Wanna be in the movies......

Cumbrian-based British production company Lakeside Casting Agency is looking for starry-eyed people aged 16 and over to put on its books as extras.

The agency has supplied extras for BBC productions including 2000 Acres of Sky starring Michelle Collins and Ted and Alice with Dawn French, as well as the feature film Killing Me Softly starring Heather Graham and Ralph Fiennes and the Channel 4 documentary Ken Dodd in the Dock.

More recently it has provided extras, supporting artists and stand-ins for Hollywood movie "If Only" starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Paul Nicholls.

Phil Mckay set up Lakeside Castings Agency three years ago to cater for all the filming that takes places in the beautiful Cumbrian countryside in England.

He said: "Things really are going mad in the office and I am getting calls from producers from both sides of the Atlantic every other day.

"There really is a desire for them to shoot their productions in the region. An awful lot of people can easily travel over to Cumbria from Hexham and the surrounding areas if I need them for extras."

Mr Mckay said they are looking for people of all ages, shapes and sizes to register with the agency.

"Being on the books of an agent is a real opportunity for people to get close to the real stars, appear on the television or on the silver screen and on top of that get paid for it," he said.

Story: © 2003 The Hexham Courant. All Rights Reserved.