Local shop has leading role with film stars

Two Hollywood stars were in Midlothian recently filming a short movie on location at a Loanhead newsagents and the Roslin British Legion.

Zubair Akram takes direction from director Sean Dunn (right) at the Ali Brothers shop in Loanhead. With Game of Thrones actress Kate Dickie in the foreground (back to camera)

In Nowheres is a short film by writer/director Sean Dunn from Edinburgh for his thesis at Columbia University, New York. The story is set in Scotland with the backdrop of a referendum.

It stars Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones, Prometheus, The Witch) and Gary McCormack (The Acid House, Gangs of New York).

The crew included many recent graduates from Los Angeles and New York, as well as local people. Among them was co-producer Jenni Gould from Loanhead, who helped bring filming to Midlothian.

She said: “We shot over five days in Edinburgh with one spent in Roslin British Legion and Ali Brothers shop in Loanhead. We had some local extras including Zubair Akram who works in the shop.

“We hope that this short film will be a platform to get funding for a longer feature and we can come back to film more in Midlothian in the future. We are currently crowdfunding this project. More information can be found on Facebook and Twitter @innowheres.”

Director Sean Dunn enjoyed filming in Midlothian.

He said: “There were a lot of people from the local area who turned out. It was amazing the amount of people who were there for us. We had one guy just out buying milk at the newsagents and he ended up being the film!”

Sean explained how he managed to get such big name actors in his short film.

“My girlfriend knows a casting director down in London who knew Kate Dickie,” he said. “So I got in touch with her, sent her the script and she liked it.

“With Gary, I met him down in Leith. One of my friends from school showed me a film with him in it and I thought he would perfect for this short film.

“I was really happy with the filming. Everyone was amazing. The actors were really professional. I didn’t have to do much to direct them.

“Now it’s the task of editing it over the next two to three months. The aim is to get it down to 15 minutes. And then I will send it to festivals. With a bit of luck I will get it to one of the bigger ones.”