St Albans is definitely the place to go for all things film at the moment, what with the inaugural St Albans Film Festival in March and the city’s historic association with Stanley Kubrick.

Now, St Albans resident Mial Pagan is hoping some of that movie magic will rub off on his latest project – bringing his film script to life. But he needs your help.

Paradise Place is a comedy set in Croydon and tells the story of Gary, who has just finished an 18-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. He returns home and finds that ‘home’ doesn’t exist anymore – his street has gone, his whole family have gone.

“His whole town has disappeared,“ says Mial, “they’ve been taken down to a US-base near Brighton. This American internet billionaire has been tracing his ancestors and has ‘taken’ all the places where his relatives used to live and moved them all to one place, Paradise Place.

“Gary wants to get his street back to the middle of Croydon where it belongs, but his family have been given £1million each and they’re all like, ‘are you joking?’ It’s his quest with his friends to get the street back, and he ends up battling the billionaire, Steve Lucifer, who turns out to be a bit of a nerd. He’s trying to create a place to belong, he’s never had that.“

Mial drew on diverse sources for the inspiration for the story.

“I was interested in the idea of genealogy and the story of the American guy who bought London Bridge, Robert McCulloch, and shipped it home to Arizona. Plus, I used to work in IT and they’re all as mad as hatters, so that’s where the billionaire character comes from!“

Mial has a producer and director on board in the form of Paride Odierna, and a volunteer cast and crew ready for filming but is looking for funding to make his would-be feature film, which will be shot on location around St Albans and in parts of London.

“The main costs are feeding the cast and crew for about 20 days of filming,“ explains Mial, “for equipment, for a dog and trainer and for cgi alligators – as you do.“

Contributors can simply donate an amount of money or sponsor the camera, lighting or costumes, and will be acknowledged in the credits as a supporter, patron or producer, depending on the amount donated.

“It would be wonderful to get this made,“ says Mial. “It would be another example of something else creative coming out of St Albans, and there’s so much – music, theatres and film.“

  • If you would like to contribute to Paradise Place, visit www.indiegogo.com/paradiseplace