A COFFEE shop manager is about to take on the might of Hollywood with the release of a movie being billed as the next big thing on the silver screen.

Buoyed by the success of British blockbusters such as Billy Elliot and Trainspotting, the film was picked up by the team behind surprise hit Lock, Stock and Two-Smoking Barrels and will receive its world premier in Glasgow next month.

For the past three years, Julie Baker, manager of Whittards, in Durham City, has been working with her actor brother on a comedy crime caper.

Pasty Faces charts the antics of a gang of out-of-work Scottish actors who decide to rob a Las Vegas casino.

Julie, 27, said: "You try not to build yourself up, because there are so many disappointments along the way, but now it's finally happening, we are getting really excited."

Thirty-five-year-old David Baker had been an actor in London, but found himself struggling to find work when he returned to his home town of Paisley, near Glasgow.

Rather than wait for offers, he decided to make a film of his own screenplay, and recruited Julie and his mother, Nancy, to help out.

"It seemed absolutely crazy. David knew a bit about the film business, but I had absolutely no idea," Julie said.

"I had also just moved to Hartlepool to be with my boyfriend and was doing a nine to five job, which made it even harder to work on the film."

The family set up their own production company, LoneWolf Productions Limited, drawing on David's creative talent and Julie's business sense.

In June 1998, David and Julie travelled to America to shoot a trailer to promote the project.

Julie said: "The main problem was finding the money, but David came down to Hartlepool for a weekend and we managed to raise about £10,000 - just from friends and family and local businesses.

"That was the turning point really and it kick-started the whole project."

Julie set up an office at her home in Honiton Way, Hartlepool, and the family then spent months trying to secure the finance for the film, in the UK and abroad.

Julie said: "It was really hard at the time, because we were relying on loans and credit cards and we spent all our savings."

But the risk paid off when LoneWolf struck a deal with London's Victor Film Company, the company behind Guy Ritchie's smash-hit, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Julie gave up her job at a Hartlepool clothes shop and headed off on location with her mother and brother.

Pasty Faces was shot last year in Glasgow, Los Angeles and Las Vegas and will be in British cinemas from the end of next month.

Julie said: "David used to talk about the buzz he got from being an actor and I didn't understand it until I got on the set. It's long hours but I've absolutely loved it and I can't wait to start work on our next film."