Wick filmmaker gets a thumbs up from Hollywood star

Karl Urban – who has featured in the recent Star Trek adaptations by J. J. Abrams and the Lord of the Rings – gave a big thumbs-up to 24-year-old filmmaker Oliver Hollingdale’s efforts to create his own online spin-off series based on the popular comic book character Judge Dredd.

Urban, who played the violent peacekeeper in the 2012 remake Dredd – which inspired Oliver’s efforts – wrote a special message after seeing an episode of Oliver’s series, Judge Dredd: Cursed Edge.

In a posed photo, the movie star wrote: “Oliver you rock!!”

Speaking to the Gazette, Oliver, of Courtwick Lane, said: “Seeing the photo of Karl Urban, holding our picture from the series, was a great feeling.

“We gave a copy of Cursed Edge on DVD to our American friends who are also working on the project, they then gave that to Karl and he watched it and really embraced what we are doing.”

The former Littlehampton Community School student added: “We never realised this series would ever make its way into the hands and attention of Karl Urban.

“He is an amazing and underrated actor and real down to earth guy, all this is for him, a gift from the fans.”

Oliver, alongside his girlfriend Kiarnie Camp, and other friends, has been working relentlessly on the online series for more than a year.

The group doesn’t have a budget but has managed to draft in international help, with people recording soundtracks, offering costumes and acting on set for free.

So far, Oliver has filmed two featurettes – with much of it recorded locally – which have received a combined total of almost 12,000 views on his YouTube channel.

But he doesn’t intend to stop there. Later on this month, he and the team will be releasing their third instalment of the mini-series, which is building momentum not only here in the UK but across the globe, too.

Explaining his reasoning behind filming the mini-series, Oliver said: “The main reason for this project is to keep the Dredd flame alive, with endless sequels hitting cinemas all the time, a strong sequel of Dredd is what all the fans really want and it deserves a second outing.

“We are still filming and working on the project still, episode three is coming out this September and we are currently filming episode four.

“The project has branched out to many states in America with loads of Dredd fans jumping on board to help expand this project making it even bigger than before.”

Those wishing to watch Oliver’s work should search ‘Cursed Edge’ on YouTube or see the Judge Dredd Cursed Edge Facebook page.