You've Got To Give Them Credit
School friends Adrian, Benjamin and Toby knew they wanted to forge a career as film producers. “We’d already worked together on some short films and small commercial projects, but we realised we’d need to do something special to get into the industry and find the funding for our first feature film,” says Benjamin.
Going into business
In February 2009, shortly before completing their A levels, Adrian, Benjamin and Toby set up their production company Devlin14 Films. They already knew what their first project would be – a feature film adaption of Jules Verne’s forgotten novel Clovis Dardentor.
“When we found the book we knew that it was something special – it was a hidden gem,” says Adrian. “We looked at it and thought ‘we want to make this movie’. The whole project really went from there.”
An innovative approach
After racking their brains, the friends came up with the Buyacredit concept. “The idea is simple – members of the public buy credits in the film for £1 and get their name on the end credits,” explains Toby. “Everyone who buys a credit gets to become a movie producer and share in the excitement of filmmaking.”
The trio are aiming to raise £1 million to fund the film and are creating quite a stir in the film world. Stephen Fry has already agreed to appear in Clovis Dardentor and Joanna Lumley is also lending her support to Buyacredit. Benjamin comments: “We want to be able to make films for the world to see. We hope that our project will open a whole new avenue for independent filmmakers to get their work made.”
Words of advice
Adrian has some words of advice for others who are considering entrepreneurship as a career option: “Take the plunge, otherwise you might live to regret it. However low the lows get, don’t give up. If you have a good idea and if you’re 100 per cent passionate about it, you will succeed.”
On Enterprise 
