BRADFORD'S City of Film team wants to hear from people who have been extras in TV or film productions.

Memories, stories and photographs from people who have worked as 'supporting artists', or extras, will be displayed during Bradford International Film Summit next March.

The three-day event, attended by leading names in the film and television industry, will include a series of seminars, talks and screenings exploring how film and TV production can boost business opportunities, education and social and economic change.

The summit will welcome international visitors from the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and film industry professionals to discuss innovative ways to expand the role of film in society.

Organisers want to hear from people who have been extras - whether they do it regularly, any big names they have appeared alongside, and whether they made it to the final cut and saw themselves on the big or small screen. The best stories will be filmed for use on the Big Screen in City Park.

Bradford City of Film director David Wilson was an extra in hit movie The King's Speech.

"In December 2009 I answered an appeal in the Telegraph & Argus looking for extras for a crowd scene. I don't think anyone involved at the time had any idea of the phenomenal success the film would enjoy," said Mr Wilson. "I was asked to attend an audition the following week, it turned out to be a wardrobe fitting, and was then told to expect a 'phone call later that week if I had been successful.

"My girlfriend (now my wife), attended a similar fitting session, as did my sister and her boyfriend, and it seemed, half of Bradford."

He added: "We all got the call to attend a week later and were asked to be at Odsal Stadium for 5am the following Thursday. On arrival it was a bit chaotic with approximately 200 people queuing for a wardrobe fitting, in my case a long overcoat and a cloth cap.

"An hour later we were all taken out on buses to Elland Road football stadium where we spent the next eight hours sitting in the stand in sub zero temperatures. In addition to the 200 real extras were hundreds of inflatable torsos as additional 'extras'. I was asked to sit in among a row of the dummies."

Mr Wilson passed the Oscar-winning star of the film, Colin Firth, on the stairs in the stadium. "The speech you hear in the film which fills approximately three minutes of the film took almost two full days to shoot," he said. "We were all very excited when the film was finally in cinemas and went to see it in its first week of release. My girlfriend and I were relieved that we recognised ourselves, albeit briefly, in the film."

Anyone who has been an extra in a film or TV production is asked to send their story to submit@bradfordcityoffilm.com

For more about Bradford International Film Summit visit bradfordcityoffilm.com/summit.

MORE TOP STORIES