George MacKay leads the cast of the character-driven thriller Bypass.

Artist and filmmaker Duane Hopkins is now shooting his second feature, Bypass.

For production details visit

The film is shooting on location in the north of England for eight weeks. The project is described as “a character-driven thriller set against the economic backdrop of contemporary Britain.” The cast is led by George MacKay, a 2012 Screen International Star of Tomorrow, alongside Ben Dilloway, Charlotte Spencer and Donald Sumpter.

Third Films is producing and supporters are the BFI Film Fund, Film Agency Wales, Film i Väst, Swedish Film Institute, SVT Torino Film Lab, Severn Screen and the Match Factory (the latter handles international sales). It is a UK-Sweden co-production, with Swedish partners Plattform Produktion and Welsh company Severn Screen.

Samm Haillay, producer of Bypass and co-founder of Third Films (alongside Hopkins) described the film as “a morality tale of society’s feared and forsaken. These characters struggle to balance their personal morality with the reality of the world in which they inhabit. We aim to create an visceral, exciting, highly distinctive cinematic world using the expressive visual language of the modern realist thriller - this is not about documentary.”

Hopkins’ debut feature Better Things played in Cannes Critics Week in 2008, and his work also includes the multi-screen art installation Sunday (which was shown in Cannes and Toronto among other places) as well as previous award-winning shorts Field and Love Me Or Leave Me Alone.

Updates on Bypass’ production can be found at this Facebook page.

Third Films’ other credits include Gillian Wearing’s Self Made.