A former Ilkley Grammar School pupil, who came up the story line for a movie whilst bedridden following an accident, has realised his dream of putting the film into production.
Corrie Greenop is currently in the final process of editing Wandering Rose, a horror/thriller feature film which sees young couple Rose and Theo setting out on a camper van holiday in the remote Scottish Highlands. When ghostly apparitions begin to haunt their perfect weekend away Rose’s mental state begins to deteriorate along with Theo’s patience.
The 26-year-old, who used his own money and contacts to produce the feature film, began making short films on Ilkley Moor when he lived in the town as a student.
Now living in Headingly, he has been making music videos and documentaries since graduating from the Northern Film School in Leeds four years ago, but Wandering Rose is his first feature film.
Corrie said: “I’ve always been a huge fan of making short films, ever since I was at Ilkley Grammar, and having gained my degree in Film and Moving Image, I went on to make music videos and documentaries all around the world, from filming for the Discovery Channel in Jordan to orphanages in Kenya and boat parties in Ibiza. I had always wanted to write a feature film but found I never had the time.”
It was an unfortunate accident which led to him finally having the time to pursue his dreams.
“I’ve been rock climbing since the age of three and it has been a huge part of my life up until two years ago when I was bouldering and fell from the wall,” he said. “I was bed ridden for three months after I had knee reconstruction.”
The accident though was a blessing in disguise, as Corrie finally had the time to write the film script he had always wanted to.
The film maker used as his inspiration a family holiday to the Scottish Highlands as a child when the wind battered the side of a campervan he was sleeping in with his family, leaving him terrified.
It took two years and several drafts for Corrie to finalise the script and he then had to come up with a plan – and the money – to take the film from the page and into production.
He said: “I knew from my filming experiences before that I was going to need a fair bit of cash to get the ball rolling and knew that companies like Screen Yorkshire wouldn’t touch me with a barge pole as I hadn’t made enough short films.”
So Corrie took what he describes as “the biggest decision of my life” and ploughed all the money he had saved up for a deposit on a house into the film instead. Armed with his script and his cash he then had to find a crew and a cast.
“Having worked in the industry for a few years I had made loads of contacts around Yorkshire, from sound guys to clapper boys who I knew would love to be a part of the film,” he said.
The cast and crew – all from Yorkshire – spent nearly three weeks on location in Aviemore last month, with Corrie taking on the mammoth task of planning everything from accommodation, catering and locations to budgets, permissions, costumes, props and camera equipment.
Once back home in Yorkshire they filmed a few more scenes on location in the county before calling it a wrap. The film will now be premiered at film festivals around the world next year.
“It’s been the toughest and most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life but hopefully it will be the start of something amazing,” added Corrie.
The film website is at wanderingrosemovie.com and the facebook page is facebook.com/wanderingrosemovie.
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