Intro

John Hannah (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Spartacus),  Joanna Lumley (Ab Fab) and Danny Dyer (Football Factory), star in Tea Shop Asylum, a fully commercial romantic black comedy based on the remarkable experiences of successful Yugoslavian actor Rad Lazar (Breaking and Entering, Munich). This extremely funny script tells the story of Vlad, ex soldier and asylum seeker from the Balkans, who is awaiting a new start with his family when his past catches up with him and leads to an escalating struggle to contain a bizarre and chaotic chain of events.

Co-written by director David Skynner (Wuthering Heights, Best Drama Bafta winner 2006 for ‘The Giblet Boys’) and Rad Lazar, the script is acclaimed by actors Joanna Lumley and John Hannah, it is also highly regarded and has been supported by the UK Film Council Premiere Fund and a growing body of highly professional opinion agrees that Tea Shop Asylum is an exceptional, original and inspired piece of writing.

The script has been developed extensively and with considerable professional input over the last five years and is now fully developed and ready for production. With a number of further major roles still to fill, it is anticipated the film will benefit further than it does already, from an exceptional, internationally recognised name cast.

The film has been recognised and supported by Sally Caplan when Head of Production at the Premiere Fund of the UK Film Council with a grant to produce a pilot for the film and a trailer derived from it can be viewed here.

Director and co-writer David Skynner is a Bafta ‘Best Drama’ winner for his previous work and has directed close to eighty hours of prime time television drama including the acclaimed 1997 version of ‘Wuthering Heights’ for ITV & WGBH Boston.  He has many others films in development and now also directs commercials.