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Bolton on Dearne actor Dean and 23-year-old editor Rebecca have now scooped 32 awards for their Western A Dollar To Die For, including one at a Los Angeles film festival.

Director Dean, aged 54, stars in the film as Joe Wade, an outlaw who teams up with Jess Clay, played by Sheffield actor Keiron Goodwin (48), for one last bank robbery before they put down their guns.

The robbery takes place while the town of Deadwood is empty due to everyone being at Judge Morgan’s funeral but Wade feels their time is finally running out waiting for the Sheriff and his posse to track them down.

It’s proved a winning storyline, and Dean said he was “over the moon” to win Best Western at the Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival in the USA, as well as the Best Western Short at the Istanbul Film Awards in Turkey.

“This was also another achievement since most films are from the USA which have won this award in the past,” he said.

“People laughed at us when we said we were making a Western in Bolton on Dearne but the hard work has paid off and we have achieved a little gem of a film.

“I am a big Clint Eastwood fan and this is my little baby.

“We filmed it in the style of Sergio Leone and used extreme close-up shots. Our film is also a Spaghetti Western since it was filmed in Europe.

“The film took a lot of planning with my daughter, who worked on the film as director of photography, special effects artist and editor, and I was making models of a wild west town, then we blew them up to full size on screen so it actually looked like we were robbing a real Wild West bank.”

Other festivals where the film picked up awards include the Gona Film Awards for Best Editing, Indo Singapore for Best Short Film Writer and Mokkho International Film Festival where the film won a total of eight awards including Acting, Visual Effects and Cinematography.

Dean added: “None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for Covid when Rebecca and myself started making wildlife films in our garden.

“Our last one, Pond Life, has now won 44 awards including one in Kuwait, which has given us a passion to do more.”