Rising star's second movie filmed in Northumberland and North Tyneside
A rising star who won an award with the first short movie he submitted for a film festival has returned to Northumberland for his next production.
Jacob Stockton, who grew up in the county, wrote and directed Man on the Hill. Set in the Second World War, the filming locations for it included Tranwell Woods and countryside in the Alnwick area.
It ended up winning the Best North East Film (Parmo D’Or) accolade at last year’s Tees Valley International Film Festival and as a result, the festival is supporting the 27-year-old’s second movie – which he once again wrote and directed.
Screwball stars Stephen Tompkinson (well-known for starring in TV shows such as Drop the Dead Donkey, Ballykissangel and DCI Banks), Craig Conway and Alfie Dobson.
Filming for it recently took place and the main location was Ashington Football Club’s car park. Other locations included Shiremoor and Whitley Bay. It is currently in post-production and set to be around 15 minutes long like Man on the Hill.
The synopsis for the movie is as follows: ‘Jackson Connelly, an ice-cream man, is left devastated when a family court ruling strips him of access to his young daughter.
‘In a moment of mad desperation, Jackson kidnaps the judge responsible. How far is Jackson willing to go in order to win his daughter back?’
Jacob said: “It was an unexpected surprise to win the award at the festival and then to find out that it would be supporting my next film was fantastic.
“The central plank for Screwball was an ice-cream man in a van and I developed it from there. The themes include people from different backgrounds and dealing with alcohol and mental health issues.
“Michael Luke, who founded the Tees Valley International Film Festival, has worked with Stephen Tompkinson and he gave him the script for the movie.
“Stephen is a legend in the industry and I grew up watching some of his TV shows, so it was amazing when he said he loved the script and was happy to come on board.
“He played the main police negotiator and it was a great experience working with him – I learned a lot. He is so locked in that he can be ready to go at any moment for a scene.
“I also got to briefly work with him in front of the camera as I had a cameo as an armed response unit officer.
“The other actors in the film were fantastic as well. Watching it come to life on screen is exactly how I pictured it, so that shows how good the performances are for this film.
“I would also like to thank the people at Ashington Football Club for their support whilst we were filming in their car park.”
Having been an extra and then a runner and PA for the hit film 28 Years Later, Jacob got to know Alfie Dobson as he is the dad of teenager Alfie Williams – one of the main stars of the film (he played Spike).
Alfie Williams came to the set to support his dad and also donated to the film.
Screwball will premiere at this year’s Tees Valley International Film Festival in November. For updates, go to the Fully Loaded Pictures Facebook page or @Screwballmovie2026 / @Fullyloadedpicturesuk on Instagram.