I was honored to attend the premiere screening of Unit Eleven, the latest action movie extravaganza from Independent Filmmaker Theo Cane Garvey, and his Slime House production unit. He has spent (on and off at times) 10 years putting this film together on his own funding and with a cast and crew flexible enough to accommodate breaks of years in filming! A true passion project which I saw Theo initiate back in the day and more recently have spent several months donating my time and resources to creating the Digital FX for. (Unit Eleven on IMDB)

The screening was a full house at Sheffield’s Showroom Cinema and it played to perfection! No mean feat when you count for 10 years of hype and anticipation! It delivered in action, explosions, robots, apocalyptic visions of the near future, baron landscapes, 80s style synth score, more explosions, diverse cast, and above all else some truly touching character development. Put that in your zero-budget pipe and smoke it! A true editing tour-de-force also, with multiple story-lines at play during third-act battles and fights. Even as a seasoned editor I have a lot to learn from Theo’s frenetic pace and ability to splice a clear story from mountains of footage! He was shooting pickups up until 2 weeks before the premiere and it all worked wonderfully.

Here are the tantalizing details from the Unit Eleven press material:

The much anticipated film is a tour-de-force of gritty,self-financed cinema, and is a TRULY independent feature film – over 10 years in the making!  Unit Eleven contains action packed fight scenes, martial arts, high concept drama, out of this world explosives, and innovative special effects.  Filmed entirely in the UK at a variety of spectacular locations, Sheffield independent filmmaker Theo Cane Garvey continues to deliver incredible films using modest budgets and spectacular outcomes.

Theo has written, directed, produced and edited the film himself and after years of creating his project, the independent film scene is about to get a demonstration in action cinema.

Featuring celebrities like Larry Kenny (Thundercats, Red Dead Redemption), Mark Grist (Poet, battle rapper), underground and local musical artists, and with a poster designed by 2000AD / Judge Dredd legend Greg Staples, this action packed film is an explosive mix of well-choreographed fight scenes, intense and heart wrenching story lines and feel good camaraderie when there is nothing left but despair.

You can follow the film and any festival / screening details on the Unit Eleven Facebook page.