‘Blood Sweat and Tears’ by Gingersnap Productions FINE CUT

Producer and writer Stephanie Ginger who divides her time between the Algarve and the UK, formed Gingersnap Productions specifically to make one of her own scripts Blood Sweat and Tears for Phase Two of the Impact50 incentive.

Recognising the potential of re-creating Africa in Portugal, she enlisted the help of director Kristjan Knigge and retired Production Designer BJ Boulter who know both Portugal and Africa intimately and are well-versed in ‘film-making by the seat of your pants’!

Watch the new edit below…


In a couple of weeks they managed to gather a tiny team of enthusiastic people who’d never worked together; The Gaffer came back from the Seychelles for the privilege; the Camera Assistant had zero experience before Kristjan gave her a four-hour crash course in film-making the day before the shoot. She hopes that Gingersnap Productions will make more films in the Algarve.

With not much more than a big idea, four amazing actors (the youngest of whom is only five) a tiny crew and bags of ingenuity, BS&T was shot over four days just two weeks before the May deadline in three locations; the hills of Rocha da Pena (which at 34 degrees felt very much like Africa) and in the tiny central Algarvian village of Estômbar. Exteriors of the Ebola hospital were created from an old farm and the interior set built in BJ’s lean-to workshop. The sun shone, the wind blew and there was blood, sweat and tears aplenty. And when we shot the last scene, everybody cried.

First edit below…


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