New Zealand film-maker Samuel Miller is calling on the international production community in Cannes to help make his feature, Highland Heist, in earthquake-torn Christchurch.

Backed by the New Zealand Film Commission, the action comedy is set in a Scottish village in which two brothers try to rob a security van. But Miller, who is producing with London-based Patrick Holzen with backing from post-production house Molinare, plans to shoot interiors in Christchurch, and exteriors on an island 600 miles from the city, as a double for the Scottish Highlands.

“It would really lift morale to have some commitment,” says Miller, who can be contacted at samuel@smfilms.com.