Rather than wait years for traditional funding, Tom Nicoll made his debut feature Salvation in a grassroots way, with no institutional production backing. “I thought, ‘I’ve got the skills, I’ve got people who worked on my shorts, why not write a script that could be made in a smart way — just good acting and a good script.’ I used that mindset.”
Salvation shot for 19 days in Greenock and Glasgow, where Nicoll lives, and the DIY mentality paid off: Salvation is headed for its world premiere in Toronto’s Discovery section.
The psychological thriller follows an aspiring online guru who goes to extreme measures to pay off debts accrued while setting up his life-coaching business. It picks up on “a feeling in the general culture [of] treating people as ‘other’ [and the] culture of atomising into particular sects”, says Nicoll.
The feature continues his collaboration with actor Liam Harkins, who also appeared in Nicoll’s 2021 short Lighting Tests, as well as Stephen McMillan who appeared in 2019 short Educated, which had Screen Scotland backing.
Nicoll says of Harkins, who started collaborating on Salvation even before the script was written, “He has a traditional masculine kind of presentation, but he also has a vulnerability and a sense of humour. I knew I could build a film around this guy. It’s the greatest creative relationship I’ve had.”
While growing up in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Nicoll confesses “books were my thing”. He also enjoyed watching films with his father: Scorsese classics, Braveheart, The Last Of The Mohicans, Zulu. He studied English at the University of Exeter, where he delved into sketch comedy before moving to London and working for a small commercials production company. “I could use their equipment to make stuff on the weekends, and took that independent ethos going forward,” recalls Nicoll.
Now, he is working on scripts for a Hitchcockian thriller, a school-set horror film and a historical Scottish western. “What I wanted to do with Salvation was make a film that’s an entertaining, visceral ride that hopefully has meaning. As an audience member myself, I want to be provoked by a question or a conundrum.”
Contact: Tom Nicoll
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