NCL at heart of feel good Scottish romcom

Audiences going to watch James McAvoy's California Schemin', will be amongst the first to see the trailer for Premature, a new Scottish romantic comedy largely made up with New College Lanarkshire (NCL) students and staff.

NCL lecturer Kevin Walls, also a former student of the College, hopes his new film Premature will portray Scotland in a better, funnier light, than the 'gritty, Trainspotting-like' cinema-goers have come accustomed to.

The film is a romantic sitcom that follows two Scottish flatmates who fall pregnant after a one-night stand aims to show the funnier side of self-discovery in its premiere next year - Kevin estimates that 80% of the cast and crew hail from NCL.

“Most people are either staff or students from here. They’re either people I’ve worked with or studied with, or were the year below me. Andrew Rogers is BA Honours student, Terry Nelson is the same, both main supporting characters." Kevin added.

Current and former students from the HND Television Production and BA Filmmaking and Screenwriting programmes took on crew roles, including honours student John Meharry who recorded production sound for the film.

“On the camera side, I had students come down for a day of being production assistants, but as a matter of fact I told everyone they ‘can come along, but if you aren't enjoying it you don’t need to stay, but you will get food and drink. But don’t feel obligated to stay."

He recalls laughing however, “They came back for days!"

Viewers might even spot familiar surroundings. He said: "We shoot some stuff in the college too, when we needed stand ins for the more professional office scenes.”

The film stars James Rottger (Gary Tank Commander, Irish Wish) and Elle Watson in her feature debut, with Gail Watson, the GP in River City, in a key supporting role.