Film crew seeks £16k for Great War movie to be shot in the Midlands

Jake Elcock, from Bridgnorth, is asking members of the public to help fund a feature-length film called The Long Way Home.

It will be based on the lives of soldiers and he hopes to release it on the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day.

The 19-year-old says he was inspired to work on the project after completing his first year of study at Westminster University and his interest in period dramas which mark the anniversaries of the Great War.

pitch video 1 from The Long Way Home Film on Vimeo.

His interest was also piqued by a book by a local author which inspired him to come up with the concept for The Long Way Home.

He said: "In the midst of the centenary, why not do a film about the First World War? I was actually surprised that more people aren't making films about the period."

Jake has produced an extended promotional trailer for the film he hopes to shoot. The story follows the tale of Captain John Hemmingway who, as the war comes to an end, must decide between following orders or protecting the men under his command.

During preparation for the film, Jake read the book The Apley Legion, by local author Graham Jones and said he decided to use stories from the book as the basis for the inspiration of the story, but decided to make it about a fictional regiment.

He said: "Jack Coleman, who is my co-writer, took some of the accounts from the book and distilled them into the story about a fictional regiment.

"We wanted to be very careful so we made it about a fictional regiment so as not to misrepresent anyone who actually lived and fought.

"Our small team have been working on this project for over a year. From the original idea a few years ago we first wrote a short script and then began using that as a basis for the longer version.

He added: "Bringing on board Ben Seager, who plays Captain Hemmingway and Mat Hammond as cinematographer gave us the opportunity to move on with the project."

Jake and his crew hope to Crowdfund about £16,000 for the project towards their total budget of £40,000.

Jake explained: "When it comes to actually making the film I want to shoot as much of it as I can in Shropshire.

"A lot of the interior spaces will be done under controlled environments and likely be done in the studios in Westminster. However I hope about 90 per cent of the film can be shot in Shropshire."

For the costumes, Jake has been working with a London-based company who provide many period pieces for BBC dramas and he has also been helped by a Birmingham group of re-enactors.

He hopes that the principle filming will take place over summer of 2017, with finishing touches made in 2018.

The plan is then to release it on the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day on November 11 2018.

To help the film crew raise the funds visit indiegogo.com/projects/the-long-way-home-ww1-feature-film-movie-war--2