Continued

The film we were attempting to make was called "No Greater Love." It was basically a Ghost story set in modern times about a haunted flat. A group of young friends decide to find out what is behind the ghostly happenings in order to put a stop to them. It's worth mentioning that part of the story is true and really happened. I witnessed many strange things whilst staying just one night in a friend's flat and included them in the script. We'd already filmed a number of scenes in other locations: an old Victorian farm house, a Napoleonic Fort with dark tunnels and cannon, and spent three nights filming in the woods - so the project was well underway. First the leading female actor, without warning, quit saying that something had happened in her private life. Then the leading male character announced, out of the blue, that he wasn't available for the next three weeks because the Rugby World Cup was on TV. Faced with terminal problems like these, the film was cancelled. I then, with much embarrassment, had to cancel other pre-arranged locations which included an old church. The Reverend, a very nice chap, had gone to great lengths to obtain permission from the Synod to allow us to film there. To try and salvage some of the footage, so that we hadn't completely wasted our time, I hurriedly wrote another, less ambitious, screenplay called "The Clearance." We actually manged to finish this one and showcase it at what we thought was an international film festival - but not without many more problems. to be continued.