User-Generated 'Nerd' Movie Starts Shooting

The world's first ever user-generated feature film, launched by MySpace, Film4 and Vertigo Films, with backing from the UK Film Council, Skillset and Screen WM starts shooting this week in the UK.
The movie - Faintheart - is to be directed by Vito Rocco who won MySpace's £1 million movie directing competition voted for by the MySpace online community.
The movie will feature cast and crew from all over the UK - Hampshire (Southampton), Leicester, West Midlands, Manchester, Coventry, Lancashire, Middlesbrough, Coventry, Wales and London.
Faintheart is a 'Revenge of the Nerds' style romantic comedy set in the world of battle re-enactments. Actors were selected after an online audition process.
The film will star Eddie Marsan (Miami Vice, The Illusionist), Ewan Bremner (Hallam Foe, Trainspotting) and Jessica Hynes (formerly Stevenson) best known for TV comedy hit ‘Spaced’. Other key cast include Paul Nicholls (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Goodbye Charlie Bright), Bronagh Gallagher (Tristan & Isolde, The Commitments), Anne Reid (The Mother, Hot Fuzz) and Tim Healy, best known for his role as ‘Dennis’ in Auf Wiedersehen Pet.
Winners of the nation-wide online auditions held over the summer offering budding film stars the chance to appear in this unique new project are also appearing in the film in minor supporting roles alongside the principle cast members.
Amongst the winners set to star in the film are Chris Wright from Hampshire who will play ‘Simon’, Steve Ryland from London who will play a ‘Comic Book Fan’, Calum Chalmers from Southampton who will play ‘Kevin’, Graeme Brookes from the West Midlands who will play the ‘Landlord’, Phil Lester from Manchester who will play ‘Tim’, Joseph Riley from London who will play a ‘Photographer’, Nick Ball who will play ‘Grey Suited Man’, Rosalyn Scanlon from Coventry who will play an ‘Office Worker’, Jason Excell from Wales who will play a ‘Band Member’ and Peter Holyoake known as ‘Dagmaer’, who performs Viking re-enactments around the country. Dagmaer will be one of the film’s vital components – a Viking extra!
“Anyone who loves movies and interactivity will be fascinated to get involved in this pioneering film”, says the film’s director Vito Rocco.
“We’re giving cinema-goers and online users the first real opportunity to be part of the filmmaking process right the way through from script to seeing the results of their input up on the big screen.”
Faintheart is a ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ style romantic comedy set in the world of battle re-enactments. Richard is a weekend warrior who sets out on an epic quest to win back his wife after she leaves him, branding him childish and irresponsible.
Newcomer David Lemon who has a background in television and docu-shorts wrote the winning script.
The producers are Allan Niblo (Waz, Outlaw), Rupert Preston (Dirty Sanchez: The Movie, The Business) and James Richardson (Waz, Outlaw, The Business) for Vertigo along with James Fabricant from MySpace, and Arvind Ethan David, Rachel Connors and Judy Counihan (French Film, Sugerhouse) for Slingshot.
(SP)