In a regular feature each fortnight, Caerphilly Observer is profiling a business based at the Welsh Innovation Centre for Enterprise. Welsh ICE is a hub for new businesses at Caerphilly Business Park and is home to around 85 start-ups. This week we look at Truth Department.
Documentary film making has come a long way in the last ten to 15 years.
No longer the preserve of the one hour made-for-TV format, films such as Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine and Morgan Spulock’s Super Size Me opened up the documentary genre for cinema audiences.
Production company Truth Department is hoping to capitalise on the popularity of feature documentaries with its latest offering called Orion: The Man Who Would Be King.
The film is being directed by Jeanie Finlay, whose previous work includes The Great Hip Hop Hoax, and is being crowd-funded through the internet.
Dewi Gregory, founder of Truth Department, said: “It is the story of a singer who wore a mask and sounded exactly like Elvis Presley.
“Sun Records released an album and had a picture of him with a question mark where the artist’s name should be.
“He rode the crest of a wave for a few years as the Man Who Would Be King. People didn’t care whether or not he was Elvis, but they liked the uncertainty of it.”
Dewi, 44, set up Truth Department in 2005 as a means for the former BBC producer to create the films he wanted to cover.
He explained: “I was developing my own film ideas and wanted to keep ownership of them, so starting a company was the only option.”
Based at Welsh ICE for just under a year, the company is producing an hour-long documentary for S4C, with two series in the pipeline, and has also published its first book.
The company is hoping that Orion: The Man Who Would Be King will eventually get a cinema release before a television showing and release on DVD.
For more information about funding Orion: The Man Who Would Be King visit the crowd funding site.
For more information about Truth Department visit www.truthdepartment.com or call 03301 222316.