Award-winning filmmakers prioritise Essex talent

An award-winning film crew have stressed the importance of shopping local for movie-making.

Borley Rectory: The Awakening is a story based on the famous Victorian mansion in Essex also known as "the most haunted house in England" and it won best thriller at the National Film Awards on 1 July.

While the building itself, in the village near Halstead, burned down in the 1930s, the crew stayed in the county to film at Ingatestone Hall instead, another place renowned for its ghost stories.

It was a very intentional move by director Steven M Smith, 52, who said his production company was "specifically set up" to prioritise Essex filming locations and crew.

Smith owns Greenway Entertainment, based in Wickford, and uses local talent "as much as possible".

His first film 20 years ago was shot in Hylands House in Writtle, and his most recent production was shot "completely in Essex with mostly Essex crew".

"There are a lot of talented people in Essex and it's very hard to get into the industry; it's very hard to get into the big places; you've got to start somewhere," he said.

Smith told BBC Essex presenter Jake Peach that it was a community of talent that he wanted to continue building.

Samantha Anderson plays a ghostly nun, who can allegedly still be sighted in the grounds of Borley Rectory, among other phenomena.

"Not just Marie the ghost, but also headless horsemen and sounds of carriages going past," she added.

The 44-year-old, from Leigh-on-Sea, was up against fellow nominee Dame Helen Mirren, who also hails from the seaside town, and she described it as a "battle of the Essex girls".

Dame Helen was in The Thursday Murder Club, which was also nominated in the Thriller category along with eight other films.

She said: "When you see who we were up against... it didn't feel like a mistake — I'm not going to go that far — but it just felt like, 'what?'.

"I'm amazing, absolutely buzzing; I can't believe that happened; it was like a dream."

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