BUSINESSES are being encouraged to support a new feature film being filmed on the Yorkshire coast and North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

Ravenscar – a dark psychological thriller set in 1930 – is a fictional story inspired by The Town That Never Was with one of the lead roles to be played by former Coronation Street and Waterloo Road actress Eva Pope.

Fellow ex-Street actor and Dinnerladies actor Andy Dunn has also confirmed, as has lead actor Adam Alexander, fresh from his starring role in Miss In Her Teens.

Talks are ongoing with other actors for the film, which has a budget of more than £100,000. Over half of that has already been secured and now local businesses are being invited to get involved.

Eboracum Pictures, which is producing the film, was set up in 2009 by Andrew Davies, who is the producer of Ravenscar.

He said: “It’s been my dream to make a feature film in this area for 10 years. I’ve made all of my short films around here and made some great contacts and friends along the way.

“There are tax incentives for investors in the project, while links will be forged with local firms during production where money will be poured into the economy when filming starts in spring, with the film’s release pencilled in for 2016.”

The film has been in development for the past year with many local people and businesses already involved, while there will be opportunities for people to be extras in the film.

Locations for filming include Ravenscar Tearooms, as well as the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and Hornsea Museum, and Mr Davies is currently in talks with a post-production facility in Hollywood about editing and finishing the film.

The film itself is about a struggling American journalist who arrives in a remote coastal village in England to try to piece together the mysterious life of his estranged and recently deceased father.

However, his discoveries while there lead him on an unexpected and perilous journey.

For more information, visit ravenscarmovie.com