Omagh film makes grand premiere at film festival

AN intriguing film that was made in Omagh and is based upon stories published in the UH had made its world premiere at the Belfast film festival.

‘The Spin’, written by two Omagh men Mark McCausland and Colin Broderick – who now lives in America – premiered at the Belfast Film Festival at the Odeon Cinema in Victoria Square on Wednesday.

Starring Owen Colgan of ‘Hardy Bucks’ fame alongside ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Brenock O’Connor, the film is a semi-autobiographical story based on Omagh musician and UH columnist Mark McCausland’s life. Meanwhile, its story was originally conceived and written as part of Mark’s weekly ‘Notes from the Boneyard’ column.

It was also produced by an Omagh man, Eddie McCaffrey from Gallows Hill in the town who is also a lecturer in Film Production, at Middlesex University, and it further features appearances from Pussycat Dolls star Kimberley Wyatt and Love Island’s Maura Higgins

The plot of the movie revolves around two down-on-their-luck record store owners, Elvis and Dermott, as they take across-country road trip to Cork to acquire a priceless record that could save their failing business and save them from eviction from their evil landlord, Sadie.

Speaking about ‘The Spin’, co-writer Colin Broderick said, “It started with two lads from a small town on opposite sides of the Atlantic talking about music, and art, and movies.

“One of them had this story he kept talking about: It was a story about two lads from Omagh who ran a record shop.

“The business wasn’t doing so great. Bills had to be paid. They hear about a collection of records for sale on the other end of the country that could be worth a small fortune. They decide to take a drive to go get them.

“The two lads doing the talking, were myself (Colin Broderick), and the musician Mark McCausland. It was 2019.

“Mark lived in Omagh operating a small record shop. I lived in Woodstock upstate New York. We liked chatting.

“We had so much in common. We decided to take Mark’s story and turn it into a movie.

“I would write a script. Mark would write a music score. We’d marry our talents together and see what transpired. After five long years we somehow emerged in a clearing, with a movie in hand. And not a moment too soon.”

Colin added, “It was so lovely to go to the premiere.

“When people laughed at the parts we wanted them to, and you could see their smiling faces, it made me and Mark feel great.

“The aim of the film was to write something about our hometown of Omagh which paint it in a positive light.

‘A lot of people abroad only know one thing about the town and we wanted to see if we can show people what the people of Omagh are like, and what the town is like, and I think ‘The Spin’ does that.”