A TV star from Whitehaven is big in Japan after producing and acting in his company’s first feature-length film.

Self-taught actor Jimmy Hagri spent two years making Wandering Kane’s first feature film, The Gamekeeper , which has already received awards and positive reviews.

Made on budget of just £500, The Gamekeeper, is now being sold to the USA, Canada and Japan.

The multi-talented 49-year-old left Overend School when he was 16 to work on the fishing boats and eventually worked at Sellafield.

But he always wanted to act. And, after moving to Newcastle with his wife in 1988, Jimmy earned his first role in Wire in the Blood . He has since appeared in 55 Degrees North, Byker Grove and Vera .

Jimmy met Peter Kane two-and-a-half-years ago and together they started Wandering Kane Productions.

In The Gamekeeper , Jimmy stars as an ex-soldier who’s hiding out as a gamekeeper on an affluent individual’s property.

Through flashbacks we see that the gamekeeper, Peter James served in Afghanistan, where he uncovered deadly secrets within his country’s own military.

The film was made with people Jimmy and Peter had met throughout their careers.

Jimmy said: “We managed to source all out talent from the North West and North East – something we are very proud of.”

Jimmy never trained to be an actor and said “hands-on experience is better than any drama school”.

He urged anybody in Copeland who wants to work in the film industry to get in touch with Wandering Kane – adding “it doesn’t matter if you’ve never worked on a film before and we will try to accommodate everyone”.

Jimmy said he also wants to make a documentary about John Paul Jones and the history of Whitehaven.

“There’s just a really good story behind the town,” he said. “We’ve got some really gifted filmmakers at Wandering Kane and I’d love for us to tell that story.”

Wandering Kane is now working on a second feature film called Orcus and it is looking to tap further into the Japanese market.