Gala premiere for feature film shot on University campus

A locally produced movie which includes a scene filmed at the University of Leicester received its premiere last Saturday at Phoenix Arts.

The Wrong Floor, directed by Marc Hamill from Coalville, is an homage to 1980s straight-to-video action/horror movies. The script was written by Marc and his brother Carl who stars as Danny Green, investigating his father’s disappearance while working for a shady corporation called Ekaf.

Secretly owned by the mob, Ekaf is behind the development of ‘Haze’, a highly addictive drug which is being used in experiments on homeless people. Dr Logan, chief scientist at Ekaf and creator of Haze, is played by the University’s Senior Web Communication Officer, Mike Simpson.

An early scene features a news report from outside a courthouse where Ekaf has been cleared of charges of corruption and dodgy dealings. Alert viewers will spot that the ‘Haven Port City Courthouse’ is actually the Fielding Johnson Building. Mike, who is also an associate producer on the film, arranged the shoot through Estates and Facilities Management.

“That was actually filmed back in March 2014,” says Mike, “ which shows how long it can take to make a low budget, independent feature film. Some of the ‘protesters’ outside the ‘courthouse’ are students, recruited when I went into the Library Café that morning and asked if anyone wanted to be in a movie.”

On Saturday Phoenix Arts rolled out the red carpet (literally) for a gala screening for the film’s cast and crew. The Wrong Floor has been accepted by several international film festivals and the producers are currently talking to distributors about a DVD release.