A talented karate instructor who dipped his toe in the world of movies is now primed and ready for the release of the trailer for his new film.

The sneak peak at forthcoming movie The Shadows of Distraction hits social media on Sunday, November 1 and Paul Laplsey cannot wait.

Paul, from Grangemouth, has been involved in martial arts since he was seven and trained and fought hard to win the Kobe Osaka International World Championship back in 2011.

Having reached the pinnacle of his sport, the sixth dan black belt has spent over a decade pursuing an acting career and his “passion” for choreographing fight scenes.

Paul Lapsley rehearses the alleyway fight scene for his new film In the Shadows of Distraction (Picture: Michael Gillen, National World)

placeholder image — Paul Lapsley rehearses the alleyway fight scene for his new film In the Shadows of Distraction (Picture: Michael Gillen, National World)

People will have seen him playing “hard man” Grant in recent STV series The Defender – and co-ordinating that vigilante drama’s fight scenes – but his new film The Shadows of Distraction is something he not only stars in and choreographed, but a project he also co-wrote and produced.

The film, which was shooting scenes on location in Falkirk in 2025, features scenes in three of the town’s most popular nightspots – Behind the Wall, XOXO Nightclub and The Maniqui.

Last year, Paul told The Falkirk Herald: “I wrote a script back in 2015 about a hitman who wants out of the life. It was just going to be a short film, but I talked to

director Andrew Dobbie about it and he loved the script, so we decided to expand it.

Paul Lapsley has a real hands on style when it comes to fight choreography (Picture: Michael Gillen, National World)

"We filmed two days in a big mansion house and we filmed a scene at my house with Sanjeev Kohli from Still Game. We are about to film a massive fight scene in a

nightclub which we are really excited about.”

Shooting the movie was a real learning experience for first time producer Paul.

"I’ve had to go to the police and ask for permission to film fight scenes locally,” he laughed. “You can imagine a neighbour seeing someone getting attacked outside and then calling the police about it.”

Paul and Andrew hope In the Shadows of Distraction will be ready for release in the near future and can go down the same successful route as The Defender.

Visit the film’s Facebook page for more information.