London College of Communication

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London SE1 6SB

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Alexis Parrinder-Nicholls

Director - Cocaine and Cormorants

+44 (0) 7805510632 (mobile)

Alexispn777@gmail.com

Birdwatching and drug smuggling meet in new comedy short film

Cocaine & Cormorants is a production by students from the University of the Arts London

London (26^th January 2016) - A crew of final year filmmaking students from the University of the Arts London are producing a quirky comedy set in rural North Norfolk.

Gilbert, a mild-mannered bird warden, finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a plot to smuggle drugs into the UK via trained waterbirds. Unfortunately for the smugglers, they have chosen a scarlet ibis to carry the shipment, a bird so rare that it attracts dozens of twitchers eager to get a look of it. This complicates the situation.

‘Throughout the film Gilbert's safe yet drab world of bird hides and grey skies meets the dangerous and exotic world of drug-smuggling Colombian cartels. He doesn't know quite how to handle it', commented writer and director Alexis Parrinder-Nicholls.

Cocaine and Cormorants is the students' graduation film, the climax of three years of studying at the University of the Arts London. The crew aim to take the finished product to a number of film festivals, both in the UK and internationally.

They are shooting much of the film on bird reserves up in North Norfolk, and hope get the local community behind their project. The film will be a humorous but warm depiction of birdwatching culture, and the crew are also looking for 30 extras aged 50+ to fill the role of ‘twitchers' in the climactic scene.

‘I've got family up in North Norfolk and have always felt a strong connection to the area and its nature, in particular its birdlife.' Added Alexis. ‘So I thought it'd be a great setting for an eccentric comedy where a classic British hobby is presented in a different and unexpected way. We've come far with the process so far - completing storyboards, set designs, schedules and securing locations, and we're currently working on casting, camera tests and the soundtrack. But most importantly we're still trying to raise funds; We're crowdfunding to make sure we can scrape together enough to cash to make this as good as we believe it can be'.