Lost Boys

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Bedfordshire Police

An award winning production directed by Aaron Fontaine, focusing on the devastating consequences of gang involvement - and just how easy it is to fall into.

County lines gangs depend on children. In 2024/25 police recorded 2,659 children exploited through county lines, most often boys aged 15 to 17, and the true figure is believed to be far higher. Bedfordshire Police needed a way to reach young people before the gangs did, and to show that this can happen to anyone.

We produced Lost Boys, a virtual reality film made with Luton's Next Generation Youth Theatre, commissioned by Bedfordshire Police. It puts students inside the story of Rhys, a 14-year-old from Bedfordshire, as a small favour for a new ‘friend’ draws him step by step into drug running, violence and a prison sentence. Seeing it from the inside helps students recognise how grooming works and spot the signs in their own lives.

Believed to be the first VR film of its kind created by a police force for schools, Lost Boys launched in 2025 at the heart of Bedfordshire Police's campaign of the same name. Local policing teams are now delivering it in schools across the county.