Life After LFA: Graduate Katy Trevor on Finding Festival Success with ‘Friday is Mushroom Soup’

19 May 2026

Graduating from London Film Academy’s MA Screenwriting programme in 2023, Katy Trevor already had her eyes on the prize: writing and producing a short film based on her time working as an hourly home carer. Adapting her own short story, and with Focus Canning kit hire from her LFA Emerging Screenwriter award win and a successful crowdfunding campaign to boot, Katy set about forming a crew to make Friday is Mushroom Soup a reality.

Now, a few years later, we caught up with Katy to recap what has been a wildly successful festival run to date.

Female and male filmmakers smiling with awards statuettes

Assembling a team

Friday is Mushroom Soup follows a burnt-out home carer, Kate (played by Katy herself), who finds herself uncharted territory when her favourite cranky client Doug drops some unexpected news. Right from the off, Katy knew she wanted to bring as much authenticity as possible to the film’s core conceit of home care work. She already had friends and crewmates in her LFA cohort, namely producers Oscar Hewitt and Gus Herbert-Muller (BA (Hons) Filmmaking), runner Sam Harding (MA Screenwriting), and stills photographer Adam Donnelly (MA Screenwriting).

Man and woman on set

Image credits © Adam Donnelly

But when it came to the role of director, Katy opted for a candidate who, similarly to herself, had experience in social care:

My friend and fellow creative Arnold T. Rice is a director and fully qualified social worker in Brighton, so I knew instantly that Arnold was who I wanted to direct the piece. We had the same lived experience of this world and a similar creative vision too.

Katy Trevor

Casting for the role of Kate conveniently sorted, Katy set out with casting director Marie-Claire Wood to find the film’s Doug. They landed on veteran screen and theatre actor David Sterne, most recently known for his work in Detectorists and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. With that, the film’s two-hander was confirmed.

Three men on set

Image credits © Adam Donnelly

Production on the film remained smartly economical, with filming taking place in Katy’s own flat, which was completely transformed into a convincing home for Doug. Katy and her crew worked with award-winning production designer Isabel Pirillo to achieve this.

Katy gives huge credit Isabel for helping pull this off, as well as her first AD:

Isabel taught us so much, especially about peelable wallpaper. Izzy really made our vision come to life; she listened to what we wanted and really delivered. Every time we screen [the film], somebody mentions the production design and how real the world feels. We filmed over three full days, but my flat was under transformation for about two weeks before production. The space was very small but we made the most of it and everything went really well, thanks in a huge part to our first AD, Jack Fielder, who was an absolute dream and kept the ball rolling. Filming days felt like a fever dream, they went by so quickly.

Katy Trevor

Man and woman in kitchen set looking at monitor

Image credits © Adam Donnelly

Multi-hyphenate filmmaker

Undaunted by the task, Katy took on triple roles for Friday is Mushroom Soup; writing, producing, and starring in the film. Katy shared with us how she managed this, once again heaping praise on her crew:

For my first film, I really did dive in at the deep end! But we were so blessed with such an amazing team, that I felt so supported throughout. Especially working with Arnold, when you have a team that is passionate about the project and you all want to make the best version of the thing you can, it really helps. My producer credit is split 4 ways, so I really can't take much credit for that, but because we filmed in my home, I was way more involved than a usual writer-performer. On set I really locked into the performance role; I couldn't worry about anything if I wanted to perform well. So I am so grateful to the crew who made that easy for me to do. Especially friend and fellow LFA graduate Sam Harding who acted as runner, emotional support, and general all-rounder.

Katy Trevor

Man staring at digital camera

Image credits © Adam Donnelly

Film festival circuit

With the help of advice from producers Gus and Oscar and director Arnold, Katy took on the role of submitting the film to festivals. The film has racked up the plaudits in recent months, including ‘Best UK Short’ at the Liverpool Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Sunday Shorts Film Festival.

With 22 nominations and 6 wins in tow, Katy reflected on an immensely successful festival run to date:

The film has been so well-received, and we have been lucky enough to have attended many of the festivals, making more connections and sharing the story of our little film. Not only have we been selected for some incredible festivals, we have also been nominated for 22 awards, and have won 6 of them! We are qualified to submit to BIFA and BAFTA completions this year which is absolutely incredible and I will never get over that fact.

Katy Trevor

More recently, Katy and five of her team represented the film at Picturehouse Create, where it was officially selected for its Short Films Competition.

Five student filmmakers smiling

This proved a particular highlight:

I attended the whole festival and the event is amazing - I would recommend LFA students attend as the workshops and talks were so insightful and the screenings and Q&As were so great too. They hold a networking brunch each morning of the festival which is the perfect introduction to networking for anyone who is a bit introverted like me. And there is brunch! Screening at Picturehouse Central was a real highlight, it felt very surreal.

Katy Trevor

Katy also shared some sage advice on the logistics of tackling film festival submissions in an effective and tenable manner:

My advice to anybody approaching festivals for the first time would be to familiarise yourself with Film Freeway and spend a good amount of time researching the festivals you want to submit to. There are many festivals that cater to specific films and filmmakers, like horror or animation festivals, and if you are a female filmmaker there are many festivals that will support your work. If you are a filmmaker from a specific place in the UK, many festivals have home-grown or local categories. Also think about your budget and what is important to your journey - is the goal to get the film shown in as many places as you can or is the goal to qualify for BIFA or BAFTA? Also, create an Excel spreadsheet. Lots of Excel spreadsheets! Attach a cover letter to each submission, to give the festival juries an idea about you and your project, and let them know anything interesting or insightful about your journey.

Katy Trevor

Clapperboard

Image credits © Adam Donnelly

Depicting home care culture

Alongside her pride for the film’s festival success, Katy is pleased that so many people who’ve had experiences with home care, firsthand or otherwise, have responded to the film.

Katy said:

What we wanted to achieve with this film was to make something that people could relate to. We have been overwhelmed by the support we have received and the personal stories that people have been kind enough to share with us. Home care has been in crisis in the UK for a long time; carers are underpaid, overworked and under increasing emotional and physical strain, while service users continue to have care cut, and needs are left unmet. So, if we can let people into this world for our short 15 minutes (the length of a care call), then hopefully in some way we can bring a little light to these issues.

Katy Trevor

We at LFA would like to congratulate Katy, Oscar, Gus, Sam, Adam and the rest of their crew on their continued success with Friday is Mushroom Soup and hope it continues to receive the recognition it deserves. Their immediate success since graduating from LFA serves as a strong inspiration for all LFA students; past, present, and future.

Movie poster for 'Friday is Mushroom Soup'

Full crew credits for Friday is Mushroom Soup:

Arnold T. Rice - Director

Katy Trevor - Writer

Oscar Hewitt - Producer

Gus Herbert-Müller - Producer

Arnold T. Rice - Producer

Katy Trevor - Producer

David Sterne - Key Cast: "Doug"

Katy Trevor - Key Cast: "Kate"

Suki Mok - Director of Photography

Isabel Pirillo - Production Designer

Giulia Scrimieri - Costume Designer

Marie-Claire Wood - Casting Director

Jack Fielder - First Assistant Director

Mary Flanigan - Script Supervisor

Kristof Szentgyorgyvary - Gaffer

Rachael Kent - Hair and Make-up

Ed Grant - First Assistant Camera

Oscar Hewitt - Second Assistant Camera

Joe Warner - Sound Recordist

Oscar Hewitt - DIT

Sam Harding - Runner

Adam Donnelly - Stills Photographer

Steve Alexander - Online Editor

Graeme Hayes - Colourist

Isabel Derr - Sound Design

Danny Finn - Dubbing Mixer

Sophie Tripp - Title Design

William Hunting - Credits

Charlie Bush - Credits Song Writer

Elise Cook - Credits Song Writer

Knucker - Credits Song Performer

Arnold T. Rice - Editor

Azimuth - Post Production Services

Richard Dadd - Additional Voices and Recording

Tom Dowling - Additional Voices and Recording

Rachel Baker - Additional Voices and Recording