West Sussex locations for planned new fantasy film

Sompting film-maker Oliver Hollingdale is seeking funding as he plans to bring a fantasy world to the screen.
Oliver HollingdaleOliver Hollingdale
Oliver Hollingdale

Writer and director Oliver and the team have embarked on the making of Gallowmere – and will be using a host of Sussex locations including Arundel, Ashdown Forest and Henfield, plus a number of West Sussex actors.

“Pre-production has been done during the lockdowns and for some positivity and community spirit we are jumping into the swing of things.

“We are shooting up and down the country.

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“However there will be many scenes filmed in Sussex as we have some martial art/stunt people in the local community plus potential re-enactors.

“We have just launched a pre-sign up for a crowdfunding campaign before it goes live and those who do can see the full teaser trailer first.”

You can find out more on www.gallowmerethemovie.com

“It’s a story that my friend Craig Standen and I came up with.

“We have done some projects together in the past. We are West Sussex based. We’ve done community projects before and we thought this would be a good opportunity to create this fantasy project.

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“We’ve got lots of talent from the West Sussex area and we feel it’s a great little story.

“Gallowmere is like a Middle Earth-type place.

“With fantasy when you are creating an original you have got like a sandbox in which you can make anything happen.

“We have got a completely clean slate to create a whole new world. We’re not basing it on anything that is pre-existing.

“It is this fictional Middle Earth realm and the story is focused on the classic thing of good versus evil.

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“There is an evil entity that is manifesting in part of this kingdom and one of the main affected areas is Gallowmere. And there are characters that have got to defeat this evil entity. We are trying to push the boundaries as much as we can.

“At the moment we are using our own funds to get off the ground and we’ve got a number of actors involved including Craig who is based in Goring and is a combat martial arts teacher.

“We’ve started shooting. We have done the pre-production and we plan to shoot early (this) year.

“We have put our own resources into it and we thought it would be good to try and crowdfund things to see if we can raise the whole project to the next level.

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“At the moment we are trying to keep it modest in terms of costs because everyone’s purse strings are tight but we are trying to raise about £5,000.

“We’re trying to do it as a block in stages.

“We are not a big film entity but we might need to raise some more at some point.

“But for the moment we are just trying to build a foundation and try to get people to believe in the project as much as we do.

“We can start filming anyway. We are making this film regardless but if we can raise money it won’t be to pay us; it will be invested into the production itself.”

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Initial locations will include Arundel, Ashdown Forest and Henfield.

“But there will come a point where we expand beyond West Sussex and head north to the Peak District and the Lake District to get the Lord of the Rings type cinematic vistas that will expand the scope of what we are doing.”

Oliver added: “It would be good to finish filming by midsummer though ideally we would want to aim for sooner if our stars align.

“It just depends, and we would hope to have the film ready, if all goes well, by Christmas.

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“I would like to think that there would be a good solid cut of the film ready by the end of the year, ready for early 2023 for the awards seasons and to reach out to festivals.”

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