If you've been on the lookout for your next short-film watch, we have an amazing recommendation for you!

A perfect blend of humour, with subtle hints of a blossoming romance, 'The First Moment We Met' tells an exciting tale of an unexpected meeting between two music-loving souls that further transforms into a beautiful relationship. 

What follows is a humorous conversation, unexpected flying sparks, intense chemistry, a plethora of immensely laugh-out-loud moments, and a really surreal cameo at the end of the film. 

Head on over to ReVamp to read more about "The First Moment We Met" as we talk with the phenomenal writer and creator of the film- Juggy Sohal alongside the two immensely talented lead protagonists Tadeyo Akitoye and Jordan Taffe-Watson about their experience on this wonderful project. 

Hi there Juggy. Thank you for joining us on ReVamp! How are you doing and how has 2024 been like for you so far?

I am doing good thanks, I appreciate you taking the time out to speak with me. My 2024 has been a steady bubbling rise, I feel like this is the year before the ‘year’ it all happens for me if that makes any sense haha.

I would love to begin our conversation by mentioning your recent short-film "The First Moment We Met". First of all, huge congratulations on the project! The movie is phenomenal!

Talk to me more about what the initial inspiration was behind this project. Did you have a specific concept in mind before beginning to craft the script down for this film?

Thank you for your kind words, I’m so glad you enjoyed the film! 

I knew I wanted to make a comedy in the style of humour I liked, I grew up watching the Trouble network shows like ‘My Wife & Kids’ so very Americanised comedy but also wanted to pay homage to some British classics the film was inspired by such as ‘Notting Hill’.

The actual story of the film originated from my own and my friends experience of being single in your thirties, fed up of dating apps, getting pressure from your family to settle down, feeling like you were born in the wrong era and craving that spark you get when you meet someone by chance in person. 

Kindly walk me through the overall creative process for this film. Did you encounter or face any challenges during the production stage of the film?

The short film is apart of a series I have developed around how significant moments in one’s life can change everything, sometimes for the good, like in this film and sometimes for the bad, which is showcased in the drama short ‘The Last Moment We Spoke’.

For me this project is one I am the most proudest of as I done everything myself from writing to producing and ultimately directing, which is something I wanted to showcase I could do. However it was a self funded project that took a lot of time behind the scenes as I was wearing a lot of hats. The actual production days went smoothly luckily but the lead up was stressful with last minute cast changes, and location issues, two of the key aspects of the production! 

I absolutely love Tadeyo Akitoye and Jordan Taffe-Watson and their performance in this film! 

How did you first cross paths with both of them and what was it that made you realise that they were the perfect cast for this film? 

Tadeyo has been a friend of mine for ten years now, we met selling classified advertising during my first job in London. Her acting debut was in a supporting role in one my first short films back in 2020 and I knew from then that this girl needed to be a leading lady, some of the elements of the character of ‘Janet’ was inspired by her real life traits and values, so this character was actually written for her.

With Jordan, I actually met him in a pub a year ago and I was celebrating my film launching on ITVX, he was serving me and mentioned he was an actor. 9 months later, I had to find an actor to play ‘Caleb’, so I DM’d Jordan, he loved the script, I loved his audition tape and as they say the rest is history, it goes to show everyone enters your life for a reason, a chance encounter led to this project. 

How can I forget the extremely astonishing and unexpected cameo at the end of the film. How did you get the wonderful Louise Redknapp onboard for this project and what was your experience like working with her? 

Louise was brilliant, she has a great comic timing, a real natural in front of the camera and so lovely to everyone off set as well, she was a dream to work with

I just pitched the idea to her management team, they really liked it, so they ran it by Louise and 24 hours later she was on board. Everyone in the cast & crew was so excited when that got announced.

Caleb's spontaneous and unexpected rendition of 'Fugees- Killing Me Softly With His Song' is one of my most favourite moments of this film! 

So, pertaining to that, I'm very curious to know if you personally had a favorite sequence or a dialogue/interaction from the film? 

I love that bit as well, Jordan actually has a really good voice so I had to keep telling him to sing off key and badly to make it work haha 

My favourite moment is when Jay asks Caleb about his last name, it sums up her character and there situation at that present moment. On paper, the actors didn’t get what I was trying to achieve with the reference until rehearsals and Caleb’s last line was actually an off the cuff improvisation by him, that I decided to keep in, so I just felt like it all worked out really well. 

For the people who are yet to be introduced to this beautiful short-film, what can you tell us about the project and why do you think people should watch it? 

The First Moment We Met is a feel good, nostalgic, romantic comedy that hopefully makes the audience laugh and smile. It is a short film I created to show people that everyone feels insecure at times, everyone have moments where they don’t know what to say or say the wrong thing but that it can all fall into place at a moments notice. 

What's next for you, Juggy? Anything else you're currently working on or is already in the pipeline for this year that you would like to tell us or your fans about? 

I would love to develop these shorts into a tv series and I believe there is so much more scope to explore with the characters and the themes.  

Aside from this project, I have a feature film I have co written, a Christmas mockumentary, going into production and another indie feature about the world of fencing called ‘Touché’ in post production. 

(Thank you for taking out the time to join us on this really insightful interview, Juggy! Wishing you lots of luck on the success of "The First Moment We Met"). 

Lastly, I would love to know if there's any message you'd like to convey to your fans and supporters currently reading this interview. 

Thank you for the support, it really is appreciated!

I would just say the journey isn’t easy but if you want it bad enough, just go do it, in this industry the doors have to be opened by yourself, the only way to make the change is to be the change.