Northamptonshire's young people to star in feature-film adaption of Shakespeare's Macbeth

Screen Northants, filming on location in Northampton town centre.

Screen Northants will set the modern day adaption of the Scottish Play in Northamptonshire and are scouting the county's housing estates, parks and stately homes for locations.

The 90-minute movie will star actors aged 14-25 and the company will soon hold open auditions for its lead roles.

Co-director of Screen Northants Becky Adams said: "This is the biggest project we've ever done. We'll be shooting over five weeks this summer and we're searching Northampton for the setting of Duncan's kingdom and other scenes.

Screen Northants want to give young people work experience chances to break into the film industry.

"It can be difficult for creative young people to get their break into the film industry because work experience is so hard to find. We want to give Northamptonshire's young people a way to get real experience in film acting."

Screen Northants are creating the film following a Â£105,000 grant from Children In Need to fund projects over the next three years.

Paul Mills, co-director of Screen Northants, said: "We're very excited to get going. We can't reveal too much, but we've got some very interesting ideas for The Witches, and how Macbeth's story can be relevant in a modern setting.

"The grant from Children In Need has been brilliant. They're such a well-respected charity and it's quite and honour, but also a real responsibility.

Professional crews with work with Northamptonshire's young people to create a modern day adaption of Macbeth.

"Our projects can include adverts to documentaries to original films. It takes time to find and commission screenwriters though, so for our first big project with the funding we're using a timeless classic. You can't beat Shakespeare. He's got some skills."

Film director for fashion-brand Burberry Daryl Chase has signed on to direct Screen Northants' Macbeth. His work also includes music documentaries for Jake Bugg and Kaiser Chiefs.

Screen Northants is a non-profit film company based in the Grosvenor Centre, Northampton.

Auditions for young people aged 14-25 will open for Macbeth in mid-April. Visit the Screen Northants website at http://screennorthants.co.uk/ for more information.