Stroud film maker Guy Davies and 30-strong production team begin filming in town centre

Guy Davies, 25, who grew up in Randwick and attended Wycliffe College, began filming in Stroud today for his first feature film Philophobia.

The crew of more than 30 people began shooting in Lansdown, outside the library, and across from Centre for Science & Art – where he is a landlord – this morning.

Philophobia, a coming-of-age story of exams, parties and relationships, will be released on Amazon Prime and Netflix next year with the team filming in the Five Valleys for the next month.

Guy and his team will also be shooting at the former site of Twisted Fix today, areas around the site, as in Lansdown, will be closed off periodically for filming to take place.

Speaking to the SNJ in March, Guy said: “The film follows the story of a boy called Kai and his friendship group during the last five days of school, during study leave before exams. I’ve always really liked creating hybrid genres, and this film is no different. It will be a mix of comedy and drama.

“Everything is essentially based on my own experiences or my friend’s experiences of growing up in the area. In many ways it is a coming of age film – something very different to everything I’ve created so far.

“I have always been interested in people – and how people interact. That’s why I wanted to direct in the first place. So the film will be heavily dialogue based. There is a very intricate friendship between Kai and the other main characters.

“While I guess it will appeal mostly to a younger generation, I want it to be a nostalgic piece that people of all ages can recognise and relate to. I’m sure lots of people in Stroud will have got up to many of the things in the film in their younger days.”

Around eighty per cent of the actors involved in the production are aged 17-18 and have been sourced from across the country with some of the thousands of applicants from schools and colleges in Stroud district.

After working on films sets from the age of 16, Guy won a scholarship to study Cinematography at New York Film Academy for a year in 2009.

On his return to the UK he began working in the industry in London and set up a film production company in Stroud called Zebrafish Media with his best friend Matt Brawley.

Since then the company has grown massively and now has shared offices in London and New York, where it has shot commercials for brands such as Chevrolet and music videos for the likes of upcoming British rock artists such as Moose Blood.

It was then, aged 19, that Guy, began making his own artistic short films with money crowdfunded on the internet.

Each of these pieces – filmed with budgets of around £20,000 - enjoyed huge success and many of them being accepted into Oscar qualifying film festivals around the world, including Palm Springs Film Festival in California.

With these experiences and achievements under his belt he is looking to take the next step in his career, continue his emergence into the film industry and fulfil a life-long dream in the process.