AN AMATEUR filmmaker saw his dream become a reality last weekend as he finally premiered his own film on the big screen – five years after production began.

Russell Tribe, 39, whose day job sees him work as an emergency services worker, has been captivated by the horror genre since watching Dawn of the Dead at the age of 10.

With the help of his Park Gate-based film club – Beacon Productions – which he has been a member of for 21 years, Russell directed, wrote and starred in his passion project – zombie film, Day 66.

Russell told the Daily Echo: “The film was shot over 2018 and 2019. It took me a while to find an editor, as it was quite a mammoth task piecing it all together.

“Eventually I found a chap called, Ben Ramsey who had the project for the best part of two years. Of course, Covid slowed things down too which certainly didn’t help.

“It’s amazing that over that period of time people have stayed enthusiastic about the project, they haven’t lost interest which was a major concern of mine. But thankfully everyone stayed enthusiastic, and I’ve had people send me messages about it, even from total strangers which is really nice.”

Day 66 sees Russell navigate a world in which a zombie epidemic has taken over, as he’s forced to rampage his way through hordes of zombies to stay alive, as the film screen for invited guests at Harbour Lights Cinema in Ocean Village.

Almost entirely shot in Hampshire in locations that include the New Forest, Botley and Park Gate – the 94-minute feature was entirely self-funded by the film fan.

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He said: “The film is entirely self-funded much to my wife’s concern! It cost me in the region of £2,000 but she’s been very supportive all the way through. She didn’t want to appear in the film but my children, Ella who is 15 and Lincoln who is 10 both make appearances.”

The cast wasn’t just limited to Russell’s family, as many of his friends appeared in the film too.

Russell said: “I also wanted to make a big deal of it with the premiere really and bring everyone together who contributed towards the film.

“There’s a short film before the main feature showing today about transient drug dealers taking over a vulnerable man’s address – and that was made by Beacon Productions. It’s a really good drama that I think is quite relevant. So, we might be amateur filmmakers and we might be smaller in scale but we’re passionate about film and love what we do.”

Steve Launay, founder of Beacon Productions added: “Day 66 has been Russ’s baby for ages so it’s brilliant to finally see it on the big screen.

“The short film that features beforehand is the club’s 1,000th production so we’re really proud of that.

“We receive a bit of funding from Fareham Council so it’s allowed us to improve our camera equipment slightly and I’ve got a mini studio in the back of my garden in what is affectively my shed! It’s great to be involved.”