VIDEO: Independently-produced animation features scenes from Lincolnshire

Liam Holland, 27, who lives in Holbeach and studied in Boston, has spent three years on the self-funded project which will have its first screening at Kinema in the Woods at Woodhall Spa this month.

The 86-minute long production is a Christmas movie which features scenes of Santa flying through Lincolnshire - and a director who has worked for Disney says he can’t wait to show it to the mass media company.

Liam said: “Jerry Rees was the producer and director of the 1987 Disney cult classic The Brave Little Toaster. I got in touch with him via email to tell him how much I loved the film and how I grew up with it. We’ve stayed in touch since and he said he’s going to show the film to Disney.”

The movie is called the X-Mas Files and is in the same ‘dark, yet light-hearted vein as Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas’ said Liam.

He added: “It has a unique and quirky storyline combining Santa Clause and aliens and is aimed at family audiences, like Shrek was.

“I’ve been making films since I was 12, but this is the first animated feature I have produced. I love all things Christmas and am very interested in the paranormal.

“One day I was discussing conspiracy theories with my girlfriend when I joked, ‘What if the Government knew Santa existed?’ then adapted the story from that idea.

“I have included as many conspiracy theory elements into the movie as possible, for example, the Bermuda Triangle, and all these unanswered questions that come into play throughout the film’s story. I felt it was important that, just because it’s a cartoon, it should not be limited to those expectations that movie-goers have for casual animated movies. I wanted to break boundaries and treat it like a proper live action film.

“The reason I made it as an animation – besides wanting to try a new route in creative production – is because, with animation, if you can imagine it, it is possible. You are unlimited to what you can create through the means of animation.”

Liam is a former student of William Lovell CofE School in Stickney, and went on to study media at Boston College until 2007.

He wanted to feature Lincolnshire in the movie and chose to recreate Woodhall Spa in animation, including the Kinema building.

Liam said: “During production of the movie we had to completely animate the Lincolnshire town of Woodhall Spa as there is a scene in the film in which Santa flies through Lincolnshire. This meant us hand drawing each shop along the Broadway in every detail to make it as accurate to real life as possible.”

Liam called on friends to help put the movie together with USA-based freelance animator Julie Hubbard drawing the characters and scenes based on his original designs. Liam then used computer software Adobe After Effects and Adobe Blender to create the 3D effects.

He said: “The movie was written, produced, directed and edited myself here in Holbeach and had its own soundtrack composed in France. It was animated both here and in Atlanta, USA.”

It’s a huge step forward in production for Liam whose previous creations include a feature-length action film made from his bedroom called ‘Unnatural Disaster’ which featured CGI effects.

The characters in the film are voiced by local aspiring actors/actresses, including from Boston.

He put in £2,000 of his own money to make the X-Mas Files, which will have its red carpet premier at Kinema in the Woods on October 22for family and friends.

The film, produced under the name Millennium Movie Productions, will be released at various film festivals and he hopes to arrange public screenings as part of a 
charity event.