Musical comedy inspired by Amble chippy heads to film festivals
A musical comedy film inspired by a chippy in Amble was well received by an enthusiastic audience at its premiere in Alnwick at the end of January, and will now be entered into international film festivals.
Rosie Fox, Deborah Jameson, Alison Stanley and Lesley Saint-John star in Bonny Chip
Writer/producer Rosie Fox told The Ambler she had been wanting to make a film about her home town for some time, so when the opportunity arose to write a script, she jumped at the chance. “I wanted to make something about and for Amble” she said.
The ex Coquet High student is an actress and filmmaker, and has been making short films with her production company ‘Fox & Cox’ for a couple of years.
Bonny Chip is a short film inspired by Amble’s own Harbour Fish Bar. Rosie said, “Growing up in Amble, I used to visit the chippy with my pals after school for a nutritious early evening snack and would regularly leave in stitches after chatting with the staff members.”
The film stars Rosie alongside well-known actors Lesley Saint-John (Auf Wedersehen Pet, Byker Grove), and Rishi Nair (Hollyoaks) as the evil Mr Green!
Crowdfunding helped kick-start the project, and the script and music were taken from interviews with the Harbour chippy staff – old and new, then pre-production began.
Rosie said “Finding crew and cast in the North East was a challenge, and it is one of the main reasons I’d like to see more quality work being shot in our beautiful county.”
The 15 minute film was shot over four days in Cramlington as they had to find a chip shop big enough to have 35 cast and crew members in it, and sadly the Harbour Fish Bar just didn’t have enough room.
However, Amble folks will have no trouble identifying the opening shots, which sets the action firmly in the Friendliest Port. Supporting artists came from all over Northumberland to play the chippy customers.
“Bonny Chip will now be entered into international film festivals – let’s hope they can understand what everyone is saying!” said Rosie.
She added “Its exciting to know that right now this story all about Amble is currently being watched by film festival judges all over the world!”
Never missed every Friday when at the caravan at Amble Links we went for our tea of fish n chips 15 happy years always lovely.
Love Amble so much they didn’t film it there. Sounds about right.
Are you being thick on purpose? The article explains why they couldn’t film in Amble. There’s no helping some people.