LONDON — Colin Salmon has taken a starring role in “Clubbed,” the feature debut of promo helmer Neil Thompson, which started shooting this week at London’s Three Mills Studios and on location in the West Midlands.
The $3.5 million pic is an underworld rites-of-passage drama set in the early 1980s, about a lonely factory worker whose life is transformed when he becomes a nightclub doorman. Newcomer Mel Raido plays the lead character, with Salmon ("The World is Not Enough") as his mentor.
It’s written by Geoff Thompson, and inspired by his own autobiography “Watch My Back,” which dealt with his rise from being a laborer and bouncer to becoming a cult author and world-renowned martial arts instructor.
Among his screenwriting credits are the BAFTA-winning short “Brown Paper Bag” and the BAFTA-nominated short “Bouncer.”
“Clubbed” is produced by Martin Carr of Formosa Films. Top TV scribe Paul Abbott (“State of Play,” “Shameless”) is acting as script consultant and exec producer. Jim Cartwright (“Little Voice”) is also serving as script consultant.
Pic is funded by private investors through an Enterprise Investement Scheme tax shelter, with additional support from Screen West Midlands.
Cast also includes Shaun Parkes, Maxine Peake, Scot Williams, Ronnie Fox and Neil Morrissey.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com