Silva Screen

From the producers of Bridget Jones’s Diary and Love Actually comes the heartfelt new romantic comedy FINDING EMILY.

Sensitive musician Owen (Spike Fearn) meets the woman of his dreams during a late shift at the Manchester City University Student Union. They flirt, they drink, they dance, then suddenly, she’s whisked off into the night by her friends, heading out to the next party. Thinking quickly, Owen asks for her name and number, but when he texts her the next morning, he discovers one digit is missing.

Determined to reconnect, Owen sets out to find her using the only information he has - her first name. But his quest takes him in surprising directions once he encounters cynical, headstrong American psychology student Emily Raine (Angourie Rice), who sees in Owen the makings for a perfect case study for her thesis on the futility of romantic attachment. Together, they inadvertently spark a hilarious campus-wide frenzy that turns the lovesick Owen’s world upside down, forcing Emily to question her own choices as each half of the unlikely duo ponders what the future might hold.

Focus Features presents a Working Title production in association with Parkville Pictures. FINDING EMILY. Starring Angourie Rice, Spike Fearn, Minnie Driver, FINDING EMILY is directed by Alicia MacDonald from a screenplay by Rachel Hirons (A Guide to Second Date Sex; Powder Room; Kiss Me First). Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Olivier Kaempfer; executive producers are Angela Moneke, Thea Paulett, Alexandra Lowey and Cecilia Frugiuele; Douglas Cox is co-producer and Claire O’Neill is Associate Producer.. Director of photography, Rachel Clark BSC; Production Design, Bobbie Cousins; Costume Design, Sara Hassan; Hair and Make-Up Design, Janet Horsfield; Composer; Morgan Kibby, Editor, Phil Hignett.

ABOUT THE MUSIC

The list of legendary bands to emerge from Manchester goes on and on. So naturally, music needed to play a critical role in FINDING EMILY. “Music was always going to play a vital role,” MacDonald says. “I wanted it to be the beating heart of the film and a key element of the emotional language. In addition to our leading lad being a struggling musician, music felt like the setting and a character itself.”

The filmmakers recruited Morgan Kibby to compose the film’s score—a classical pianist, cellist and vocalist, Kibby was a longtime member of the French act M83 and has worked with artists including Harry Styles and Lady Gaga. She previously scored films including Mothering Sunday and such TV series such as Amazon’s The Power. “I was thrilled at the possibility of helping them create a musical world for a film set in Manchester, and I think my work as a musician in a band as well as a composer was a wonderful bonus for the team,” Kibby says.

To assemble the soundtrack, the filmmakers turned to music supervisor Iain Cooke whose credits include the Lena Dunham Netflix series Too Much and the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black. “Alicia’s vision has always been to do something slightly different,” Cooke says. “We all know the headline acts in Manchester, but it’s not just about placing them within the film—it’s about looking under the surface and using forgotten classics or crate digging and unearthing songs by incredible acts that have not necessarily been heard on screen before. We wanted the overall soundtrack to feel very curated and true to Manchester and the northwest of England but inherently unique and distinctive to this film.”

With that in mind, Cooke chose to feature local acts like The Durutti Column and Black Grape on the soundtrack. Further helping set the film apart are appearances from groups including W.H. Lung, who perform the track “How to Walk” in the film at the famous Night and Day Café. The legendary music venue in the Northern Quarter hosted many of Manchester’s best-known bands over the years, especially when they were still lesser known and up and coming.

“I saw lots of amazing up-and-coming Manchester bands, but I was really drawn to W.H. Lung,” MacDonald says. “They had such a refreshing sound that mashed different genres, and their lyrics were so beautiful—plus I’m a sucker for some melancholy synthpop. The scene called for quite a riotous energetic track, but what I really liked about ‘How to Walk’ was that it was rowdy but also lyrically hopeful and romantic.”

Additionally, FINDING EMILY features the band Blossoms who perform the (fittingly titled) “There’s a Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls)” from their 2018 album Cool Like You. “Blossoms were jovially written into the script from the start as a kinda dream-scenario situation,” MacDonald says. “They’re really clever and soulful musicians with such a unique vibe, and I love the way they dress!”

The band agreed to appear during the sequence set at the university’s leavers’ ball, which, in the UK, is a formal end-of-year celebration, with dinner and dancing—like prom, for college students. Says Cooke: “We thought it’d be quite fun and subversive to have that as a little nod to the overarching story and narrative of the film. And it’s a banger so it worked well all around.”

TRACKLIST

SIDE A

• A1. Blossoms “There’s a Reason Why” (from Finding Emily)
• A2. Antony Szmierek “Rock and a Calm Place”
• A3. The Durutti Column “Otis”
• A4. “To be revealed”
• A5. Morgan Kibby “You’re Gonna See Her Again”
• A6. New Order “Blue Monday”

SIDE B

• B1. “To be revealed”
• B2. Black Grape “Kelly’s Heroes”
• B3. W.H. Lung “How to Walk” (from Finding Emily)
• B4. The Blessed Madonna & Kylie Minogue “Edge of Saturday Night”
• B5. Scissor Sisters “Let’s Have a Kiki”
• B6. Blossoms “Love Talk” (from Finding Emily)
• B7. “To be revealed”
• B8. Morgan Kibby “Your Face Knocks Me Sick”

SIDE C

• C1. “To be revealed”
• C2. Tom Tom Club “Wordy Rappinghood”
• C3. Morgan Kibby “Green Checked Shirt”
• C4. We Have Band “Divisive”
• C5. James Blake “Atmosphere”
• C6. Phoebe Green “Reinvent”
• C7. Morgan Kibby “Terminated with Immediate Effect”

SIDE D

• D1. W. H. Lung “The Painting of the Bay” (from Finding Emily)
• D2. Morgan Kibby “Call It a Night”
• D3. “To be revealed”
• D4. Sweet Female Attitude “Flowers” (Sunship Remix)
• D5. Nia Archives “Off Wiv Ya Heads”
• D6. Spike Fearn “Catch You Up”
• D7. Róisín Murphy “Ramalama (Bang Bang)”
• D8. Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe”