BTSOTH was shot in 2005-2006 and took 3 years to edit due to the 120+ hours of footage shot.
To make the film feel like a genuine "behind the scenes" documentary the director employed several innovative techniques. The actors cast to be in "TOTAL HELL", were led to believe they were genuinely acting in a horror movie (and not simply a mockumentary). At the right point, the director told these actors they were actually in a comedy, but deliberately didn't tell the other actors that they now knew. By playing the actors off against each other there was a genuine feeling of conflict.
During the Wooler scenes (when Jamie is filming his film), the actors stayed in character 24/7. This allowed the production team to record events like a real documentary and capture hours of footage.
The only actors cast from day one were "Grey McCulloch" as "Jamie Gunn" and "Sam Smart" as "Raul Kemp". Initially however director Andy Wilton saw them in opposite roles, with Grey playing Raul and Sam playing Jamie. The actors convinced the director otherwise.
During auditions for the written parts director Andy Wilton met "Sinead Parker" and "Drew Walker". So impressed by their auditions he specifically wrote new characters for them.