apple theatre company. In screen; ’Boots’ in The Tide ( Sleeping dogs-2023) and playing Ryan in feature film Black Daruma (Far North Films 2024), thriller He Kills at Night (2025) and drama Are you trying to Kill me? (Memphis James Pictures 2026)
Audio Origins
The Long Player started out life as an audio drama. It was written by Benjamin Peel, directed by Kirsty Gillmore, and performed by Nigel Fyfe and Joanna Simpkins. The original piece was produced by Natalie Winter.
The script went through a heavy development process when Evening Cat took on the project, in order to mould it into a more effective format for screen, while preserving the original themes and intentions behind the story.
You can hear the original piece at the link below.
Acknowledgements
This film would not exist without the generosity of those who contributed to our crowdfunder campaign. Thank you to:
- Graham
- Daniel
- Emma
- Harriet
- Amy
- And all of our crowdfund supporters