Shropshire film makers roll the cameras for a new festive tale filmed in the county

Directed by Keith Wilhelm Kopp and written by Laurence Guy, First Christmas will tell the tale of a widowed man who invites his three grown-up children and their families to spend Christmas at home, in the hope that they can stitch their fractured family back together.

The second feature film collaboration for American Keith and Bristol-based Laurence, this festive comedy drama will be produced by Shropshire production company Ask Seek Knock, headed up by 21-year-old ascending filmmaker Luke Allen.

For Keith and Laurence, the project is an exciting next step, and for Luke is nothing less than a dream come true.

“Lawrence and I had a meeting after our first film, Translations,” said Keith.

“We managed to get that into cinemas and we were like, ‘what’s next?’. We had a conversation about loss in our own families and especially how, when you lose the person that tends to be the glue, you have that awkward sense of ‘how do we reconnect as a family and navigate that’.

“Also, we talked about the humour and comedy around the fact that even though we are adults we get treated like children when we go home. You can have a high-flying career but you go home and you’re a 10-year-old.

“With this film, it’s this family coming together after the loss of their mother, the matriarch, and the father’s never really had to step into this role and he’s doing this.

“Christmas Day is a special day for the family because the mother was a chef and she made Christmas beautiful. The dad feels the pressure and he places that pressure back on his adult children who are all going through their own personal crises.

“So there’s this mixture of grief and humour and eventually hope and reconnection.”

Once Luke read the script, he was all aboard.

“When Keith approached me to produce this, it was an instant yes as I had so much fun working with him for a couple of days on another project.

“Once I read Laurence’s beautiful script, I knew I had made the right decision – it’s an honour to be on board and I can’t wait to bring this story to life.”

But why Shropshire? Though Keith is now based in Somerset, the county’s rolling hills are still not very far from home.

“It’s interesting because when Lawrence wrote the script we had this conversation of ‘where is this set?’,” said Keith.

“We definitely had an idea that it would be a rural place, and I think it was when Luke and I agreed to work on this that we thought ‘actually, Shropshire is perfect’.”

“There’s this quaintness about Shropshire which is so lovely and fits so well with that rural family Christmas feeling,” added Luke.

“I think, also, the image of a big family home in the Shropshire Hills is the idea of England that international audiences like to think that all of England is like. There’s a reason A Christmas Carol was filmed here 40 years ago.”

Set to be associate produced by West Midlands-based Emily DeJesus and Adam Fray, First Christmas is to be made using a predominantly local team. Luke added: “We’re very keen to work with local crew. We’re arranging a partnership with a local college to create opportunities for students to be involved from the ground up. We want the community to feel involved in this, We want everyone to have a ‘my nan’s neighbour was an extra in that scene’ type of story. We want that feeling.”

“We want Shropshire to feel like it can celebrate being a part of First Christmas. That positive environment when we’re making a film that’s so centred around family, love and second chances is really important.”

In an exciting step, development funding for First Christmas has been secured and the team are now focussed on attracting a hearty helping of stardust to the project.

“We're in conversations with casting directors,” said Keith. “We’re really confident that we’re going to get some big names here in Shropshire and we’re very excited about that.”

Laurence said: “I’m really excited to be working with Ask Seek Knock and Keith on First Christmas. After the success of Translations it felt like a natural step to bring this ensemble comedy drama to life in a way that I know audiences will love.

“It's a real actor’s script, with character and heart at the centre of the story.”

“I look forward to bringing First Christmas alive because of the universality of families coming together during the holidays, overcoming their hardships and rediscovering the joy of spending time with people who know the joy and complexity of each other,” added Keith.

“This film has a lot of humour and humanity and I know there is a wide audience who will really engage with the story. I am especially excited to shoot First Christmas in Shropshire – a location with a wealth of history and picturesque landscapes.”

“Even if I wasn’t working on this, I’d watch this film every Christmas as a fan,” said Luke. “It’s so sweet and grounded in the right way.

“When people talk about realism in film, they often talk about it in the context of a gritty drama. But life isn’t a gritty drama; life’s a comedy drama. Stuff is funny, and people use humour to cope with the harder times, and I think First Christmas will encapsulate that.”

First Christmas is currently in development and the team are available for investment and sponsorship conversations.

For more information, contact Luke via luke@askseekknock.co.uk