Crowdfunding campaign to help Worksop man achieve filmmaking dream

Former film student Harry Downing is making a name for himself after his short film 'Thinking Back' and short script 'Stay Indoors' scooped accolades at an LA-based film festival.

The 24-year-old recently signed up to the National Youth Film Academy Set Ready Course and is now producing a short film called If We Be Friends, in Greenwich in August.

The team behind the coming-of-age story have released a Crowdfunder page in order to hit the target they need for the film’s budget though pledges and donations.

Harry said: “Because we’re all working in association with the National Youth Film Academy, we all have a similar longing to get this film out there.

"The story on our Crowdfunder page doesn’t really do our desire and energy justice.

“We’re hoping people will get involved with this exciting project and help us fuel our passion, allowing us to make this fantastic film and hopefully share it with the world, putting it in film festivals as with my previous projects.

"I’d like to give a little shout out to all our wonderful cast and crew along with everyone who has contributed so far.”

If We Be Friends film is about a group of friends who formed a close bond in school while staging a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

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But times have changed, and the group have drifted significantly from each other in the years since.

When they are brought together again by the unexpected death of their former teacher, Miss J, the group must come to terms with their differences and their shared history as they try to decipher a mysterious set of clues left to them by Miss J in her will, leading them on a curious journey through the area around Greenwich Park.

Harry knew he wanted to be a film maker at the age of 13 after watching a documentary about the Battle of Midway at school.

"It was a real Eureka moment,” he said. “I remember sitting there watching this incredible black and white footage, and it went from there.”

You can donate to the Crowdfunder page here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/if-we-be-friends#start

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