PHARMACIST Iqbal Mohammed, swapped his day job for a the glamour of a film set in America.

Iqbal was asked to co-produce the 20-minute film, The Pharmacist, by its writer Michael Cassidy.

Iqbal, from Marsh, read on Twitter about The Pharmacist, a pilot show in pre-production, and got in touch its writer Michael Cassidy.

And when Cassidy heard about Iqbal’s day job, he invited him to get involved.

Iqbal made some changes to the script then flew to the States to participate in the two-week shoot.

He said: “It was an absolutely amazing experience to work on a film with the most professional crew.

“Mike, the writer and producer, was not there for the first weekend and I had to lead the whole thing.

“I changed a couple of things that didn’t really work when I saw them.

“Some of them were small things but they make a big difference to the realism of the film.”

The Pharmacist is a comedy-drama which follows neighbourhood pharmacist Hal.

The film was shot on location at a small independent pharmacy in McLean, Washington DC.

For Iqbal the experience was the chance to hone his filmmaking skills as well as put his pharmacy training to good use.

The 27-year-old has been working at Siddique Pharmacy in Fartown since qualifying as a pharmacist at Bradford University two years ago.

Iqbal got the chance to work with a talented cast and crew including lead actor Matthew Gulbranson, who has just completed a film with Hollywood legend Robert De Niro.

He said: “It was my first film and the experience was invaluable.

“I never realised how intense filming was, we would start at 7am to get as much done as we could in daylight and sometimes not finish until 1am.

“I was the odd one out because everyone else had so much experience behind them but the crew couldn’t have been more helpful and I got to have quite a lot of input.”

The final edit of the film, produced by independent film studio Pratorian Pictures, is now ready and it already attracting widespread attention.

Next year it will be shown at major film festivals, both in the UK and America, and Iqbal hopes to premiere it at the Odeon in Huddersfield.

He said: “The film premiere is on January 15 in DC and I’m hoping to show it in Huddersfield around the same time and make it a charity event to raise money for the NSPCC.

“I’m hoping it will go global, the trailer has already had 2,000 hits on YouTube.

“I’m hoping it will really promote the profession as it is underlooked in healthcare.

“The message of the film is that pharmacists are essential and technology can’t replace them.”

Iqbal’s talents as a writer is already attracting the attention of film industry bigwigs, including a film director and film studio Talking Lens.He is now writing a script for Against the Norm, a film about three students accused of cheating in an exam.

He said: “I’m hoping to carry on writing, but I love being a pharmacist and will carry on doing it. For a first project to be involved with I’m very proud.”