FILM SET TO REMEMBER FORGOTTEN WAR HEROES
MORE FUNDING REQUIRED TO GET MOVIE OFF THE GROUND
A FILM could be made about the First World War Coventry heroes that may have been forgotten.
Production company Chugg TV, based in the city, will be behind the film which will look back at the heroes who are still ever-present in the city.
The film will be centred around an 11-year-old boy with autism who meets an army of ghosts in Coventry’s War Memorial Park.
Together they battle a businessman intent on destroying the park for profit.
Writer Robert Wilkinson said the idea came from just walking past the plaques every day, and realising they were the city’s First World War heroes.
He said: “I wanted to make these people into characters.
“Lots of people in Coventry don’t realise how big a part the city played in the war.
“The lead character, Robert, is very close to my heart.
“I worked closely with Corley Centre, a secondary special school for students with complex social and communication difficulties.
“Many students are on the autistic spectrum, and when I wrote the film I wanted to make the hero in their likeness.”
The early development stage of the film is under way but to make the film, more than £1million of further funding is needed.
The film-maker is looking for investment in an original British film which is due to be released as part of the Coventry City of Culture celebrations in 2021.
The film’s producer Anita Ramdharry said “The total budget for this feature film is £1.2million so we are appealing to individuals and organisations to sponsor this fantastic project which will provide employment for actors and production professionals here in the Midlands.
“We are in the early development stage and need some initial funding to get us going.
We’ve already got a very talented group of people on board, but we need investment to allow this project to really get started so smaller amounts of sponsorship are also very important”.
A short promotional video is available on the films website, but full blown movie production is not due to start until October 2019.
You can find out more about the film on their website. Go to http://robertandtheghostarmy. com
Lots of people in Coventry don’t realise how big a part the city played in the war Writer Robert Wilkinson (pictured above)