Crawley Film Initiative are looking for local people to star in their new drama series

The initiative is located in the Crawley Museum and aims to get young people engaged in learning more about the film industry and the opportunities that are available to local people.

The initiative is run by local filmmaker Callum Andrew Johnston, who has directed many films that have been featured at the film festival Cannes.

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Mr Johnston also directed the locally-produced film RH11, which is a prequel to his new 4-part drama ROMEO. HOTEL. ELEVEN. The series is based on the grittier side of Crawley and explores the issues surrounding country lines.

Crawley Film Initiative are looking for people to star in the new series, so if you are interested please email: [email protected]

Mr Johnston, founder of Crawley Film Initiative, said: “Crawley Film Initiative is a cultural film hub, so we are divided into two sectors. First of all we are a professional film company and the other side is a cultural film education hub.

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“How that works for us is that we use our professional services to produce high end visuals for our clients. This ranges from corporate stuff to music videos, but we also do workshops which allows us to give back to the community.

“The initiative is something I’ve always wanted to do for a long time. I got into filmmaking when I was about sixteen to seventeen years old and I was fortunate enough to use my network at college to create the film RH11. Back then I was really passionate about showcasing something that was Crawley driven.

“Let’s celebrate Crawley’s actors, musicians, filmmakers and put it all in one project and showcase it down at the Hawth. I essentially did this at 18 and the town really loved it. It gave me a platform to have a career path in film.

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“Covid put a halt to my international filmmaking, so I sat down and had a think about putting the community project together that can help train the next local filmmaker that is coming through. We want to create a safe space for young people to explore filmmaking and understand that it’s a career path, not just a hobby.

“I have made six feature films to date, three feature films have been narrative fictional films and three feature length documentaries. My documentaries had cinema tours and have been featured worldwide.

“We’ve got a four-part drama in the works with Crawley Film initiative called ROMEO. HOTEL. ELEVEN and it’s a little going back to RH11. That is why we expanded it. We are working with Sussex Police, Crawley Borough Council, Sussex Community Foundation and Gatwick Community Trust.”

“We’ve got Rishi Nair working on the project and starring in it. Our aim is to create professional, high end quality and entertaining films while bringing professionals on to work with local people.

“The project will premiere at our Crawley Film Fest on August 28. The festival will be a cultural celebration of film in Crawley. A whole day of celebrating the arts.

“Young people can get involved by contacting us to let us know they exist. They can fill in our contact page, letting us know a little bit about themselves and what they are interested in. As we are filming our new project, we are looking for people to get involved over that period.

If you want to find out more, please visit their website at: https://www.crawleyfilm.org/