A first for film kids in Dundrum

AN AWARD winning
Southside director has joined forces with dozens of highly talented teenage
students to make a full length feature film in the first collaboration of its
kind.

Jason Figgis
(44), who is originally from Templeogue, is a movie director who established
the Dundrum based October Eleven Pictures in 2000.

The company,
which employs four full time staff, has been working on a variety of
productions since 2001 in the area of the paranormal, horror and fantasy and
its work has been distributed to 150 countries worldwide.

Most recently
October Eleven has been involved in the making of a teen post apocalyptic
horror feature, shot entirely in Goatstown, entitled ‘Railway Children’.

Over 40 children
from the Habemus Performing Arts School at the Mill Theatre in Dundrum took
part in the project.

The movie tells
the story of a world devastated by a virus that has decimated the adult
population, leaving small children and teenagers to roam the scarred landscape
attempting to form some kind of society with dramatic and violent results.

Jason both
directed and wrote the script for the film, which is essentially a modern take
on the classic children’s novel

‘The Railway Children’ by Edith Nesbit.

He said the
feature film involved what he believes is the first ever collaboration between
a film production company and the entire student contingent of a performing
arts school.

“We got a great
team together of people who wanted to get some experience of the industry,

? he
said.

“And it actually turned out to be the most fun I have ever had working on
a film.

“The kids were
completely committed,

? he added.

“We are talking about 43 teenagers. Many
directors will say don’t ever work with kids and animals but I would have to
say they were the most focused people that I have ever worked with.

“This is the
very first full length feature film made with a performing arts school,

? he
pointed out.

“This was massively ambitious but has turned out to be something
that looks incredible.

“It wasn’t a
case that we had to leave some of the kids out. Every single child was very
talented. It was brilliant to watch them all perform and think, ‘my God we have
something amazing here’.

“There wasn’t
one bum performance.

?

The main leads
in the film are played by Catherine Wrigglesworth and Adam Tyrell. The movie is
still at post production stage but will have its premiere at the Irish Film
Institute in the coming months.

Carl Shaaban,
the co-director of the Habemus Performing Arts School, also produced

‘Railway
Children’.

He said the film
proved to be a wonderful experience for the students.

“The kids had a
great time,

? he enthused.

“A lot of other theatres and performing arts schools
go down the road of theatre productions. While we try to operate differently by
doing short movies to get the kids in front of the camera.

“They all warmed
to the experience and loved it,

? he added.

“Even outside of the acting we had
kids work on the production and others helped on the make up side of things as
well.

“A lot of the
time you will find that a kid doesn’t want to be in front of the camera.
Sometimes they want to be behind the camera as well so we give them the
opportunity to learn about the film industry as well and not just teach them
about acting.

?

October Eleven
has also recently made a faithful adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale
of retribution ‘A Christmas Carol’, starring Brendan Grace, Bryan Murray and
Brendan O’Carroll, and a dark psychological horror called ‘Box’ starring Bryan
Murray.