Wellywood moo-vie makers show country style

Farmers Weekly‘s Welcome to Wellywood competition is gaining pace, with more farmers and country people showcasing their moo-vie making skills.

The competition is calling on Farmers Weekly readers to make a spoof of an iconic film scene by giving it a farming twist – and one recent entry proving popular is from Michael Hudson.

Michael, who lives in Cambridge and works for Syngenta, appears in the clip with his three sons and niece.

It’s a take on the famous Monty Python ‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’ sketch which asks: What have farmers ever done for us?

We like it so much here at Farmers Weekly we’re even prepared to overlook the fact that it features other farming publications!

TV presenter Matt Baker is primed to be the celebrity judge in this competition, which is offering a first prize of £400, plus £200 of cinema vouchers.

So, whether you’re a student, a member of a Young Farmers club, a group of friends, workmates or a family, entering Welcome to Wellywood is a chance to have some fun.

It doesn’t matter how short your clip is (30 seconds is absolutely fine), although you may of course have directorial ambitions and want to make it longer!

No need, either, to worry if it’s not BBC standard – we’re looking for clips that make us smile rather than ones that are professionally acted or directed.

It might be a clip from an action or adventure film. Your favourite romantic comedy. A gangster film. A war epic. A love story. Any scene from any film is eligible, just as long as your version has an agricultural feel to it.

You could, for example, be James Bond in a farmyard, Kate Winslet “flying” on the front of a stationary tractor, Dirty Dancing in a barn or posing with your friends, Reservoir Dogs-style, at an event or show.

Two volunteers from the Farmers Weekly team (it’s fair to say they’re “enthusiastic” rather than talented when it comes to acting!) have even got in the spirit of it, giving a rural slant to the most famous scenes from Gladiator. We swapped an epic Roman Colosseum with, erm, the equally epic Ashford livestock market. Our version is called Cultivator!

Think you could do something similar? Something better? All you’ve got to do is film your clip, load it onto YouTube and then email the link to fwfarmlife@rbi.co.uk

The closing date is Monday 11 June, 2012.