Movie business
Business Management graduate Alfie Latifaj is taking the skills and experience he developed during his degree and applying it to the movie industry. The aspiring Hollywood producer has worked closely with friend and colleague Fuwad Abrar to complete their debut feature length film, Isolated.
Shot in and around Stoke-on-Trent, the movie follows protagonist Jack during one of the worst days of his life, as he tries to set a terrible mistake right with those involved. Alfie helped finance the film, recruit the actors, write the contracts, as well as other admin duties, freeing Fuwad to focus on directing.
“This is the first time we’ve collaborated on a film project,” Alfie said. “We went to college together and have remained friends ever since. After we both graduated, Fuwad wanted to take the film making to the next level, going from short films to feature length movies, so we started working together.”
Skills transfer
Alfie was born in Pristina, Kosovo, and moved to the UK with his parents at the age of four. He occasionally returns to see family and his interest in business saw him take a banking internship in his native country, where he dealt with business clients and customers requesting transactions and loans.
“I’ve always been interested in business,” said Alfie, who started his degree in 2011. “The course at Staffordshire University had lots of modules that were interesting to me and it was close to home, in Newcastle. Law and accounting particularly appealed and the knowledge I gained definitely helps in my producer role on the film.”
He continued: “I’ve been talking to venues, actors, distributors, festival organisers – making lots of contacts – and the skills I gained in my degree have transferred well. We’ve also been doing our own PR and we’ve had an article in The Sentinel newspaper and Six Towns Radio.”
Alfie’s interest in movies combined with his business acumen will hopefully see Isolated shown around the UK – with plans for showings at The Sutherland Centre in Longton as well as the BFI London Film Festival.
Hollywood dreams
“I’ve been interested in films for a long time,” Alfie explained. “So when the offer to help on Isolated came up I couldn’t say no. It was something I wanted to do, to take the work load off Fuwad so he could concentrate on the creative side. We work well in partnership and we’re hoping to continue working together.”
Alfie is developing a crowdfunding approach to fund the pair’s next project, Mirage, which is about tackling anxiety, as he continues moving towards the shared goal of breaking into the movie industry with his friend and collaborator.
“I want to continue with this avenue of work at the moment because I believe in Fuwad and the opportunities will come for us as film makers. We both want to make it big in this industry. We want to break into Hollywood and work on big budget movies and that starts with Isolated. The film gets its premier in June and I’m still negotiating with London to get it shown there, which is a great way to open doors nationally.”
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