A MAJOR new project by two Newport filmmakers is proving to be a real labour of love.
That's because the duo behind the feature-length movie are Catherine Linstrum and David-John Newman, who celebrate 20 years of marriage this year.
Ms Linstrum, 46, an established scriptwriter and director of 15 years' experience, is collaborating with her visual-artist husband for the first time.
Working from their home in rural St Brides, the pair are putting the finishing touches to a script of a psychological thriller they began six months ago.
The 90-minute movie, titled Perish, will cost around £5 million to make, with Ms Linstrum as director and Mr Newman as creative consultant.
The couple were delighted after the Film Agency for Wales recently decided to support the project.
Perish explores the moral pitfalls of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) through the eyes of a young couple, who suffer the agony of losing a four-year-old son.
They receive a life-changing call telling them their son's unborn twin sister, frozen as an embryo, is reaching the end of her shelf-life.
Mr Newman, 51, explained the idea came from a remark on Radio 4's Woman's Hour about someone having "a daughter in the freezer".
"It struck me as such a bizarre idea," he said.
"The couple are faced with a decision about whether or not to implant the embryo and give birth to the child.
"Rather than just being passive, it begins to have a will of its own to be born."
Ms Linstrum, whose films have been produced by 20th Century Fox and featured at the Cannes Film Festival, said the message of Perish was to think carefully about "deciding whether to give birth to another human being".
The couple, who have a 15-year-old daughter, Maya, travel to Germany in April to look for a producer at the Berlin Film Festival.
Visually it will be eye-catching with scenes filmed in snow-covered areas, possibly in Scandinavia. They hope to start shooting early next year.
On working together, the couple say it has been a "a pleasant experience".
Mr Newman, who also works as a life coach, said: "I might have the occasional tantrum but we're very flexible when it comes to sharing ideas."
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