Solace in Wicca

The screenplay was one of thirty-two[3] screenplays submitted to the MannIN Shorts Screenplay Contest in January 2011 and was selected as one of three screenplays eligible for a production-budget as part of the MannIN Shorts scheme.

Andy North, lecturer of film and digital media at the Isle of Man College and Chester University, was hired to direct the short film and helped developed the screenplay throughout a six-month period of pre-production.[5] North decided[6] to translate the screenplay’s dialogue into the period-accurate Manx Gaelic Language,[7] a decision which attracted the financial support of Culture Vannin.[8]

The opportunity to support emerging talent excited the Isle of Man Government's film investment partner CinemaNX, who co-financed the production with a view to acquiring the rights to an English-language commercial remake.[3] CinemaNX's successor Pinewood Studios optioned the rights and developed the commercial remake as a Halloween origins story in 2013.[9]

Principal photography took place over a five-day period in July 2012, at national heritage sites Castle Rushen, Cregneash Village, and the Niarbyl Fault.[7] Manx National Heritage donated use of their sites without charging a location fee, due to the historical nature of the piece.[10] None of the locations featured in the film were the real-life locations of the 1617 witch-hunt, as they are now too ruined or modern to play themselves in a low-budget period drama.

Experienced non-Manx-speaking actors were cast in the lead roles, and learned their Manx dialogue parrot fashion via a CD recorded by a dialect and language coach.[11] Fluent Manx-Speakers were cast in minor roles.[12]

Adrian Cain, Manx Language Development Officer for the Manx Heritage Foundation commented that “Such a high profile and professional production illustrates what a vibrant position the language finds itself in at present”[13] and Gaelic-enthusiasts noted that the filmmaker’s decision to shoot in the Manx language marked a huge step forward[14] for a language once considered extinct by UNESCO.[15]

Solace in Wicca was the first short film to receive funding support from Isle of Man Film,[16] who have since annually supported talent-development in the craft of film and entrepreneurship by committing funding to micro-budget projects under the banner of the MannIN Shorts scheme.[16]