Raa Marchant, from Bracknell, hopes to provide young performers with a platform for their talent in his first full-length production, an action film called Six Days, which he both directs and stars in.

He and his son both have Aspergers, and so also use the filming process to increase their confidence, as they can struggle in social situations and with learning lines. He has a cast of youngsters studying media and film at college on board with the project.Mr Marchant said: “Everything is going well so far and everyone has just got stuck in to it and are really enjoying themselves.

“As myself and my son, who’s 17, have Aspergers, it can be a bit difficult as we find social situations a bit of a struggle. But we do it to prove that people with Aspergers can do it and can be involved in big productions – it can be hard when you have a huge crew watching you act.” His team, who usually produce short videos, decided to make the jump to making feature length films after a poor experience making a film with someone else. “We decided we could do it better really,” Mr Marchant said. “It was that experience which none of us really enjoyed – it was very cheaply made – and we had an idea for a story for a film. It’s proved to be really hard work but it’s really fun.” The film is an action piece about a deadly disease. The main family, where Raa and his son star as father and son together, are hit by the disease and the film follows the son in his last ‘six days’ of life.

Mr Marchant said: “There’s so much more to the story than I can fit in here. We make films because we know how hard it is to make it in the film industry.

“Using people from the area means that they have a platform for their work and something to show for all the work they do in the colleges. Whether it’s make-up, acting or photography, we’ll use them – it’s great for their portfolios and gives them a first step in their careers.”