TWO teenagers have set up their own film production company. Reporter CHARLOTTE McDONALD hears more.

AT THE tender age of 13, Kit Bradshaw and Carl Salton-Cox decided to set up a film club at their school.

Carl, of Orchard Road, Sidcup, said: “It all started because Kit and I were incredibly bad at sport.

“We would stand on the pitch at the back talking about films.

“We realised that was what we were interested in and what we wanted to do.”

The pair attend Beths Grammar School in Hartford Road, Bexley.

Although film studies is not taught there until sixth form, teacher Gordon Russell was keen to help the youngsters learn about production.

After producing a short film with the help of staff, the pair turned their talents to even bigger things, setting up their own production company called Copperspark Media Ltd.

Kit, now 17, said: “We wanted to do something more professional, more our own thing.

“So we got loads of people together who were interested.”

Basing their film on issues which they thought affected their generation, Kit, Carl and two other 17-year-olds, Sally Rice and Daniel Ghagan wrote the script.

It looks at teenage relationships, confused sexuality, peer pressure and self-harm.

The film centres on how the relationship between Ash and Chloe deteriorates when he begins to question his sexuality.

The characters deal with bullying, self-harm and finding new friends.

Kit, of Rectory Lane, Sidcup, said: “There was a lot of input in the story from other people. We had so many rewrites.”

The film-makers were awarded £1,000 by Government-backed organisation Mediabox.

Kit said: “There was a 20-page application form for the funding.

“We had to explain how it would benefit local people.”

Over one week’s filming in February, young people aged between 12 and 20 shot the film at locations including on a footbridge over the A20 and behind a nightclub in Bexley.

There was also a fight scene at a park in St Mary Cray.

In total around 40 people and another 15 cast members from Bromley and Bexley helped make the 25-minute film, which is called The Only Release.

Its theme song was written and recorded by teenagers at The Brit School in Croydon.

Help was on hand from Bexley Council, which helped with insurance and filming permits.

And Marc Perkins, a film-maker for Panorama, helped them borrow equipment from the BBC and provided support.

The pair held the premiere of the film at Framestore, a visual effects and animation studio in central London, earlier this month.

CBBC Newsround presenter Sonali Shah hosted the event.

Carl said: “The first film we did at school was a nightmare.

“We have developed a lot. It was quite a struggle.”

The duo are now planning to film in a deprived village in Cambodia and use the opportunity to also teach English.

To order The Only Release on DVD or find out about future screenings, visit the website theonlyrelease.co.uk