Local Hero is a heart-warming snapshot into the life of an elderly man. Left alone after his wife Rose dies, Charlie Maguire tries to carry on as normal. He just wants to be left alone with his cat, Dagger. But between his interfering neighbours, the lads in the street and nosy Father Diamond, the Parish priest, he can't get a moment's peace. Maybe they're right. Maybe he can't look after himself without Rose. It’s not until he accidentally becomes a local hero that he feels life could be fun again.

If you're reading this on a phone, scroll right to the bottom to see what rewards you could grab yourself!

Local Hero asks the question "what do you do when the person you've vowed to be with for life, dies?" It explores loneliness, bereavement, and the struggles of old age in a comic way, witnessed through the eyes of the grumpy character of Charlie, who looks after the local ducks more than himself, while decked out in his favourite cardigan and trilby hat. At its heart, this story is the age-old tale of man's need for companionship, even when he thinks he doesn't need it anymore.

This film will really appeal to viewers who appreciate a humorous character study, driven by a genuinely heart-warming story that makes the world feel that little bit kinder.
The loneliness for many during lockdown this year has been overwhelming, particularly in the older community, and if ever we need an engaging story that can make us smile about the kindness of human nature, it's now.
The subject matter of loneliness, particularly in old age, makes this film a natural collaborator with charities such as Age UK. It would be wonderful to use this film to bring more awareness of loneliness to society. We've been saddened to learn of the statistics below while researching this film -
-There are 1.4 million chronically lonely older people in England and many more in the UK. (AGE UK)
-All the Lonely People - a study by Age UK says, "within the next decade, 2 million people aged 50 and over in England are projected to be lonely if we fail to tackle loneliness". (AGE UK)

We'll be shooting around Liverpool in locations like these below, doing all we can to make them look like they did in 1997!

Shellsuits, scrunchies and the Spice Girls - the 90s is where we're heading and we'll be looking to kit out actors in authentic vintage fashions. Are you having a flashback yet?

The photos of 80s/90s fashions featured on this page and in our campaign are by the brilliant Rob Bremner

Born in Liverpool, Victoria got stuck into making up stories as soon as she could hold a pencil. After living in London and Paris, Victoria relocated to New York - working for both artist Joshua Neustein and filmmaker Frank Capri. She's an alumna of the Young Everyman Playhouse Writers programme.
After working extensively in post production on documentaries, Victoria developed an obsession with directing and went on to create films including Don’t Fall and Holly - inspired by Warhol Factory star, Holly Woodlawn. Her work has been shown globally at film festivals such as Phoenix Film Festival, The Otherness, Equality Festival and 300 Seconds Shorts. She's been published by Brick Lane Publishing and the Mechanic's Institute Review online.

Tim Jolly is an award-winning British cinematographer best known for his work on the hit Netflix documentary 'David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet' and psychological thriller 'Prowler' on Amazon Prime. Tim started his career lighting Hollywood talent in the junket room and has now found a home shooting dramas, documentaries, and commercials where his unique visual style pairs striking imagery with a story-first approach.

Emmy Award-winning Andrew Wade studied at the prestigious Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts and went on to work in live sound for several years. After relocating to London, he worked on many successful film and TV projects including The Crown, Chernobyl and the recent, highly acclaimed, I May Destroy You. Andrew will be responsible for post production sound on Local Hero.

Jake Hagan began his career as an actor having attended the Young Everyman Playhouse before beginning his training at The London College of Music. He recently took the decision to move into casting and has been working freelance as a casting assistant since, credits as a casting assistant include: Kate and Jake (Feature film) and Up ‘Ere Rep Company
(Theatre). Jake is very excited to get started on Local Hero.

A few words from Victoria -
"I’m really grateful to have a wonderful crew to work on Local Hero and am excited to get started with shooting. I can't wait to find a talented cast to tell this story.
The script has been in the pipeline since around 2014, but juggling work as a freelancer and the costs of living in London have meant that it just hasn’t been possible to finance the film. 
This is a really personal project as not only is it set close to where I was born (Anfield) but the character of Charlie is loosely based on my grandad, Sid, and the street he lived on in Anfield. 2020 has been a strange year for all of us, but it’s been especially hard on those who’ve had been alone - I feel like now is the right time to make a film that highlights this struggle. Local Hero will also bring a bit of comic relief and hopefully a lot of smiles to people at this strange time.
It’s really important to me that this film is shot in Liverpool with as many Liverpool-based cast and crew as possible. It’s always been my ambition to make a short that employs Liverpool people and gives experience to those who may not have considered working in film before. When I was growing up, I didn’t know the first thing about getting a job in film, so it would be great if this short could help inspire someone to start a career in film or TV."

A large chunk of our budget is needed for cast and crew wages.
We believe that everyone involved in film should be paid for their work - we think it’s so important, especially in a year that's been really hard on film and TV freelancers, so for their part in Local Hero, all cast and crew will be paid at least EQUITY or BECTU minimum wage.

Filming during Covid is far more challenging than usual, but we're prepared. On Local Hero all cast and crew will be required to take Screen Skills Covid Basic Production Awareness online course before we begin shooting. We will be adhering to the British Film Commission Working Safely During COVID-19 guidelines. We will also have a small contingency fund available, in case filming plans change due to Covid.
As there are several stunts in Local Hero, we will have proper procedures for shooting these safely - we're allowing a percentage of our budget for stunts and stunt safety to ensure we can conduct these in the best way possible. 

 ​
 

Ask the community

We understand that not everyone who'd like to help can give finanically, so here are a few other ways we need help.

If you live close to the Liverpool area and own a cat who would like to star in Local Hero, please let us know. Charlie's constant companion is his cat Kenny Dalglish (Dagger) and we'd love to find a local cat to play him. Our feline film star would be needed for no more than 1-day's shoot and would need to do nothing more strenuous than eat, be stroked and sleep. If only every day's work was like that!

As this is a period film set in 1997, we'd love the actors to wear genuine 90s gear. We're particularly looking for a boy's (aged about 8-12 years) vintage Everton shirt from around 1997.   It'll be washed and returned to you after use.
If you can help, please message Victoria  directly.