Mission Impossible? Could Tom Cruise abseil down Worcester Cathedral?

The cinema lights dim. The Mission Impossible music blares. On the screen, at the top of the grey stone tower of 960-year-old Worcester Cathedral, Tom Cruise throws his ropes over the balcony. He grabs hold and abseils swiftly down the side. An unlikely tale? Why not?

Taking Hollywood to sleepy Worcestershire?

It  hasn’t happened yet, but it could one day if an entrepreneur launching a new film and TV venture has her way in sleepy Worcestershire – 135 miles from London and a million miles from Hollywood. Work hard and maybe, one day, Tom will drop in.  

The red carpet is ready for Tom Cruise

“Let’s hope so!” says Kelly Mikulla, entrepreneur and managing director at Worcester Film Office, launched just over a week ago.   

“If he does come here, we will roll out the red carpet!”

The new Worcestershire Film Office plans to make its income by arranging film shoots for everything from movies to pop videos and advertisements. The private company will take a fee for arranging filming permits, locations, catering and accommodation. 

Bollywood comes to Worcestershire

“Birmingham is booming right now when it comes to film and TV and we are not too far away and hope to attract a bit of business through this,” says Mikulla. 

There have been early breakthroughs for the venture. As I write, three Bollywood film companies have sent film crews to shoot celluloid tales of  romance by the river in Worcester. 

Apparently the producers, in the multi-million dollar Bollywood business in India, fell in love with Worcester’s 18th century bridge that looks more like it should be over the River Seine, rather than the River Severn. 

Esso gets its fill

This week, the country roads of Worcestershire were used as a backdrop for the next Esso garage advert.

Looking to the future, Mikulla’s team is also trying to build up a database of locations that film producers around the world can browse to see whether it fits into their next motion picture. 

The team gathers photographs of living rooms, warehouses and village halls from across the county that could be used as movie backdrops. Maybe even the swans of the Severn could get a paddle on part.  

Will filmmakers dip their toe into a backwater?

“We are simply trying to create a buzz that will attract more filmmakers here,” she says.

She has her work cut out. The county may be a green, rural, idyll and home to just under a million people, but it is also a bit of a backwater in the media world.

Worcester is probably more famous as the home of Worcestershire Sauce and Land of Hope and Glory composer Edward Elgar. It is far from top of the list when it comes to the tourist trail. 

A Whiter Shade of  Worcestershire

This is  one reason why the county council is supporting the film initiative in the hope it will boost tourism. It is believed that a glimpse, at the movies, of Worcester Cathedral or the bridge, or the swans of the Severn, or the dramatic burned out ruin of country mansion Witley Court, a short drive from the city, could be valuable.

They hope it could lead to movie buff pilgrimages; like the crowds that go to visit the setting of Downton Abbey every year. 

Witley Court has staged  a pop video. In the 1960s, Procul Harum made their video in the ruins for the classic: A Whiter Shade of Pale.

An entrepreneur bringing it all back home

Mikulla, born-and-bred in Worcestershire, took the road less travelled to the film business. She trained as an accountant and worked in the property business before cutting her teeth in movies at  the Sussex Film Office – with three film credits on IMDb – success she’s keen to replicate on home soil. 

Mission Impossible? This entrepreneur doesn’t think so.