FORGET Hollywood and Elstree – movie-making headed to Newton Abbot last weekend.

It was a case of lights, camera and action in the majestic surroundings of Seale-Hayne when award-winning Devon production company JPC Film were on location to film their debut short film Bad Beat.

And for independent director/cameraman Jake Cauty it was a chance to turn a dream into a reality for a project that has been a long time in the making.

‘The film initially began life back in 2018 and the first draft of what became the final script was completed in 2019,’ explained Jake in a break between takes.

‘The hardest part, however, was finding a location, but eventually I got in touch with Seale-Hayne who agreed to allow us to film and it proved perfect with the brilliant cast and crew.’

Without giving too much away Bad Beat is best described as a dark comedy, telling the tale of a pair of rookie criminals, an Irishman and an American, whose latest scheme sees them plan to pull off a daring bank heist.

Unfortunately for the duo the hold-up doesn’t go quite according to plan and the situation gets out of hand.

And what becomes of the pair of rookies? Well, you’ll just have to wait until the release of the film for that question to be answered.

‘The plan is for the film to be pushed out at film festivals next year and I’m really looking to seeing audiences’ reaction to it,’ continued Jake.

‘Casting was tricky as I had a strong idea of what I wanted and in the end settled with actors George Williams and Thomas Fitzgerald playing the American and Irishman respectively.

‘We shot the film using a RED digital camera with an old Russian cinema lens as the primary camera which gives the finished footage a really characterful and atmospheric look.’

JPC Film were recently in the limelight after being named the most innovative video production company accolade in the 2021 Corporate LiveWire and Prestige Awards.

The awards recognise small and medium-sized businesses that have shown to be the best in their respective markets over the past 12 months and hopefully the comany’s debut short film will add a few more accolades to their collection.