Geordie actor Tim Healy is the latest big name to be added to the Tees Valley International Film Festival at the Arc in Stockton next month (October 26 – 29).
Healy will join Teesside-born actors Mark Benton and Bill Fellows to be interviewed by BBC Radio Tees presenter Paul ‘Goffy’ Gough on the final day of the festival (Saturday 29 October 29) under the ‘Evening with the Stars’ banner.
The finale follows three jam-packed days of workshops and masterclasses for both filmmakers and actors, and a monologue competition for aspiring thespians.
Event organiser, Darlington’s Michael Luke, said: “We are delighted that such a North-East legend like Tim Healy is going to be joining us for the festival.
"His record is up the with the very best. The fact that through his charity work he has helped raised staggering amounts for young actors through the Sammy Johnson Memorial Fund makes him the perfect fit.”
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Tim Healy said: “I was talking with Bill and Mark last week and they were saying a high- profile film festival on their home patch was long, long overdue. A huge well done must go to Michael Luke for making it all happen.
“I spent some wonderful times working the clubs in my early days and of course had the greatest of fun when recording the Auf Wiedersehen Pet series in Middlesbrough.
“It was a magical time with loads of Teesside memories too and I well remember trips over to Port Clarence and Haverton Hill for breakfast and a pint later in the day with the lads in the pubs around those places – wonderful times filled with laughter spent chatting with the locals.”
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Michael Luke said: “The momentum is really starting to build now and the phone has literally never stopped for people wanting to be part of it all.
“I am very aware of the financial pressures for so many right now and it was important to pitch the cost of tickets, people are snapping them up very quickly priced at just, 20 pounds 50p (it includes a booking fee).
“The Saturday ‘Evening With the Stars’ part of the festival will give people the opportunity and the inspiration to see how stars such as Mark Benton, Bill Fellows and Tim Healy have made it to the very top.
“To have received such positive recognition for the first Tees Valley Film Festival event really is beyond where I expected to be and it has surprised so many. The stars are all really passionate about wanting this to work for our area and myself and the team are really buzzing.”
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