Brummie gangster film is big hit... in Venezuela Boxing trainer’s debut screen tale scoops four awards abroad

AFLEDGLING Birmingham film-maker has struck the big time with his movie debut ... in Venezuela.

Jon Pegg’s The Quiet One – a very British gangster tale – has swept the board at the Five Continents Film Festival in Puerto la Cruz.

It has made the cast of the budget production, which cost just £7,000, big stars in the impoverished state.

At the December festival, the movie – a dark story of one Birmingham landlord’s bid to stave off The Mob – scooped four awards.

Mr Pegg’s daughter Kia was named best young actress and Gillian MacGregor best supporting actress.

The thriller was also voted best action film, and received a best editing gong.

It is heady stuff for 43-year-old Mr Pegg, best known as one of the country’s top boxing trainers. His teeming Eastside gym boasts such stars as former European welterweight champ Sam Eggington and international middleweight titleholder Craig Cunningham. Jon, a former pro boxer, is being seen in some quarters as the new Hitchcock – with a left hook.

And The Quiet One’s surprise success has tempted him to again take the director’s chair.

“It was going to be a one-off, definitely a one-off,” he says. “It was a project to do in my spare time, something to do away from boxing, but it’s taken off.

“It’s given me a little boost. I’ve written two scripts – one about boxing, the other about Sunday morning football.”

The Quiet One, which features a cameo role for former world supermiddleweight champ Richie Woodhall, is very much a family affair – son Jack also appears.

Despite lades, it’s “film noir”.

Key scenes were shot inside the Brook Meadow pub, Shard End, and the international accoa decidedly Birmingham the soundtrack was laid local group Hall Drive.

Despite taking only 11 days to film, the 90-minute feature has been critically acclaimed around the world. It took two awards at the Birmingham Film Festival, and has also been shown at high-profile festivals in Ire- down by land, Sweden and Belgium. It has been aired in Mr Pegg’s home city, taking star billing for two days at the Mockingbird Cinema. But it’s in Venezuela where the cast and crew struck gold.

Mr Pegg is quick to shrug off celebrity status in Latin America.

“The film is the star,” he insists. “My daughter’s very relaxed about it all because she’s in the industry.”

Kia, an actress by trade, has appeared in TV dramas Horrid Henry, Tracer Beaker, Toast, and The Dumping Ground.

Mr Pegg added: “But I’ll admit to being surprised by the reaction. It cost £7,000 and the most expensive part was the editing. Nowadays, even a ‘zero budget’ film costs around £100,000.

“It was actually my naivety and inexperience that helped to get it made for such a small amount. For that we hired the gear, including a then cutting-edge Red camera, met his

It was a project to do in my spare time, something to do away from boxing, but it’s taken off

everyone’s expenses and got them fed. The film sat on the shelf for 12 months, but just when we were getting back on with it in post-production, the boxing went ballistic for 18 months.

“But the performances were so good that I just wanted to complete it. I wanted the actors to see it on the screen.”

One man not surprised by the clamour created by The Quiet One is lead actor George McCluskey, from Coventry.

“Jon brought characteristics out of me as an actor that I felt were very subtle,” he says. “That was really necessary.”

Mr McCluskey, who has starred in more than 70 films, adds: “Jon is very humble and stays very quiet. He’s an observer of people and that’s what makes him such a good boxing coach.

“It’s all down to Jon and the way he directed the movie.”

Jon Pegg