From cinema staff to filmmaker
A cinema worker from Brighton who turned her hand to film-making has said it is surreal to see her movie streamed by more than 80,000 people in its first month online.
Producer Natalie Grace was working at the Duke of York’s cinema in Brighton when she was given a book by her mother that became the inspiration for the movie.
‘Home for Christmas’ tells the story of a fairytale obsessed cinema worker who is searching for her happy ever after. The film was shot at the Duke of York’s.
It was initially released in 2014, last month it was uploaded on Amazon.
April Pearson (Skins) and Karl Davies (Emmerdale, Game of Thrones) star in the film.
Nathalie said she was once in search of her happy ever after. She was working at the cinema at the time and says it was through her love of film that she connected with the character.
Nathalie says: “Brighton is so underrated as a filming location. You don’t see much of Brighton on screen…We tried to feature all of the best bits of Brighton and shot in the cinema itself which is beautiful and gives you a real sense of community.”
Filming was completed in 2014 and bought by a distributor. However, initial excitement soon became disappointment when the film remained largely unseen.
After getting back the rights, the film was uploaded to Amazon Prime where it is finally finding its audience.
Home for Christmas will be Jump Start Productions’ 11th feature film. Director James Patterson and Ms Grace formed the company in 2009.
To see Nathalie’s film go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Christmas-April-Pearson/dp/B07713RBKM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1513597203&sr=8-1&keywords=home+for+christmas
By Clare Calder
