How to Date Billy Walsh follows a pair of childhood friends making the most of their last year at school. Archie and Amelia are besties, but Archie is secretly in love with his pal, and the film charts their journey of discovery together against the backdrop of the British city of York, where the Prime Video movie was filmed.
How to Date Billy Walsh was shot in and around Cheshire and York, and of course, this was perfect for the production.
York is no stranger to film and TV crews looking to make the most of the beautiful landscape. Many productions have used York, to the point that you feel that you may have visited the area without knowing it.
ITV series Girlfriends was filmed there and Netflix juggernaut Bridgerton set up camp the minute the crew from Brideshead Revisited got out of the way. And, of course, Harry Potter would also have a go in York, with the pedestrian bridge across the platforms at York Railway Station featuring in Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone.
Some other posts on Instagram also reveal that Manchester was also utilized for filming, with actor Kunal Nayyar confirming filming took place in “beautiful Manchester”.
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Production Timeline
Here’s a brief timeline of how the film made it to our screens;
- On August 25th, 2022, Prime Video announced that filming had started on the production and they were initially hoping for a 2023 release.
- Production was held up, as the release date was pushed forward, and by February 2024 Prime would release an official date.
- By March 2024 we had access to the first trailer.
- How to Date Billy Walsh debuted on Prime Video on April 5th, 2024, meeting its initial release goal.
Who directed and produced How to Date Billy Walsh?
The whimsical teen drama was directed by Alex Pillai, who is of South Indian heritage, born in Newcastle, and is now based outside of London.
Alex would make his name directing episodes of British TV series such as Robin Hood, Touching Evil, Wire in the Blood, Merlin, Da Vinci’s Demons, and the BAFTA-nominated comedy horror drama Being Human. His expert work would see him heading to the US to helm a few episodes of American shows such as Bull, Riverdale, Emergence, Walker, Katy Keene, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
In an interview with The Week, Pillai explained his career, revealing he “idolizes Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, began his career after studying at the National Film and Television School at Beaconsfield, England. His first gig was in Flight, a television film.”
More recently, Alex would be on board with the Christmas 2023 Doctor Who episode for Disney+ and the BBC. It has also been reported that he may be working on the new series of the sci-fi show due to air in May 2024.
How to Date Billy Walsh was produced by Mathew Williams, a long-time producer who previously worked on films like Last Train to Christmas in 2021, Poker Face in 2022, Bank of Dave in 2023, and romantic comedy Upgraded in 2024.
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