Westport online soap films first shots

‘Covies’ filming gets underway


Áine Ryan

COVIES cruising in Toby’s bar through virtual reality yesterday (Monday) had nothing to do with too many pints of plain or half ones of the hard stuff. Ask Nellie Murphy? She’s one of the characters in the innovative new online soap, ‘Covies’, which is the brainchild of scriptwriter, actor, director and Westport resident, Len Collin.
Nellie is a comic character who comments acerbically about the shenanigans in each episode of ‘Covies’.
“Then on Tuesday (today) we plan to be filming in a house in Lecanvey. We are grateful to Pauric Geraghty for the loan of his long hall for a particular shoot,” said Len last night.
He told The Mayo News that the spirit of cooperation by the people from the area for the low budget series was phenomenal.
“With a cast of over 40 and using 40 different locations from Doolough to Keem Bay there is a huge amount of coordination involved. We hope that on September 16 and 17 we will attract plenty of extras for scenes we plan to shoot at the Octagon and on Bridge Street, pending permission from the Town Council,” he continued.    
Len Collin’s initiative has been welcomed by the Town Council, Chamber of Commerce and many of Westport’s independent businesses, including local hoteliers, publicans and restaurateurs.
His credits include Eastenders, Ultimate Force, The Bill, The Clinic, Holby City and Lowlifes and he also worked on RTE’s popular rural police drama Single Handed.
It is hoped to film over 80 minutes worth of drama on a miniscule budget, which is, for example, dwarfed by the cost of one hour of Eastenders which can reach £300,000.
“So any help is great. We presently need some volunteers to help feed our cast, which is comprised of quite a few vegetarians,” Len added.
Footage from the opening days of shooting can be viewed later this week on The Mayo News website and for further information on the whole project log on to www.thecovies.com .