Writing, producing and directing duo Ross Dos are seeking the community’s backing for a new production set to be filmed in the Antrim and Newtownabbey borough.

Ross Morrison, from Carnmoney, and Dundonald man Ross McClure launched a Kickstarter campaign to help make ‘Wakey Wakey’ – a comedy-horror short film about the nightmare of trying to own your own home.

“Wakey Wakey is about a generation for whom owning a house is nothing more than a lottery,” the campaign notes. “We've taken that palpable modern desperation and melded it with the ridiculously convoluted property acquisition process using a horror engine. The resulting tone is a deliberate one – revisiting the trope of mysteriously inheriting a haunted house and infusing it with signature Ross Dos pitch-black comedy.”

Ross Morrison, who has a degree in Creative Writing from Liverpool John Moores University, formerly taught English in Mexico and coached soccer in Seattle before moving back home to Carnmoney in 2010.

Writing, producing and directing duo Ross Dos: Ross Morrison, from Carnmoney, and Dundonald man Ross McClure. Photo: Ross Dos

placeholder image — Writing, producing and directing duo Ross Dos: Ross Morrison, from Carnmoney, and Dundonald man Ross McClure. Photo: Ross Dos

He was named one of the UK and Ireland's Most Exciting Young Writers in 2009 and has since produced award-winning animation, TV, film and video game projects for HBO, BBC, Warner Brothers and Discovery's Shark Week.

"Until 2021, my main focus was producing, but after my 40th I had a now-or-never conversation with myself and returned my focus to writing,” he said.

Creative partner, Ross McClure is an award-winning writer/director with an established portfolio in commercial and branded storytelling.

His short films have screened and won awards at festivals worldwide. In 2020 he launched Magic Eye, a production house creating bold content for clients including BBC, Heineken, Peugeot, Sony and Universal Pictures.

"We initially met when I responded to a producer call out that he and another writer made for a Netflix opportunity,” added Ross Morrison. “Whilst that fell through, Ross and I quickly established that we worked well together. His strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa so we really complement each other and our working relationship is frictionless and always creative.

"In 2023, our short Other was a finalist in No Sleep Til Film Fest, selected by the Russo Brothers. In 2024 we were finalists in the Shore Scripts TV Pilot Competition, we won the Short Com TV Sitcom Competition, and we placed in the top five percent of the BBC Comedy Collective. In 2025, we were the first duo ever selected as part of the prestigious Channel 4 New Writers Scheme. Only 17 writers were chosen from over 2,000 applicants. We developed our latest TV spec script, Totem, during the course.”

While Ross Dos have already secured funding for Wakey Wakey – set to be filmed in the Muckamore area in January 2027 – it’s hoped the crowdfunding campaign will allow them to invest in key areas from sound to lighting, special effects, and post-production.

“We’re grateful to Northern Ireland Screen for backing us with £6,000 as part of their short film scheme. It gets us to the starting line, and it means we can make a solid version of Wakey Wakey,” the duo said.

"But we want to make the best one, and your pledges are the difference between a film that works and a film that gets under your skin. Horror lives and dies on picture and sound, so that’s where your money goes!”