Westwoodside director’s flesh eating zombie hopes for grisly flick

Flesh-eating zombies hungry for destruction is the premise for a self-made debut from an ambitious first time movie maker from Westwoodside.
Gary Shaw working on his zombie script at home.Gary Shaw working on his zombie script at home.
Gary Shaw working on his zombie script at home.

Producer, director and leading man, Gary Shaw, will head a cast of literally a handful – with a few dozen zombie extras – for his debut Fleshers, due to start filming in the next month.

The story surrounds a family – dad, Gary, Gary’s niece, Katie Clarke, eight, from Thurnscoe, and Keeton Holt, also eight – who survive an apocalypse only to be pursued by a horde of hungry flesh eaters.

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The 29-year-old director, said the movie would be filmed in and around his home area of Westwoodside and Haxey and would centre around what he described as a perfect bleak location between his Westwoodside/Haxey home and Finningley where he works as a railway engineer.

He said: “I’ve wanted to make a movie for years and always talked about doing this, but never did. Then in January I went to ‘An evening with Sylvester Stallone’ at Sheffield City Hall. He talked about all the setbacks he had endured while trying to make the first Rocky film and how he persevered against all the odds before finally getting it into production.”

He added: “I thought why not! I was always talking about writing a script but never got round to it, then my girlfriend Jessica Edgar said: ‘If you want to write a script write it and don’t just talk about it’.

“That was the start of the project. The script was written, cast assembled, and now I’m busy trying to assemble a camera crew and urging backers to fund the film.

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“I have even recruited my girlfriend, who has just finished a degree course in fashion at Sheffield University to design the t-shirts for the film. And I have two great make up artists from Glitsz and Ghouls in Mexborough, Marie Hirst and Beth Cheetham. I have high hopes for this.”

Gary said the film script begins with his movie daughter Katie spotting the ‘Fleshers’ and they chase her and her family. The family seek refuge in a property owned by the youngsters’ grandparents.

Things hot up from there as the desperate family try everything to escape from their flesh eating pursuers and escape to freedom.

The movie is scheduled to last for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, but Gary said that involved a lot of production and many hours of hard work before completion of the grisly horror flick.

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Gary further added: “This is something I have wanted to do ever since I was a youngster.” Anyone interested in backing the movie can find out how by contacting Gary on Facebook and following his zombie film movie link or call him on 07801550291.

There are rewards depending on how much money you can pledge: Give £5 or more and you get regular updates on the movie and a shout out on Facebook; £10 or more and you get the £5 package plus an email video from members of the cast; £25 or more and it’s the previous two packages plus a DVD copy of the video when it’s finished; £50 or more and it’s the previous packages plus a t-shirt and a poster; £150 or more and it’s the previous packages plus a day on set meeting and greeting the cast; and the deluxe package if you give £250 or more it’s all the previous packages plus you get to play a cameo role in the movie.

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