Fiona Duff: Silver screen dream a donation away

Hey kid, d’ya wanna get into the movies? Who doesn’t hanker after a bit of silver screen action with red carpet premieres and rubbing shoulders with the stars? Of course, that’s really for other people isn’t it – for Harvey Weinstein, Steven Spielberg and their like; people from another galaxy it may seem.

Or so I thought until two enterprising chappies I know got in touch. Paddy Cuthbert and Owen O’Leary, both of this parish, are involved in trying to raise £100,000 as part of the budget to make a film out of “best-selling psychic thriller” First and Only by Peter Flannery. It’s a bestseller on Kindle for those of you with your finger on the technology button – the rest of us might be able to find it in Waterstones.

The film will be set in Edinburgh and with a payment of as little as £35 I could be a little bit of a part of the event. For a thousand of our British quids (Clydesdale notes accepted I believe) I could get involved in the whole production.

I can dream of wafting around in the background, looking sultry as the proper actors give it all for the cameras. Mind you, knowing my luck I’d be more likely to be wearing a high-vis jacket and redirecting the traffic from where the lights, camera, action is taking place.

But still, it could be a step in the direction of a new career. Not that I am planning on moving to Los Angeles which I have never fancied visiting ever since a friend described it as “Croydon forever”. But with plans to open a film studio near Straiton having been reported in this esteemed journal (let’s face it, wouldn’t that be handy for Ikea and Costco?), maybe some Tinsletown glamour is about to be sprinkled over Edinburgh.

I’m not going to be mean and keep this all to myself. Frankly, I don’t have the full £100,000. So if you fancy dipping a toe into the world of showbiz then visit firstandonlymovie.com/back-us. I’m off to the make-up counter to get ready for my close-up.