Find out how OKRE supported director George Jaques with creative collaboration during the development of Sunny Dancer - a coming-of-age comedy-romance celebrating love, friendship, and challenging adversity.
"I went to OKRE when I wanted to make a film about cancer, that’s not really about cancer, but I wanted to get all the cancer bits right"
George Jaques, Director
OKRE funding enabled extensive collaboration with medical professionals, researchers, and young people with lived experience of cancer. This had a direct and lasting impact on how the characters and their experiences are represented in the film.
Throughout development, George collaborated closely with medical experts and people with lived experience to ensure Sunny Dancer portrayed childhood cancer and bereavement with authenticity and care.
Consultant Haematologist Professor Rachael Hough (UCLH) advised on the accuracy of medical details, including medication, treatment side effects and hospital environments. George also interviewed a young cancer survivor who now works at a children’s camp, providing valuable insight into life beyond treatment. Practical elements, including prosthetic scarring and depictions of sickness, were reviewed by clinicians and people with lived experience to ensure they felt truthful and respectful.
Research interviews with Dr Elizabeth Rapa and Dr Louise Dalton (University of Oxford), leaders in youth bereavement, informed the emotional landscape of the film. Their expertise shaped scenes exploring anticipatory grief, trauma, and emotional detachment, grounding the story in current research.
The film’s editor, Caitlin Spiller, also brought personal lived experience to the project. As a teenage cancer patient, she attended a summer camp just like the one depicted in the film. Her perspective informed the film’s tone, pacing and emotional authenticity, helping to shape key moments with sensitivity and medical nuance.
Lived experience experts were central to the development of Sunny Dancer. George worked with young cancer survivors through workshops to understand the realities of life after treatment and even cast two of them in speaking roles. This enabled the film to better represent the perspectives of young survivors.
Participants described the lasting impact of cancer beyond recovery, including anxiety, loss of routine and the expectation to appear “fine”. These insights influenced the film’s characters, relationships and emotional tone, reinforcing that adolescent grief is complex, non-linear and often expressed through humour as much as vulnerability.
The workshops also informed authentic behaviours, friendships and the atmosphere of the camp, creating a world that feels lived-in, emotionally truthful and hopeful.
Movement coaching with Polly Bennett explored how trauma and the physical effects of treatment are carried in the body.
This work shaped performances in subtle but significant ways, enabling actors to communicate anxiety, withdrawal and resilience through movement and physicality, rather than dialogue alone.
Photographs: © Colin J Smith, Sunny Dancer Distribution Limited.
With thanks to 27 Ten Productions, Athenaeum Productions & True Brit Entertainment.
