A Perthshire film producer is hoping that investors large and small will hold the key to bringing a bestselling thriller to the big screen.
Simone Bett, who lives in Dunkeld, said filmmakers First and Only Ltd had already achieved more than £70,000 of their £120,000 target and were hopeful a crowdfunding campaign will bring in the shortfall.
The production company was set up by filmmaker Magnus Wake when he acquired the options to the rights for First and Only, a novel by Scottish-based author Peter Flannery. It follows the story of Simon, a young man with exceptional psychic powers, as he attempts to stop a serial killer while evading the UK authorities.
The film is set in Edinburgh so most exteriors will be shot there but interior shots might take the production elsewhere in Scotland.
The project has already met with some success and backing after Simone and Magnus produced a short prologue of the film, focusing on a key element of the story. The teaser featured in the Short Film Corner of this year’s Cannes Film Festival and it was also part of the official selection at the London Independent Film Festival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhav_2RHEJg
While helping to fund a film is by its nature speculative, Magnus hopes that investors may find it an attractive proposition to back.
“Filmmaking remains an exciting and unique business proposition where the returns can be lucrative when you get the formula right,” he said. “We know we’ve got a great story. The Amazon reviews for the book are off the scale. Combine that with an experienced production team and we’re confident we’re going to produce a winner.
“We want to make an engaging, exciting film that works creatively and commercially. It’s also important that we encourage and support others as they develop their careers. Just as we did with our short film we’ll be looking to take as many people with us and explore new talent so everyone can share in the success of First and Only.”
Simone said there were various benefits available to backers who support them through the crowd funding platform Seedrs.com, depending on the level of support.
“We wanted to be able to reach investors across the world as well as to make investing accessible to everyone,” she said.
“We’ve already had investment come through from Switzerland, Spain and Portugal with the UK making the largest share of investment to date.”
