Candle & Bell are pleased to announce that they are producing another short film called Metroland. The film has been selected as part of Creative England’s iShorts funding initiative.

Metroland is one of three short films the company is producing this summer. It is written and directed by award winning, Newcastle based filmmaker Benjamin Bee. Benjamin’s previous film Step Right Up was long-listed for a BAFTA.

The film is set in Newcastle and South Shields and tells the story of Ben and Sam, two estranged brothers who honour their dead mothers wish to ride a roller coaster. Alongside the funding received from Creative England, the team are crowd funding to raise additional funds to support the film.

Of the company’s success at receiving the funding, Maria Caruana Galizia, producer at Candle & Bell said “We are immensely proud and excited to have the support of Creative England. The standard of films coming through the iShorts scheme is incredibly high so being selected this year is both a privilege and a challenge. Benjamin already has a strong track record in the short film form but Metroland will be his most ambitious film yet. I can't wait to share the film with audiences.”

Director Benjamin Bee describes the film as “a film about family ties and the stupid things we do for the people we love” and is looking forward to bring Metroland to the big screen “There's so little funding in the UK for Filmmakers starting out. Over 300 projects were submitted so odds were stacked against us and I didn't even think we would get an interview. So far It's been a genuine pleasure and honour to work with Creative England on Metroland, they've been so supportive and really understand what we are aiming to achieve.”

Metroland is one of 16 films selected from 326 applications. The iShorts scheme offers selected filmmakers editorial support, industry mentoring and networking opportunities, as well as bespoke training funded by Creative Skillset. Last year Candle & Bell produced an iShort funded film called “A Six and Two Threes” which has gone on to screen at a number of festivals and won at the London Lift Off Festival.

Candle & Bell are currently casting for the film and hope to film in September.