Actor Ken's big screen plan still well on track

Feb 10 2003 By Andrew Baldwin, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

AN actor aiming to get his movie on the big screen has announced: The project is still on.

Ken Kitson - who has played a policeman in TV comedy Last Of The Summer Wine for 23 years - was forced to call off a fundraising auction in Huddersfield last year.

But now the event is back on, he has revealed.

The special dinner auction at the Cedar Court Hotel, Ainley Top, on March 26 will promote a romantic western called Dreamcatcher, set in West Yorkshire.

Filming is due to begin in the summer.

And Ken, who wrote the screenplay, has high hopes it will prove a big hit with audiences.

He said: "We strongly believe Dreamcatcher will be as exciting and as fresh as previous British successes The Full Monty, Brassed Off and Four Weddings And A Funeral."

The movie has a £2m budget and will begin filming in July - on Ken's 57th birthday.

But he is still looking to raise money for the project.

At the auction, memorabilia from the world of TV, film and sport will be up for grabs. There will also be food, entertainment, raffles and mystery guests.

All the proceeds from the auction will go towards the film.

Jean Alexander (Coronation Street's Hilda Ogden), George Baker (Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries) and Chris Ryan (The Young Ones, Bottom) have already agreed to star in the film.

The score will be composed by former Shadows drummer Brian Bennett.

A former member of Bradford- based band Smokie, Chris Norman, will compose the title track and the film will be directed by Tim Dowd, who has episodes of Coronation Street, Heartbeat and Harbour Lights under his belt.

Ken, from Bradford, said: "The film tells the story of 40-year-old Will Case, a local Wild West enthusiast who refuses to let anything stand in the way of his dream.

"Filming is set for this summer, but we still need extra financial support.

"The auction will be a fun way to help raise some of that cash and for local people to have a significant input into a major British film."

The dinner auction will start at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £45 per guest and are available from Ken Kitson on 01274 468331 or 07711 235989.