Promising start for CABBIE film as crowdfunding passes £4,200, but 48-hour target looms
- Perry Richardson
- 24 minutes ago
- 3 min read
A new independent film centred on London’s black cab trade has made an encouraging start to its crowdfunding campaign, with £4,205 raised by Monday 16 March just days after the appeal went live.
The project, titled Cabbie, is seeking £25,000 to produce an eight-minute pilot this spring, which producers hope will help secure backing for a full feature-length film. However, the campaign now faces an immediate challenge, needing to reach 30% of its overall target within the next 48 hours to stay on course.
The film is being developed by producer Mark Foligno and filmmaker Kat Magrowitz, who are pitching it as a British action heist comedy rooted in the culture, heritage and pressures facing London’s taxi trade. The story is set within the capital’s cab community and draws from the world of The Knowledge, the demanding training process required to become a licensed London taxi driver.
Filming for the short “sizzler” is scheduled for April. The production team plans to use the finished pilot to present the concept to distributors and investors at the Cannes Film Festival later this year, as it looks to move the project from development into full-scale production.
Independent filmmakers behind a London black cab comedy caper have made an early gain in their bid to get a pilot made, though the campaign now faces a crucial short-term funding hurdle.
Foligno, who has more than 70 film and television credits, said the script stood out because of its London setting and connection to the capital’s cab trade. He said: “When Kat brought the Cabbie script to me I was immediately hooked, an action heist comedy set among London’s cab community – commercial and fun and supporting a good cause, what’s not to love? I’m a Londoner – black cabs are part of the fabric. Plus, the current world we live in, we need comedy. Lots of it.”
Magrowitz said the project grew from her discovery of Jack Rosenthal’s The Knowledge, a drama that explored the lives of aspiring taxi drivers. She said: “I first came across Jack Rosenthal’s film ‘The Knowledge’ channel hopping one rainy Sunday afternoon and was immediately hooked. What an amazing test study… like uni for three and a half years, learn 320 runs and 25,000 points of interest all by heart. And it comes with a history of 400 years. And now it’s all under threat in the digital age. I thought there’s a movie right there.”
At the centre of the story is Ed, a working-class London character whose father’s garage collapsed after ride-hailing firms entered the market. Unable to secure the finance needed to rebuild the business, he turns to more unorthodox means to recover what his family lost. That premise places the film within a recognisable debate for many in the trade, where traditional operators and drivers continue to face structural pressure from app-based competition and changing consumer habits.
The producers say members of the cab trade have helped shape parts of the script, particularly around the portrayal of Knowledge students, often referred to within the trade as Knowledge boys and girls. That involvement may help the production strike a more authentic tone at a time when the image, history and future of the black cab remain part of a wider discussion across the industry.
Funds raised through the campaign will go towards cast and crew costs, camera hire, editing, sound mixing and colour correction. Supporters are also being offered a range of incentives, including merchandise and the chance to appear as extras during filming, as the team looks to build support from both within and beyond the taxi trade.
Some of the donations already received come from recognised names within the London taxi industry includes HP Taxis, Sherbet and E1 Taxis.
Asher Moses, CEO at Sherbet The Electric Taxi Company, said: “It would be good for all of us to get behind this great film Cabbie”
Paul Byron, fleet owner of HP Taxis, said: “Proud to be part of this project for the trade.”
