Filmmaker hopes movie ambition won’t prove out of his league

TIMES are tough for all but the very top names in film making just now, and many highly skilled and seasoned professionals are finding doors close in their faces when they seek finance for their projects.

So imagine the struggle for bright-eyed, bushy tailed new directors and producers, fresh out of film school, or those who have only a tenuous hold on the first or second rung of a very shaky ladder. When money is tight, unknown names and those yet to prove themselves have an uphill battle to convince those who hold the purse strings to take a chance on them.

Finding money to pay the rent means doing some other job for years after graduation for many, and keeping the fires of passion for making films alive when there’s no money to get the camera rolling can mean enthusiasm turns to bitterness.

Vast reserves of both ingenuity and self-belief are essential.

But, even though things are difficult in the film industry, Brian Devlin is hoping that he won’t have to continue working as a nursing assistant for too long – that is, if he can just find the sponsorship to make a low-budget film set in Yorkshire to showcase his talent for bigger future projects.

The 44-year-old from Galashiels in the Scottish Borders has come up with an idea he believes will be of mutual benefit to Doncaster Rovers FC, the town of Doncaster and his own artistic career. His aim is to attract investment from local businesses to fund a low-budget 30-minute movie with the club at its centre, filmed in and around the town as well as the football ground.

After years of dabbling in film, making music videos and writing for stage while working in the NHS, Brian decided to study film seriously at the Scottish Screen Academy in Edinburgh.

Since graduating he has developed a script for the film, called The Referee’s Tale. It follows Lesley Book, a former professional player who returns to the game after becoming a referee.

Twenty years previously, he had been a promising young goalkeeper, but his confidence was shattered during a match in which he conceded what was called “the cheekiest hat-trick in football history”. He couldn’t recover, and left football to become a music teacher.

Now, having returned to the beautiful game as a referee, Lesley is about to find himself back at the scene of his debacle, refereeing a match involving Doncaster, the team he was playing against back then, now managed by the man who scored that fateful hat-trick years ago.

The story could be set at any football club, but of the half-dozen that Brian approached it was only Rovers – currently hovering just above the relegation zone in the Championship – who could see something in it for themselves.

“I’m working with a Yorkshire-based producer,” says Brian, “and Doncaster Rovers have said we can film scenes at the club without charge because it will increase its profile and publicise the improvements it has made in recent years.

“The local tourism office has also been very helpful.

“But even with payment in kind, it will still cost about £20,000 to make the film, which we hope will be shown at festivals and on television. The story is about confronting old ghosts and overcoming fears, which I think many people will empathise with.”