I have a few friends who would love to get into acting but with everything in life (unless you are very, very lucky) it’s difficult to know where to start! So when I spotted a tweet in my Twitter feed that some extras were required for a ballroom scene in a short Sherlock film that was being made I dropped them a message to let them know. One of them was able to make it and as thanks was invited to the premiere of the film which took place at the Genesis Cinema in Whitechapel last week. At a loose end I decided to buy a ticket online and tag along! I’m so glad I did as the event ended up being a sellout!

As it was just a short film the evening was a kind of package deal rather than just a screening and it was great fun too. There was a short presentation by Carla Valentine, curator at Bart’s Pathology Museum where the movie was shot which was very fascinating even without slides and I hope I can pop in and see it sometime. Two of The Baker Street Babes podcasting team took to the stage with Tony Lee to ask him about his personal connection to Sherlock (he’s perhaps a bit more of a Moriarty fan than the detective himself!)

Of course the shining star of the evening was the film itself: Sherlock Holmes and the Stolen Emerald. Shot in silent movie style with a steampunk feel it had the audience belly laughing from the start and it was fun for me to keep my eyes peeled out for my friends appearances. There was a Q+A with some of the cast and crew and afterwards they also announced that they would be filming a sequel, this time involving Moriarty – which no doubt made Tony Lee very happy!

There were also some props on display and DVDs of the movie were available to purchase. From starting the script to the movies premiere had taken a year and you could tell that it was a labour of love for everyone involved that had really paid off. It really was such a great evening!

EDIT: My friend Rob who was the extra has recently started his own blog, you can check out his take on the evening here.