'Ode to Chichester': Film maker creates tribute to the city and it's independent shops

Filmmaker Ranald Lloyd-Williams has lived around Chichester since he was seven and has been making films since he was ten.

His film company, RLW Film, usually makes commercial films for premium brands but Ranald decided during lockdown that he wanted to give something back.

"I love it," he said, "Chichester has the best of both worlds and I get to do what I love for a living."

To show his love for the city, Ranald decided to make a film to highlight some of the city's independent shops.

Ranald said: "I contacted my friend Debbie Ford of 'The Chichester Social' who is a local social media manager for Chichester Independents and discussed with her a concept of creating a film called the 'Ode To Chichester'.

"A film to help highlight and market the great variety of independents within Chichester. Funnily enough Debbie had also been approached by Marco, the general manager of Purchases Bar and Restaurant wanting to help out the local community too.

"We jumped on a zoom call to flesh out the idea even further, the 'Ode To Chichester' was born.

"After two incredibly busy filming days we documented 19 businesses to build the story of the 'Ode To Chichester' film. Within post-production we knew we needed a spoken word narrative to bring it all together. Emily Penny of 'The Brand Poet' helped us pull together the finished film."

'Ode to Chichester' premiered at the Chichester Festival Theatre/New Park Cinema Drive In Cinema over the August bank holiday weekend and was featured in the pre-roll ads of every film played over the weekend.

Ranald added: "As well as this, the film has done incredibly well online. Each business paid a set fee where they had an hour of our time to come and document the business in both video and photo format.

"They would be guaranteed to be a part of the main film as well as receiving their own social media edit of their shop. A percentage of the fees paid by the businesses were contributed to local Chichester charities, voted by the independents themselves.

"The Chichester community has done so much for me over the years helping to build my business, so this was my opportunity to bring awareness to the amazing independents within our city walls who need our help. This film was created by the community for the community."

You can watch the film here: Ode to ChichesterHe added: "I was inspired by a few television adverts about the NHS and community and I decided I wanted to give something.

"I wanted to give some form of longevity to the piece — something that will last longer than the Coronavirus. We did want to show case Chichester in a wider format and show that there is a lot of independent shops and not that many that people would know about."

The not-for-profit film takes its audience along the four streets of Chichester in the early hour of the morning before taking them into lively 19 independent businesses around the city.

"It was quite full on but it was a really cool experience."

Ranald said the respnse from audiences has bveen 'amazing' and has recieved feedback from people all over the world including Chichester diaspora in Australia and New Zealand.

"It blew a lot of people away and it generated a lot more footfall for people along the weekend."