He has starred in two of the biggest movie franchises ever made and now Warwick Davis has added his voice to a new film created by a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) lecturer – using the recording studios based on campus.
Rhys Davis, Warwick Davies and Rod Duncan in the DMU recording studio
Warwick, who played the Ewok “Wicket” in Star Wars Episode IV: Return of the Jedi, and Professor Filius Flitwick in the Harry Potter films, visited DMU last month to record a voiceover as narrator for the film “From Leicester to Hollywood - How to Make A Movie for £43”.
The comedy mockumentary has been produced and directed by Rhys Davies, a film production and entrepreneurship lecturer at DMU, whose previous film Zombie Undead featured scenes shot on the university campus.
While “From Leicester to Hollywood” was written by DMU Creative Writing lecturer Rod Duncan, whose novel The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter was last year short-listed for the prestigious Philip K Dick Award for science fiction.
The film follows the trials of a film director who is attempting to shoot an epic romance on a record-breaking low budget of £43 and is seen by Rhys as a love letter to independent cinema.
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The film was financed through a crowd-funding web page which asked people to donate £43 towards the budget.
Rhys said: “We struck gold with Warwick. He’s highly intelligent and immediately understood what we were doing. His voice carries authority. He’s at home with serious drama as well as comedy - which made him perfect for the narrator.”
Warwick, who is due to star in Star Wars Episode VIII next year, said: “I do like to support indie projects. It is a unique world and one that I’m familiar with, having grown up making films myself. There are always challenges you don’t expect - finding locations, finding actors…plus Leicester’s been mentioned quite a lot recently in the news so I’m excited to be here!"
DMU students were also granted a golden opportunity to interview the movie star for broadcast on the student union's own Demon Media channels, Demon FM, Demon TV and The Demon magazine.
Avery Penn, who has just completed a BA in English Language and Journalism, said: “Meeting Warwick was a fantastic opportunity, one that I won't be forgetting for the rest of my life.
“He seemed impressed at the setup we had in the TV studios, and the professional team at Demon TV who put it all together. I'm a big nerd, and getting to meet Wicket from Star Wars and Professor Flitwick from Harry Potter was a delight!”
The fictional film director in “From Leicester to Hollywood” tries to use the backdrops that chance and nature provides. With their own tight budget, Rhys and Rod did the same thing.
Rod Duncan said: “We had to improvise as opportunities came along. When we woke up one day and it had snowed in the night, we phoned round, gathered the cast and a small crew and headed out to make the most of it. In the end it got so cold that the camera stopped working. But we’d already shot what we needed. It looked spectacular.”
The timing of the Leicester-based film could not have been better. While the film about an everyman Leicester lad trying to make it big in Hollywood was being shot – a real life piece of magic was happening at the King Power stadium as Leicester City were crowned Premier League champions.
Rod added: “We set out to tell a story about an everyman from an unknown, unfashionable place. But just as we’re finishing it, this fairy tale happens and everyone’s talking about Leicester.”
Posted on Wednesday 15 June 2016