THE director of an upcoming film which sees a Port Glasgow family take a fateful trip says he hopes the film will encourage people to come to the area.

Photographer Alec Gray is currently raising money to cover the costs of making his first ever short film, Never Again, which centres around a local family’s week-long summer break to the Isle of Bute.

Alec says the film will be bookended by key scenes shot in Port Glasgow, with its dramatic emotional ending taking place in the town.

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The story features 18-year-old protagonist Blake, who meets a mysterious girl named Ava while staying at a hotel in Rothesay with his family.

The pair get to know each other better as their time together goes on, with a variety of other characters also playing their part in the film.

Alec, who lives in Rothesay, told the Tele that the film was based on his own life and experiences.

Greenock Telegraph: Alec Gray making a film about a Port Glasgow family

He said: “I wanted to tell my own story but correct it, it was like therapy.

“I had an idea of the feeling I wanted people to have and then I just wrote the script in about a week.

“Normally I would spend about a year writing stories but this one came incredibly quickly.

“I live in Rothesay and if you want anything you go to the Co-op and if you can’t get it there you go to Port Glasgow Tesco.

“That’s what I do and so the idea of that journey was an obvious thing to film because I do it all the time.

“The film starts and ends in Port Glasgow.

"I don’t want to blow the ending but the big emotional pay-off takes place here. I think the ending is what I would have wanted for myself when I was 18.”

The 47-year-old has set up a crowdfunder for the film and hopes that shooting can start in August if he secures the cash.

He describes the production as a ‘feel good-ish’ film, which is full of heartwarming moments and humour.

Despite writing for many years and working as a photographer for the better part of a decade, Never Again is the first time Alec has tried to make a film of his own.  

He says the production will pay homage to places like Port Glasgow and Rothesay, as well as being a universal story for people to connect with.

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He added: “I grew up in a nowhere place in Suffolk and we used to go on holiday every year to the seaside, which was about 40 minutes away, because that was what we could afford to do.

“It might seem ridiculous to some people to go on holiday somewhere that’s only a short distance away, and it is funny but it’s also kind of sad because that’s all they can pay for.

“We’ve got a 100 per cent local cast and crew, that was really important to me.

“It’s not going to be a tourism advert or anything like that, but I want anyone who sees it to say ‘wow, that place looks nice, I want to go there’.

“It’s also a love letter to places like Rothesay and Port Glasgow. People might see parts of them as rundown but they’re actually very beautiful."