Sky1’s Mount Pleasant – Line Producer Howard Ella talks about filming at The Sharp Project

TV shows can be filmed more or less anywhere. Crews are self-contained units that can be deployed to any location and still keep everyone fed, watered, made up and filmed. If you’ve seen the “making of” Planet Earth films, you’ll know that anywhere really does mean anywhere. So why did Tiger Aspect choose to film Mount Pleasant, Sky1’s first commissioned comedy drama, at The Sharp Project? Line producer Howard Ella (Monroe, Joe Maddison’s War, 5 Days, Lewis) postponed his wrap-day beer to talk me through his experience.

With studios aplenty throughout the UK, why Manchester? And why The Sharp Project? Prosaically enough, this particular project was shot in Manchester because Mount Pleasant is set here. But while the on-location scenes get their sense of place from the iconic trams, buildings and accents, could the studio scenes have been filmed anywhere?

“Being on this side of Manchester is really helpful because it’s near town and right by the M60, which is really useful,” says Howard. As for The Sharp Project itself, the needs are more specific: “It has big fully-functioning offices; we can walk in, the internet is already there, and away we go.” This contrasts favourably with the common method of using a warehouse, a cost-effective way to set up a multi-scene set for several weeks or months; but it requires a fair amount of preparation to get it up and running. “Also, the stage that we’re using is big. So we’ve got four large standing sets and we can put them all on one stage, which we wouldn’t have been able to do anywhere else in Manchester.” A second stage was also hired for guest sets and as a workshop. “Having those next to each other with dressing rooms, costume and make up, all on one site, all ready to go – that was the appeal. And that’s why it has worked really well.”

When budgets are squeezed, it makes sense to film outside the capital wherever practical, even if the production company is based there. “If you haven’t got a lot of money and you’ve got a show that’s set in London, often you’ll shoot up here and then go to London for certain bits. Doing it the other way round doesn’t necessarily make sense though.”

The flexibility of The Sharp Project was something that became obvious as filming started. Howard could request extra rooms and security offices for simultaneous story lines, and The Sharp Project’s facilities manager John Mariner would conjure something up in double quick time, keeping everything on-site and running smoothly. The Sharp Project’s array of studio spaces was also useful. “When Sky wanted to come and do promotions, they could film on our sets, build their own sets for the promo in our second stage, and they could set up their stills in the stills stage. So suddenly, not only could we shoot here but we could facilitate all the promos and publicity.”

Howard can see the day when The Sharp Project’s powerful internet connectivity will be a massive draw for TV and film productions, but points out: “We’ve not needed to use it this time because we’ve done all our editing up here and then we move everything down to London on drives. But technology is changing quickly and there will come a point, I think soon, where you end up slinging your daily rushes down the line to someone. As that technology kicks in more generally, I’m sure the industry will develop to make more use of it.”

Mount Pleasant was written and conceived by sometime Shameless writer Sarah Hooper; the comedy is inspired by her own background in the Altrincham area and the cast, which includes Sally Lindsay, Angela Griffin and Bobby Ball, also has a strong vein of the region’s entertainment running through it, which brings a very definite northern humour and turn of phrase that all firms up the sense of location.

The Sharp Project will always have something of a work in progress nature to it, but during Mount Pleasant filming, there was actual construction going on. As diggers aren’t known for their respect for red recording lights, were there any sound issues? “John Mariner has been absolutely spot on. Whenever there has been an issue they’ve worked alongside us. When it has looked like there might be a clash between a noisy job that they need to do and a quiet job that we need to do, we’ve pre-empted it just by talking and we’ve made sure it hasn’t been a problem. And the construction work is nearly finished now anyway.”

Turning to the The Sharp Project ecosystem, I ask if there has been much contact with the tenants here. It’s good to know that at least one company based at The Sharp Project was hired for Mount Pleasant, although the self-contained nature of the team, plus the fact that every minute detail of a project has to be planned in advance to save time and money once on set, probably limited the exposure. Time should facilitate a little more integration; many of the businesses set up here are, after all, start-ups, which necessarily makes them less well known than established suppliers.

“We did use one company here,” says Howard. “We haven’t really had any ongoing commercial transactions with tenants, although some of the graphics companies I already knew anyway; one of the tenants did CGI for me on Joe Maddison’s War last year. But there’s a new start-up called Flyka, a guy who has converted electric scooters to become tracking vehicles. We had a sequence where we had two characters ice skating who couldn’t ice skate, and trying to achieve that without damaging your actors is tricky! Someone suggested this buggy and we met the guys, who designed and constructed a trolley to be towed by it; we took it to Blackpool ice rink, did the filming and it looks brilliant.”

This nimble little company had the capability to create the perfect compromise between mounting cameras on rails and filming on a truck, both of which would have been utterly impracticable. Although Howard admits this solution was a happy accident, it’s indicative of the fertility of the ground here at The Sharp Project, especially when push comes to tow. “You have a hub of lots of small groups here. I’m sure that they will benefit each other hugely. But also, by talking to people you’re instantly in a network of similarly-minded people but with different skill sets. So you mention what you’re doing and they might not do it but will know someone who knows someone who does – and that’s how the Flyka dolly came to us.” It’s not always about the big, obvious solutions. Creative people will always come up with ideas that only they could have thought of, and they sometimes turn out to be much better.

As for the whole experience of the project, Howard is full of enthusiasm. “It has been, unusually, a relatively straightforward shoot in terms of not too many things going wrong. We’ve had the odd hiccup but have kept going. And we have had a fab cast. Such nice, fun people. I’ve not had a giggle like this in ages. And a great crew who just crack on. And it’s been a hard schedule – one of the fastest I’ve done. To turn out an hour of television in nine to ten days, which is what we’re doing, is fast going for the standard of production we’re doing, so it’s relentless: eleven days a fortnight; eleven-hour days not including prepping and clearing up. But we’ve just had a really good team, and I think we’ll all be quite sad when we have our drinks tonight to be splitting up. We’re keeping out fingers crossed for a second series.”

Maybe the fact that the crew is about three-quarters local (and Howard himself lives a few miles away in Yorkshire) has helped with the harmony, even though film crews are a bit like travelling circuses, following the work around the country and immersing themselves in new productions every few months. Manchester is getting busier as a hub for these productions, and with The Sharp Project and Media City getting traction in their own complementary ways, and major national broadcasters setting up key departments here, this trend looks set to continue. The importance of the region to the creative industry is also leading to new, innovative businesses and more established companies setting up everywhere from Merseyside to Yorkshire, a coast-to-coast creative conurbation.

As I’m shown around the set I appreciate the feat of organisation that has been undertaken here. The home in which the series is set is all present, with living rooms, bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, a staircase, a conservatory and a garden set up to an intricate degree of detail. Cast and crew are proceeding through their duty lists with well rehearsed efficiency, meaning our walk is occasionally stopped by a buzzer, a few seconds’ acting and a director’s “Cut!” call. It all seems to be whirring along nicely, and Howard returns to his last five hours’ filming for the series, hopefully the first of many.

Although Mount Pleasant is not the first production to film here, The Sharp Project is still a relative newcomer to the scene. The organisation of the film crew alongside The Sharp Project’s ever-helpful facilitation seem to have made for a smooth running stint, and it’s thrilling that already The Sharp Project’s agile tenants are beginning to serve the visiting productions. As more and more gears in the machine engage, this is set to become a regular arrangement.

Mount Pleasant aired on Sky1 on August 24, 2011.

Charlie Hankers

Links

http://sky1.sky.com/sky1hd-shows/mount-pleasant

http://www.tigeraspect.co.uk/

http://www.flyka.tv/