A documentary is being released that charts the ups and downs of a UK Film talent search, and provides those unfamiliar with the film industry a window to reality of some of the seamier side of the business. The film is a vailable at www.amazon.co.uk Raindance Review: The Making of a Film Idol An entrepreneur wanted to start a casting website for wannabes. A first-time producer wanted to cast his ‘fully funded’ British gangster film with wannabes. It was a match made in hell. The two men – neither of whom would seem out of place selling insurance or threatening shopkeepers – decided to tour the country with a casting road show in search of 86 ‘stars of the future’ and 2000 extras. Fortunately for us, they hired a documentary crew to follow them. Richard E Grant dons his wryest voice to narrate what follows – but almost needn’t have bothered: this is car crash viewing at its finest. The horrors fall into four main categories: The Tour (locked venues, incorrect advertising etc); The Applicants (squeaky-voiced lunatics, drunken floozies, earnest amdram hams and a few genuine gangsters); The Organisers (lies, backstabbing, more lies, vanishing finances, lies and so on); and, most bizarre of all, Mr Cream The Warm Up Man (you just have to see him). The Making of a Film Idol documentary should be compulsory viewing for actors to serve as a warning what not to sign up to if they want to get ahead. Equally indie filmmakers should watch, to give them a boost: We’ve seen documentaries about productions dogged by shooting problems, but to see something so miserably ill-conceived from the get-go may give them new hope that their epic has a chance or getting off the ground.