‘It’s time to invade France!’ – With your help Team Paratrooper are going to Normandy, France for the next portion of filming and take another huge step in the journey of telling stories of some of the men of the 7^th Parachute Battalion, 6^th Airborne Division and their actions on D-Day 6^th June, 1944.

Actor Alex Reece in action as Private Michael McGee on D-Day 

We are Tony Fadil and Alex Tabrizi, two of the Producers on the feature film/pilot - 'Paratrooper.'  We've joined forces with writer/director and historical enthusiast Lance Nielsen along with a number of other industry professionals who are equally passionate to make this important untold story of real-life heroism, a reality. There is no doubt that our project is ambitious but we are the right team for this job and we’re giving you, the public, who care as passionately about these stories and their historical accuracy as we do, the chance to be directly involved again in its creation!

We started filming in September of last year and shot one of the most complex scenes of the story on the very first day. Now we need to film our French scenes before the end of April due to the availability of our leading cast.

Actors Alex Tabrizi (Private Perry) Tobi Bakare (Private Cornell) & Alex Reece (Private McGee) train for the pending invasion of France, D-Day!

Your assistance will enable us to continue our filming our pilot episode which will not only be a stand-alone film in its own right but will also accompany our pitch package to aid us in our ultimate goal to see the series commissioned by one of our target broadcast networks.

'Nothing is impossible!' is our motto! So check out the video above to see our progress so far and watch our proof of concept/teaser trailer for the project.

WHAT IS PARATROOPER?

Paratrooper is a two-hour stand-alone feature film which will also serve as the pilot for an original content historical drama series based on the real-life stories of the men and women who either served with or were connected to or fought against the airborne forces of the British and Commonwealth military during World War Two.

The series explores a number of different rarely explored narratives within the conflict including perspectives from those of ethnic minorities who fought and whose contribution has rarely been acknowledged to civilians caught in the midst of conflict, the women left waiting at home and those who fight on the opposing side. Several characters recur throughout the story and give the dramatic narrative a sense of emotional continuity for the audience. Ultimately we see how his period shapes and changes not only each character who lives through this part of history but how each makes their own contribution towards shaping the future of it.

HELP US KEEP THESE STORIES ALIVE!

It is our aim with this project to keep the true stories of the heroic men, women, and children from this dramatic period of history alive through this series and creating the pilot is the first step towards that goal.

You can probably tell we’re incredibly passionate about both making films and this historical genre of storytelling and we have tailored a series of perks just for you in exchange for your donations. Remember no matter how much or how little you can afford it’s the fact that you’re willing to donate and assist us that is important. The effect of multiple donations on any crowdfunding campaign is always accumulative, so the more donations we get, the more we get! Even if we fail to hit our top target goal, we will still put everything to raise towards getting us closer to our final objective.

EVERY PLEDGE WE RECEIVE IS IMPORTANT, NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL!

As soon as we hit £5000 we can begin planning our next shoot and the more we raise beyond that, the more we can film

WHAT IS THE MONEY SPENT ON?

This time we are raising money especially for filming in Normandy, France. We have several locations key to the story of the pilot that really cannot be replicated in England within our budget and we have permission to film in a French village where all the buildings have remained very much as they were since World War 2. Your contribution will be going towards the costs required to take the cast and crew to film in Normandy where the locations look and feel authentic to the story. Travelling expenses, food, fuel, accommodation, costume and prop hire and so on. Money from this campaign is not spent on wages (We are seeking funds for that elsewhere) So this really is the smallest amount to get us over there we could ask for. Although our target is £25,000, the real goal that would enable us to film everything we require in France is £50,000, so even if we hit our target, keep those contributions coming! We still need to find the rest of the budget to complete the shooting in England after France is completed, so everything extra already can allocated

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU? 

For your generous contribution check out the fantastic range of Perks on the right-hand side which includes a new range of t-shirts along with some of the popular perks from the previous campaign. We also have new special limited edition signed print photographs and postcards along with special merchandise to tickets to the special private screenings of the pilot (subject to hitting our top target) to set visits during filming which include photos of you with the cast and crew, to personal Facebook live shout outs, chances for self-promotion, creative writing workshops, an offer to make Corporate Videos for you, offers from our Cameramen to come and work on your own short film or project, photo shoots from our stills photographer and lots, lots more. Check out and see what suits you! 

The Dutch & UK Core Team with our Dutch re-enactors during our test/recce shoot in Deventer, Holland - We had incredible assistance for this day! 

HOW ELSE CAN I HELP? 

As with our previous campaign, you can also just donate* without claiming the perk should you wish to do so and if you’re not able to support our project financially, don't worry, there are loads of other ways you can support us which merely cost you a few seconds of your time  –

*Please send all PayPal donations to sandervanderhall@home.nl

You can simply like our page and follow us on Facebook at the link below and follow our Twitter and Instagram. The more followers we get the more visible and stronger our support is online, which in turn affects everything else. 

You can also give us a personal shout out on your own social media, which will encourage others within your own online network to back our campaign. Personal posts are probably more effective than anything else.

You can use our artwork anywhere online within your own Social Media in order to increase our following and online presence.

DIRECTOR'S VISION

Being a child of the 1970’s I grew up listening to my father's tales of living in occupied Denmark while being fed a diet of epic historical films such as The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far. I was always captivated most by the individual stories of incredible heroism shown by very ordinary people and this series will bring some of those untold stories into the public consciousness. My interest in the genre was drawn towards the airborne operations, especially those conducted by the British and Commonwealth Armed Forces. In the excellent 2001 television series Band of Brothers, the dramatic exploits of Easy Company of the 101^stAirborne Division brought a wealth of such stories to an international audience for the first time. Since then, however, non-fiction dramas covering the exploits of the men from the other allied countries have been rather thin on the ground.

I didn’t want Paratrooper to just repeat the narrative formula of Band of Brothers, as for one thing, our own airborne and Commonwealth forces were all involved in very different operations. With Paratrooper each episode will focus on one individual and their experience of a major historical event involving the airborne forces of World War Two. In our show, you will be placed in the shoes of the individual and follow their journey into battle as they risk everything in order to save the future of humanity. This enables us to give insight into many different battles and campaigns that were fought in Europe from a number of very unique previously untold perspectives which includes not only the serving soldiers from various nationalities but also the civilians who were destined to meet them in both their personal lives and during battle. Not only are the stories themselves unique but a number of these operations have never been told in the dramatic narrative before – Battles for places such as Merville, Bénouville, and Bruneval in France, Primosole Bridge in Sicily and Hamminkelneast of the Rhine have never been portrayed outside of a documentary format and we also aim to show aspects of the battle for Arnhem that have not been previously portrayed. Although each episode tells a story which can stand alone, there is an emotional narrative that links each episode and several characters we come to know and care for return frequently throughout the series.

In September of 2018 we assembled a fantastic team and began work on the pilot episode which also serves as a feature film in its own right. We did our first shoot later that month and our second in October which has enabled to create the teaser trailer and with your support we now turn to filming in France to complete a huge section of the pilot/feature film. The ambitious nature of this project is equally matched by my own passion to tell these stories and produce a series that we will all be extremely proud of. 

Lance S A Nielsen February 2019

THE CAST ATTACHED TO THE PILOT SO FAR 

We already have an amazing cast lined up for Paratrooper (All subject to final contract and availability) who have pledged their support to the project. Those already attached are listed below and you can expect more announcements during and shortly after our campaign.

JASON FLEMYNG (Executive Producer) Brigadier Poett

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002076/

TOBY BAKARE – Private Sidney Cornell

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2713033/

WIL JOHNSON - Charles Cornell Senior, father of Sidney

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0426435/?ref_=nv_sr_1

DAVID SCHAAL - General Richard 'Windy' Gale 

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0769442/?ref_=nv_sr_1

DANNY WEBB - General Bernard Montgomery 

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0916073/?ref_=nv_sr_1

SHARON DUNCAN-BREWSTER - Florence Isabelle Cornell

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1004267/?ref_=nv_sr_1N

GIDEON TURNER - Colonel Geoffrey Pine-Coffin

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877577/?ref_=nv_sr_1

ALEX REECE - Private Michael J McGee

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4295866/?ref_=nv_sr_1

THE PRODUCTION TEAM 

Lance S A Nielsen - Show Creator, Writer/Director

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5786481/?ref_=nv_sr_2

The Creator behind 'Paratrooper' is award-winning writer/director Lance Nielsen who aside from being a maverick independent filmmaker is one of biggest enthusiasts of airborne forces history you will ever meet. Brought up with a combination of British, Danish and African heritage he has always sought to produce work which is informative, culturally diverse and challenges perceptions. He has worked as an independent Screenwriter and Playwright since 1997 and won several awards including a Peter Brook Award & 'The Best Talent in New Writing' with the Liverpool Arts and Entertainment and Time Outs Critics choice twice. His work frequently tackles topics in the social, historical and political arenas. Film work includes the award-winning 'The Journey' starring Jason Flemyng and Lindsey Coulson which picked up 7 awards at festivals around the world including one for him as Best Director at the Nice Film Festival. He also won The Isle of Man short film pitch challenge in 2016. He was a Second Unit Director on Kaleidoscope Man and more recently his first novel, ‘Diamonds in the Sky – Parousia’ was published to rave reviews. He is also attached to numerous other films in various stages of development. 

Tony Fadil - Producer / Actor

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5366001/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Tony is an English actor and an award-winning producer from Essex. Tony was born in East London as Jezmi Fadil into a Turkish background with an English mum and a Turkish dad. Acting roles include the TV series Marcella, Burnt Toast and films including Off Piste, 1603, The Pugilist, The Hatton Garden Job, Borstal, Dead Ringer, Doll Master, Howling, Dangerous Game, Blackbird, Fight the Good Fight and Rise of the Footsoldier Parts 2 and 3. Alongside his acting achievements, he has become extremely resourceful behind the camera. As a Producer, he has the reputation of getting what is required to start, create and finalise a director's vision with conviction whether that be a prop required in the middle of the night or organising period cars and locations with a day's notice. As a businessman he is just as sharp, an entrepreneur of the highest calibre, this crosses over to his eye of finding exceptional talent in the casting world. A top-notch Actor, Producer, and Businessman, what else could you ask for when entering the world of delivering a wonderful film that everyone will love?

Neil Barber - Historical Advisor (Pilot & Merville episodes)

http://neil-barber.co.uk/

For 25 years, he has researched and visited battlefields of the two World Wars and enjoyed widespread critical acclaim with The Day the Devils Dropped In, which described the 9th Parachute Battalion's epic D-Day assault on the Merville Gun Battery and the subsequent ferocious fighting at the Chateau St Come. This was followed by a successful collaboration with former Army Commando, Stan Scott, with his memoirs, fighting with the Commandos. The Pegasus and Orne Bridges is equally as detailed as his previous efforts, a book that will hopefully now be used as the guide to what actually happened in this small but vital area of Normandy countryside.

Richard Oakes - Cinematographer 

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7119198/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Showreel 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=129iVFPs43U

Richard Oakes is an award-winning DOP and Director who has worked on feature films like 24 Little hours and Homeless Ashes. He has also shot many short films such as the multi-award winning Chimera, The Code, and Cheating Charlie. In 2012 DOP and Director Richard Oakes wrote and directed his own award-winning sci-fi short called Exit Plan, which has had over 600,000 views. Back in 2012, Richard formed his own music video production company Dark Fable Media. Since then he has worked with some of the biggest music artists in the world, shot and directed over 200 projects to date for clients such as Universal, EMI and Gibson Guitars. Many of Richard’s music videos are featured on the most popular music channels, receiving critical acclaim.

Sharon Sorrentino - Casting Director 

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3231759/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Sharon has worked across all mediums in stage and screen on many award-winning productions. She primarily casts for screen now independent films, commercials, short films and music videos.

Her film credits include: The Journey (Multi-award winning), Jericho’s Walls Are Falling. Television includes: Murdered For Love? Samia Shahid; Queen Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents (RTS award-winning and BAFTA nominated). She several award-winning short films including - The Outer Circle; White; Sticky; Grandfather; The Storyteller; The Chop; Crack; No Playground for Little Cowboys; Invisible. She has cast countless commercials and music videos. She is the published author of a book of advice for actors called  'The Audition Room - A Down to Earth Guide  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audition-Room-Down-Earth-Guide/dp/0957129165

Nothing is impossible! - A short summary of our project

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Jf318B_Rw