A Wrexham accountant figures in the final credits of a new action movie featuring a Harry Potter star for the financial guidance he gave to its producer.
Anthony Lewis, a director at Coxeys, one of North Wales’ leading accountancy firms, is listed as official production accountant for the thriller, Redistributors, the all-action story of a public relations girl who gets mixed up in a running battle between anti-capitalist outlaws and agents of an evil military corporation.
The film has just picked up a National Film Award for one of its stars, Alexandra Evans, who has since gone on to appear in a new blockbuster movie alongside Johnny Depp and Billy Bob Thornton.
Redistributors, which also features actor Jeff Rawle, who played Amos Diggory, father of Cedric, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was written and produced by independent film maker Adrian Tanner who has been a client of Coxeys for more than a decade.
London based Adrian, 44, began his career as a TV editor on primetime shows such as Watchdog and Home Front and drama documentaries and has gone on to specialise in feature films.
He said: “About 12 years ago I was making a promotional video for the Association of Accountancy Technicians when I went along to Coxeys in Wrexham to film interviews with three of their trainees.
“I wasn’t very satisfied with my own accountant at the time and started talking to Anthony about the film business.
“I became a client and have kept up a close working relationship with him ever since.
“I financed Redistributors myself, which was a bit of a leap in the dark and left me in dire straits financially.
“Anthony was very supportive and gave me lots of advice about getting back a quarter of the overall cost of the film by taking advantage of a government tax credit scheme.
“The money I received was a real lifesaver and I’m very grateful to Anthony for all the help he gave me, which is why I put him in the film’s credits.”
Redistributors, which also stars Alistair Mackenzie who had a leading role in the TV series Monarch of the Glen and Tim Bentinck who plays David Archer in the BBC’s long-running radio soap The Archers, took Adrian eight years to write but only 27 days the shoot.
“I started writing it in 2006 and we then filmed it during the summer of 2014 at 31 locations in London and Surrey,” he said.
“It took less than four weeks to finish because we didn’t have lots of equipment and there was a relatively small crew.
“The film is about a girl called Liz, played by Alexandra Evans, who gets mixed up with people hacking into a military corporation to redistribute its profits to deserving cases in society – a sort of modern-day Robin Hood story.
“It’s a real, fast-paced thriller and has already attracted some good reviews.
“It had its premiere at the East End Film Festival in London and I now have an American agent who has sold it abroad to Germany and the Middle East.
“Although it’s not likely to be shown in major cinemas in the UK, it will be available within the next six months on Amazon and Netflix.”
Adrian, who is originally from Suffolk, added: “I was delighted when Redistribution was nominated for the 2016 National Film Awards and Alexandra won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Liz.
“It was a glittering occasion, just like the Oscars, when the presentation ceremony was held at Porchester Hall in Notting Hill.
“Alexandra’s latest role is alongside Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and Billy Bob Thornton in Martin Amis’s London Fields.
“My own latest project is writing a feature film about the early trials of the drug viagra. It’s on a speculative basis but I’m hoping it will attract some big name actors.”
Anthony Lewis of Coxeys, who helped Adrian overcome his financial headache after the production of Redistributors, said: “I helped him to take advantage of a government tax credits scheme aimed specifically at the UK film industry.
“Basically, Adrian was able to obtain a refund worth 25 per cent of his overall outlay on making the film.
“I first met him 12 years ago when he came to our office to interview three of our trainees, Rhian Williams, Lisa Davies and Helen Mort, for a film he was making on behalf of the Association of Accountancy Technicians. Helen is still with us and running our Business Essentials department.
“I think Adrian has stayed with us because we can provide him with a big city-style accountancy service at a fraction of the cost he’d pay down in London.
“It has been good to help him and to support the creative industries.”
Anthony added: “It’s something out of the ordinary to be mentioned in the credits of a feature film and it actually came as something as a surprise as Adrian hadn’t mentioned he’d done it and I only found out when I watched his film.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkHHCj8uDNo
