22.04.26

MAKING BREAKWATER SHOOTING MY DEBUT FEATURE FILM IN SUFFOLK

Skelter director’s debut feature. Suffolk Shorts Winner, Max Morgan’s Suffolk based drama to screen in Aldeburgh.

Having grown up in a village outside of Ipswich, I’ve always felt deeply connected to the shingle beaches and windswept mudflats of our Suffolk coastline.

I long wanted to create a film that was not only tethered to its brooding and golden landscape, but was also influenced and defined by it. When studying in Oxford, Jemima Chen (Breakwater producer) and I met the filmmakers behind Privileged, the 1982 film that launched the careers of Hugh Grant, Andy Paterson, Rachel Portman and many others. Having shot the film as students themselves, they encouraged us to make our own feature and see where it took us. Despite having never made a film before Jemima and I set out on the trajectory to make what would ultimately become Breakwater. 

The cast and crew shot Breakwater over 26 days in 2023

From the outset of the process, in 2023, we knew that we would be working with an extremely tight production budget which is always the greatest challenge with any film – as any filmmaker will know. We therefore wrote the script to specific locations which we could film in very cheaply and on a tight schedule, such as our Thorpeness cottage accommodation, the Orford Jolly Sailor and my university dorm room. In fact, all of the Suffolk locations were within a three-mile radius from our unit base to save on travel time and fuel, and we worked with Screen Suffolk to arrange filming permits.

These practical parameters, combined with my desire to explore the interplay between longing and grief, quickly gave rise to Breakwater. The film follows Otto, a student, as he enters into a cautious relationship with John, a mysterious angler at the fringe of his coastal community. The plot of two characters coming together from different backgrounds inspired and mirrored the film's dual setting of Suffolk and Oxford. We wanted to create a relationship that was held together by seemingly nothing, yet absolutely everything between Otto and John: a connection that was entirely serendipitous yet vital to our protagonists. 

BTS of Max and Nitzan Baybus, 1st Assistant Camera in Aldeburgh, Suffolk.

In the interest of time, our nine-month pre-production occurred simultaneously with the writing process. We fundraised most of our low five-figure budget through a student art auction where we shared the profits with the artists. A painting donated to the auction by Suffolk artist Maggi Hambling also massively helped in this endeavour. Casting Daniel McNamee and Shaun Paul McGrath as two displaced Northern Irishmen inexorably drawn to each other far from home rounded off the plot. 

Production lasted 26 days in March and April 2023 – 20 of which were spent in the area around Aldeburgh and Thorpeness. The shoot days were long and spent mostly outdoors, battling strong winds and sea spray. Sometimes the unpredictable coastal weather – an impromptu gale or hailstorm – would force us to change filming location or the script at the last minute. Nevertheless, our fantastic crew of 20 students and professionals worked with fervent determination and belief in the project to complete the film. For which I am incredibly grateful. 

BTS of Max and lead cast, Daniel McNamee and William Gao

A personal highlight from the shoot was filming a scene around Maggi Hambling’s Scallop on Aldeburgh Beach, dedicated to local composer Benjamin Britten. The sculpture is inscribed with a line from Britten’s opera, Peter Grimes: ‘I hear those voices that will not be drowned.’ The eponymous Grimes – a fisherman who becomes the subject of great suspicion in his village after the death of an apprentice – formed a major inspiration for the Breakwater plot, whilst our score heavily features motifs from the opera. Not to mention that, without the sale of Maggi’s painting, the film wouldn’t have been possible. Filming the scene at the Scallop – such an important place for me personally too – therefore felt like a very special full circle moment. 

Maggi Hambling’s Scallop Sculpture at Aldeburgh Beach

After 18 months of post-production, we were delighted to premiere Breakwater at Raindance Film Festival, the largest indie festival in the UK, alongside films with budgets quite literally 100 times the size of ours. Having worked on the film for so long in private, it was a surreal and daunting experience to share it with the public for the first time. It’s been both a great relief and very rewarding that people have connected with Breakwater – especially falling for its stunning coastal setting. I’m very excited to finally return to Aldeburgh with a screening of the film to Aldeburgh Cinema on the 25th April. 

As a teenager in rural Suffolk the world of film always seemed to be distant and impenetrably sequestered in some far-off city or studio backlot. But, if I’ve learnt anything from this whole process, it’s that this assumption is far from the case. Although Suffolk is still chronically underrepresented in film and TV, there is so much happening within our county borders. Just visit the brilliant Suffolk Shorts Film Festival to see the miraculous variety and quality of films produced in East Anglia. This is also the best way to meet like-minded local filmmakers and future collaborators for your projects. 


I like to think of making a film as a magic trick. Just like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, it’s turning nothing into something. The best thing about it is that anyone can do it. All you need is a camera and some inspiration. And there’s no better place to find it than in the people and landscape immediately around you.  

Note from Claire Whittenbury of Suffolk Shorts:

In 2025 Max submitted his short film Skelter (see Skelter Producer Rosie’s blog) which was selected and won Best East Anglian Short Film. We can’t wait to see what he does next.

Author:

Max Morgan

MAX is a filmmaker from Suffolk. He is the writer & director of Breakwater (2025), the most nominated feature film at Raindance 2025.