Yorkshire Harry Potter veteran aiming to put public in the picture with new film

DAN Hartley is sworn to secrecy. He’s currently working on Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but he’s under strict instructions to give nothing away.

It’s a familiar scenario for the 41-year-old from Austwick, near Settle. He spent a decade on the Harry Potter films, going from lowly runner to working alongside the movies’ directors as a video assist operator, responsible for a complex system which enables film makers to view a scene immediately after shooting it.

“It acted as a very long film school,” he says of the experience. “I never went to film school so I learned on the job. A series of guys kept getting fired, which meant that I went from a trainee to managing a department on a huge film not really knowing what I was doing.”

He recalls the day filming ended providing a touching moment as he watched the young stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Leeds actor Matthew Lewis say their goodbyes, having been with them from their auditions through to their final scenes.

However, it also provided him with the drive to start work on a feature film of his own. The result was Lad: A Yorkshire Story, which was filmed in and around Settle, telling the semi-autobiographical story of a boy who finds a father figure in a Yorkshire Dales National Park ranger. Unable to secure a distributor, Hartley put it out himself with his father remortgaging the family home to fund it. He’s still working on paying him back.

Yet the film’s grassroots success – picking up 21 awards at independent film festivals around the world – has given him the platform to make another.

This time Hartley has decided to do things a little differently.

A large chunk of the budget will, he hopes, be funded by members of the public. To that end, a campaign, #WeAreTheFilm, was launched today on crowdfunding site KickStarter – but there’s a twist.

Offering a range of perks, beginning with a price tag of £1 and rising up to £2,000, the campaign enables members of the public to pledge their support and then have a say on what kind of film is the end result.

The only stipulation is that filming must take place in Yorkshire, the rest is up for grabs. Contributors will be able to decide which genre the film should be, its storyline, script and locations.

“As an independent film maker, you haven’t got any money, backing or studios behind you,” says Hartley. “That could be incredibly negative, but if you turn it around it can be a huge positive.

“We will ask people which element they would like to get involved in – directing, camerawork, acting or editing – and then hold classes on each of them.

“We’re looking for somewhere between 500 and 2,000 contributors. Obviously we can’t have them all on set with us, but there will be consultation throughout.”

Hartley hopes to have the film finished by the end of next year, with screenings following a few months later.

“I just like the idea that we are doing something new and something with technology that we couldn’t have done a few years ago,” he says. “It’s exciting, we want to be pioneers.”

And Hartley, who set up his own film company, Roguerunner, has high hopes for the project.

“If you make a film and it doesn’t have a well-known actor in it then the big studios won’t distribute it,” he says.

“It means that even if audiences respond to it, the wider public won’t get to see it. But I think there is a change coming in the industry and the big name film companies aren’t acting as gatekeepers any more.

“There’s a sense now that you can take your film straight to the audience – and with this we’re taking that concept even further.”