West Sussex film-maker offer drive-in premiere

He is hoping it will be released on streaming platforms including Amazon Prime by the start of October.

The film Clay’s Redemption, running to 77 minutes including credits, is Carlos’ debut feature: “And I believe this will be the very first independent British production to have its world premiere in a UK drive-in.”

Carlos suspects it might be the way ahead: “It was a novelty, but maybe now this is a necessity. We don’t know what is going to happen to cinemas and what is going to happen to the industry.”

Carlos describes the film as a neo-noir fantasy, inspired by reading the novel Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman: “The book is like a hidden London with different characters. It is what you don’t see in the city. There are many things happening in another world, another realm.

“I didn’t have a project in the beginning, but I thought what about if I do something where my characters have been here for a long time. All the characters have Greek mythology or gods’ names. They are mystery entities, but they look human.

“There is a god enforcer called Clay. His thing is that he can jump from body to body. He is assigned to protect this young woman who is called Maya. A demon is after her, so he is trying to protect her, but he is reluctant to do it.

“I started filming in Shoreham three years ago. I was filming in Shoreham at night, 10pm, 11pm when everything was quiet, and then I moved to different locations including Brighton & Hove and Worthing and London. The filming itself took a year. I needed to see when everyone was available. I shot it myself, so it was a year’s filming and a year’s post-production, and then I got really good people to do the music and the sound effects along the journey.

“I started making the film out of frustration really. I just wanted to be doing something. I was a bit fed up with the way that the film industry is just too slow and too bureaucratic. I got my camera and got my son to help me, no budget. It was just me and my credit card which I really don’t recommend. But then a good friend and producer managed to raise up to £80,000 for the film from private investors. And my girlfriend helped with the creative production.

“The film will be released online by early October. We are still waiting for a few things to get in place. I think it will be the main platforms like Amazon Prime and iTunes.”

Lead actor Akie Kotabe plays Clay. His previous work includes the lead role opposite Salma Hayek in Everly and more recently seen in Amazon’s Man in the High Castle.

Ivo Alexander is the producer and Carlos’s partner in Tin Cowboys Productions, their production company. Creative producer is Rona Walter, and Carlos’ son Pablo Boellinger features in the film. He was 14 when they started the project.

Other actors are Joe Wredden, playing Johnson; Elsa Nori, plays OOna; Magdalena Sverlander plays Learza; and Nuuxs plays Maya.

Clay’s Redemption has six nominations at the Madrid International Film Festival: Best Lead Actor: Akie Kotabe; Best Supporting Actress: Magdalena Sverlander; Best Director: Carlos Boellinger; Best Cinematography: Carlos Boellinger; Best Feature Film; and Best Film.

Carlos, originally from Venezuela, moved to the UK in 2001 to study music production, but then moved towards visual media: “I started working as an editor and doing music videos, and then slowly but surely I got into making films.”

Details of the world premiere are at https://www.thedrivein.london/whats-on/clays-redemption-world-premiere/about

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