Kids Bring Dickens Ghost Story To The Big Screen

Orson the Kid isn't a Welles-directed cowboy flick - it's one of Europe's only year-round film schools for young children (pre-teen to teen). Right now, its aspiring young filmmakers are hard at work moving the Charles Dickens' "The Signalman" from the printed page to the theater screen.

10-year-old Alejandro Sastre and 15-year-olds Daniel Celaya and Marco Nolan have written a first draft of the script. They've been given a $700,000 budget. Shooting will begin in July in a nearby abandoned 12th century hamlet.

Orson the Kid is in its third year of existence. Though "The Signalman" is the students' first feature, they have created 12 short films which have screened in many independent film festivals. All children involved are ages 6 to 16.

No word yet on the U.S. release date.

Source: Variety