Please Clean Me!

Jason works as part of a small team of tradesmen forming a building firm for house renovations and extensions. Although he is trained as a carpenter, work demands that he often dons the skillset of a window fitter, plumber, and bricklayer. With Christmas approaching, he must work seven full days a week so to afford the homely Christmas he thinks his wife and son deserve. Nonetheless, the long hard days of balancing work life with family commitments take their toll on the body and mind. Even his dirty white transit van is demanding his attention with the message “Please Clean Me!” written into the muck on its backdoors. Jason continues to push through the days but then comes his biggest challenge yet. What does he buy his son for Christmas? Meanwhile, his son is thinking, what can I do to help my Dad?

The world of this touching, realist, British short script is set within the life of a modern-day working-class family supported by the income of a self-employed parent. Although, social status sets the scene it soon takes the back seat so that family and the father-son bond can be explored. Jason’s world is his family, and that is the world of the film. The film is set at Christmas, but Christmas does little more than provide a warm family feel.

My inspiration for this film came from my own experiences with my father and the gradual realisation of the high work ethic he has every day. Even know he would work seven days a week nearly every week of the year he would never miss an important event in his children’s lives. My gratitude grew stronger after working alongside him in the building trade. This film is my way of saying thank you to all the hard-working fathers (and mothers), and in particular, mine.