A former Cranbrook School pupil turned film producer celebrates the launch of her latest short movie this week.

Savannah James-Bayly grew up with her parents in Foxhole Lane, Hawkhurst, though she now lives in Peckham in London.

She named her film company Fox Cub Films.

Savannah was a student at Cranbrook from 2005 until 2010, studying all the sciences and maths to A-level, before leaving to do a degree in molecular biology at University College London.

She was delighted when many former chums at Cranbrook and people she knew in the Weald chipped in to help finance her latest venture through a crowd-funding scheme.

She said: “Many people gave a fiver. One person put in £80. I’m very grateful to them all.”

Her film, Fingers, is an updated version of the biblical story of Salome, but set in a world of East End gangsters reminiscent of the Kray twins.

She said: “It’s rather lucky that Legend has come out at the same time!”

Her film stars James Alexandrou - Martin from EastEnders, and features Lucy Blanchfield as Sally (Salome) and Anton Saunders a Harry (Herod). It was written and directed by Alex Marx.

She said she owed a lot to her education at Cranbrook, with one lesson in particular inspiring her to pursue a career in film.

She said: “I remember studying the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan in English with a fantastic teacher called Mr Robbie Ferguson, and having this sudden realisation of how much consideration went into each frame of film - from the colours, to the shapes, to the movement of the camera - it’s all designed to provide maximum emotional impact.

“It was the first time I’d looked at film in that way and it was fascinating.”

Mr Ferguson, who is now head of sixth form at the school, said: “Wow – that has really made my day!

“I’m so flattered that a small lesson like that, which was part of my training with Theresa Dickens (head of English) had such an impact!

Mr Ferguson said: “Savannah was everything we could ever hope for in a Sixth Form student. She worked hard and got involved with every aspect of school life.

“I’m not surprised that she is going on to be a huge success because she has that trait that all people who triumph have; she always smiled and remained positive no matter how tough things got. A brilliant young woman!”

Fingers is Savannah’s eighth short film.

She has just entered into a development deal with Channel X for a TV comedy-drama series that she has co-created with writer Birds of a Feather writer Geoff Deane.

You can view the film for free here.