In a private viewing of the science fiction short film adapted from Belbora author, Beverley Boorer’s ebook, Escape, the cast, crew and sponsors gathered to watch what they had created together at the Gloucester Baptist Church on December 8.

The project began with a conversation between Bev and visiting couple, Manfred and Jill Koch at the Gloucester Christian Outreach Church.

Bev mentioned that she had published a few books and Manfred mentioned that he wanted to make a film.

The idea developed from there and Bev began adapting her ebook into a screenplay. 

Escape is the first part of her Jeddon Series, which follows the adventures of Jed, the prince planet Jeddon.

Being a part of the making of a move was a first time experience for many involved and for the film’s leading actor, Adam Battle it’s one he won’t forget.

Like most of the others, Adam responded to an audition call sent out to the community by Jill in early 2017. 

“I thought it was an interesting idea, being in a movie,” Adam said.

“I was looking for more things to do in drama and thought a short film was the way to go.”

Adam had been involved in a few live performances in his Gloucester High School drama class but this was the first time he had ever auditioned for something and he was nervous.

But he did and he got the part of Jed.

“After I found out I got the part, I was given the script, which I read through three times on the first night.”

Then Bev gave him a copy of the other books in the series to read through. It was all part of his background research in the character is was about to portray.

“I thought the story was engaging,” he said. “With nice twists and turns.”

“I could relate to the character.”

Filming kicked off around May 2017, with most of it taking place in front of a green screen in a shed. With the it being a sci-fi genre film, the plan was to have a fair few special effects added in during the editing process.

“It was a lot different from live performances,” Adam said. “No pressure of having an audience.”

By August, Manfred had finished filming and began working on piecing it all together, a process that took long than expected but it was finished and ready for viewing in December 2018.

Jill said the plan for the film, which currently runs at 1 hour and 15 minutes, will be entered into Australian short film festivals over the next several months, with hopes of a public viewing in Gloucester to follow.

All the actors in the film are from the Gloucester region with one from Sydney, with most of the filming taking place in the region, and some location shots in Newcastle.

“We hope it will springboard the actors to further their careers,” Jill said. “Particularly the main actors, Adam Battle, Bethany Hester Rahmi Coulton and Lynelle Hester.”