CHARLOTTE Fantelli has dreamed of making films ever since she wrote her own scripts as a schoolgirl.

Tomorrow the dream will become reality when she will see her debut film Journey to Le Mans premiered at London’s Leicester Square and screened in more than 50 Vue cinemas across the country.

The film is the inside story of a British team’s bid to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, the toughest and most famous endurance event in motorsport.

Teams of drivers push themselves to the limits of physical and mental endurance, racing for more than 3,000 miles at speeds of over 200mph.

Narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart, it follows Jota Sport throughout the 2014 season, capturing the drama of team leader Simon Dolan’s sickening 200mph smash at Silverstone and the unexpected loss of their lead driver just two days before the big race at Le Mans, where the team tasted glory for the first time.

But the story of how 30-year-old entrepreneur Charlotte, from Highcliffe, made the film, which was edited in Bournemouth, is just as remarkable.

With no previous film-making experience, she successfully pitched the idea to ITV’s head of sport, attracted investors, taught herself the art of producing and directing, raised almost £400,000 to make the film and persuaded some of the industry’s biggest names to work with her for nothing.

Daily Echo:

Mother-of-one Charlotte Fantelli in a Bugatti Veyron

“I had to learn as I went along, it was sheer bloody-mindedness that got me through it,” she says.

“If I had known at the beginning what it would involve I would never have done it, but the secret was never compromising and making people believe in the film as much as I did.”

Charlotte, who is married with a seven-year-old son, put every penny she had into the project. Now, she is set to earn her reward.

ITV4 will broadcast a 45-minute cut on November 24, the date the full-length film is released on DVD, and it will be screened by more than 50 TV stations overseas.

Her company, Fantelli Productions, will keep 82 per cent of the film’s profits, with the remainder going to investors, including film crew members.

Motorsport journalists are raving about the film.

“It has everything and captures the spirit of Le Mans,” said Damien Smith, editor of Motorsport magazine.

“It’s everything a motorsport documentary should be, a compelling story expertly told,” said James Newbold, of The Motorsport Journal.