A trio of former Sidmouth College students who shot part of their first film in the town are getting ready to show it off at festivals around the country.

Oliver Dowling, 24, Adam Jarrell, 25, and Joel Emery, 24, known as Primley Road Productions after their links to the Sidmouth Street, shot ‘The Catch’ in 15 whirlwind days in July and are now waiting for the final edit to be completed.

Herald reporter Alain Tolhurst caught up with Oliver in Costa Coffee, one of the locations where filming took place, and its owner James Witty, one of the movie’s investors.

“The three of us actually started writing the film when were in sixth form,” Oliver explains.

“We were involved in plays and other things at university but we wanted to do something ourselves, so we thought the best way would be to write it.”

The three of them have roles in the film as well as being co-producers, but admit it was difficult handing over the script they had nurtured for years to someone else to bring to life.

“It was kind of our baby, and so sometimes you would want to step in but thankfully the director was quite strong-willed and told us to let him get on with it,” he said.

Oliver is coy on what the ‘The Catch’ is actually about though, one of the advantages of not having a trailer available yet is there is no chance of any spoilers, and the film-makers want to keep the film’s surprises for when it premieres.

All that can be teased out of him is terms of plot is there are four men in a pub quiz team, who go to the South West on a fishing trip and get mixed up with organised crime.

“Its kind of a road movie, but British,” he adds cryptically.

Oliver said once the script was complete they handed it to producers MWS Media in Newberry, after Adam had already starred in one of their films.

They gave the go-ahead and the Primley Road boys put out an appeal for funding, which is where Mr Witty comes in.

The owner of Sidmouth’s Costa Coffee said he has always been interested in the film industry, and was won over by Oliver, Adam and Joel’s script and charm.

“I’ve always wanted to support local initiatives, which is why I was happy to take on a chance on them,” he said.

As a result the inside of the coffee shop in Old Fore Street was used for a caf� scene, and some of Costa’s staff made cameo appearances.

Oliver said most of the funding for ‘The Catch’ came from private investors like James, and does admit there is a pressure on him and the others to deliver a finished film for its backers.

Filming itself took little over a fortnight, but it has been mired in the editing suite ever since, and Oliver is anxious to get it completed.

With next year’s film festival season looming, they need to have an edited version ready for submission to the industry’s shop window if they have a chance of finding a distributor in 2013.

“We’re looking at the London Independent Film Festival, which Ben [Myers, the director] has already had a film at, and I’d love to take it the Edinburgh Fringe, but there are loads of festivals to choose from,” he explained.

In the meantime the Primley Road boys are keeping busy, currently writing a play, another comedy they won’t reveal too much about, which they hope to put on stage in London in 2013.

“The plan is to have both coming out around the same time so it doesn’t look like we’re standing still, we want to keep writing,” Oliver said.

He said they are still looking for investors to help with the costs of marketing ‘The Catch’, and hope a successful 2013 for the film can be the stepping stone for a career in the industry the Primley Road boys are aiming for.

To get in contact with Oliver, Adam and Joel about The Catch email them at primleyroad@gmail.com