Chat Ed : Right. Time to get cracking. Welcome Penny!
Penny Woolcock : Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoyed the film and I'm looking forward to some tough questions.
Mark : Im from The Halton Moor Estate In Leeds UK and this program so much reflects the truth its unbelievable
StevieM : righty- Explain to me the significance of it being on a real council estate...everyone made a bit thing of it....
Penny Woolcock : Well I could have made the film with actors on a set but the stories were real stories, and in fact the story of the children running away to Blackpool with the 60,000 was a true story from Halton Moor. I thought the film would be better if it was filmed on an estate with real people playing the part, instead of posh actors pretending to be people who lived on an estate.
frank : How was the script devised - the performances were so natural it felt as though it had been part improvised, was it?
Penny Woolcock : I wrote the script based on a series of different stories that I had heard; one was about a man who had held up a Post Office with a pair of tights on his head, but it was a Post Office that he used every day and he was recognised and I thought that was funny. Another story was of these children who had taken a big bag of money and had run away to Blackpool and they were caught then they were trying to buy expensive electronic equipment and I needed to get rid of the mother, Tina, in order for the children to run away, because although she was a junkie she loved her children, so I put those two stories together. There was a third story about these children who were abused by their father. So the script was a structure and was very carefully planned, but inside that structure the actors improvised their dialogue - apart from the little children, each day I told them what to say because they wanted to know.So, everyday we didn't rehearse, the actors would know that they had to get from A to B in a scene but they could do it in their own way.
Aidan : Penny....were you brought up in a similar background to your main character Tina?
Penny Woolcock : No, I was brought up in Argentina, in quite a middle class family, but I had a child when I was very young. I was on the breadline for many years after that, so I am familiar with living on the edge, and I know that there is great humanity in that kind of life.
JohnMc : It was excellent real gritty T.V.
Chris Takes A Break : so did you have to do alot of research?
fifi : did u base the characters on anyone you knew?
Penny Woolcock : I did a lot of research before making 'Tina Goes Shopping', but I already had the material for 'Tina Takes a Break' and the characters were based on lots of people that I met. Kelly who plays Tina is not a smackhead, but maybe 60-70% of the people she grew up with are, so she did her own research, sadly.
Wyndham Hollis : First, thanks for two great films! How did you come to make the first one?
Penny Woolcock : I knew about the way that the economy worked on various estates in different parts of the country, and I wanted to find a way of telling that story that was respectful to the people in it. A lot of films about life in poverty, I think are very patronising, and I didn't want to do that. So it was a passion really.
rob holland : PLEASE keep em coming , any more in the pipeline?
gerry_boy : I really enjoyed the programme.....have u worked on anything else that will be broadcast in the near future?
Penny Woolcock : I am not sure if there will be a next one, but I'll try! The next film I have is a documentary on alcoholics called 'The Wet House' on Channel 4. After that I am hoping to make a film for the cinema.
Wizard Of Odd : The hacked up cow incident in Tina goes shopping, was that a true story?
Sarah_Nottingham : i love the bit where he cuts up the cow to sell, obviously it wasnt a real cow, what did you use?
Penny Woolcock : It was a real story, which has happened many times, not just in Leeds. In Cornwall they call it cow rustling, and it was a real cow,wasn't was killed in an abattoir. There were three cows in that film, the cow that was killed, the pet cow that walked around the estate and the cow that he chases in the field. The kitchen was the only 'not real' location, it was re-created in a freezer room in the abattoir.
No_Pants : These days, parents rely on the TV to babysit their children, no matter what the hour. I think there could be a concern with infecting innocent kid's minds. What's your view on this matter, Penny?
Judy : Do you think the kids that are acting would be affected by watching a man commit suicide ?
Penny Woolcock : The children who were acting in the film knew that the man jumped from a 10 foot tower onto a large air cushion. But, other children watching could be affected by this scene. I think that most children would understand the film the way that the two young actors did, which was as an adventure, and certainly not an advert for taking heroin.
Steve Pepper : This was very gritty reminds me of Kes, how did you achieve the look of the film?
Penny Woolcock : With a very small budget! It was all hand held camera and no lights, or tracks, or the trappings that go with big movies. I think this helped the performances to remain natural.
salway : how much did the film cost to make fully?
Penny Woolcock : I think it was about 300,000 pounds, which is much cheaper than most and we had a much smaller crew.
sajda din : Was your aim in making this drama, just entertainment, or did you have some other political agenda?
Penny Woolcock : My aim was to try and make a good film, but also to tell a story about a group in our country which is often overlooked, and often treated with contempt.
tom gough : were there any professional actors used in the production?
Penny Woolcock : No. But Kelly who plays Tina now has an agent and Mark Catley who plays Kev is also serious about his acting career.
Thomas : Will the Tina Goes Shopping/Tina Takes A Break be available on video?
Penny Woolcock : Please ask Channel 4 to release it!
zillion : How did you achieve such brilliant acting performances from the residents?
Penny Woolcock : Casting. It's the key. I think if you cast well, the actors do all the work and the director just creates a space for them to do it.
Andrew : Did Channel4 deliberately screen the programs close to the elections to show that the government really haven't done anything to resolve poverty areas?
Penny Woolcock : No, I think that's completelycoincidentall, I'm sure it is.
J Bentley : Well done penny it was a mint film.
lesley Walton : Some of the scenes of the children, being left hungry and neglected disturbed me, I know its real life, but from your research does this happen in the UK more than we actually realise?
Penny Woolcock : Yes. Children will continue to love parents who neglect them.
sarah paget : What ethical and moral concerns did you have about these children hearing such bad language and being part of such violent scenes?
Penny Woolcock : I think a visit to any playground will hear worse language than that.
Wizard Of Odd : Im a primary school teacher, I can vouch for that!
Penny Woolcock : Anybody who says differently is naive.
Penny Woolcock chuckles, thank you Wizard!
Marnie : youdon'tt think it is pretentious to make a sweeping statement about the 'council estate lifestyle'???
Penny Woolcock : I don't think the film sets out to make a sweeping statement.
Aidan : How long did it take to shoot the script?
Penny Woolcock : I think it was twenty days.
John peter Jackson : Penny, why LEEDS?
Chat Ed chuckles
Penny Woolcock : It was completely random. I could have made the film anywhere, but I fell in love with Leeds.
IanH : Congratulations on 2 fantastic films. Will u be tempted into mini series or maintain quality over quantity?
Penny Woolcock : I was scared to make the second one in case I failed. By then I knew the actors were great. I might be tempted to make a third.
Dave Shackleton : Penny, we saw 'Tina goes shopping' in our geography a-level course as an example of urban decay. What is the biggest reason, in your opinion, as to how people end up like this?
Penny Woolcock : Lack of decent jobs. Most estates were built to house workers for industries which were closed down by Margaret Thatcher in the early 80s and people had to find a new way to survive.
Peter : Two excellentt films Penny. Do u plan to use your work to confront the people who could create change on these sort of estates?
Penny Woolcock : I hope that the work speaks for itself. If anyone has any ideas about how I could confront the people who could create change maybe they could tell me.
Chat Ed : OK y'all - our half hour is up now, so last three questions now, thanks....
Deanne : what inspired you to make such a film?
Penny Woolcock : I made a film called 'Shakespeare on the Estate' in 1994 in Birmingham, from that I knew that there was a huge reservoir of talent on estates which were disparaged by everyone. That was the inspiration really. But it took a long time to convince anyone to let me do it.
Oscar : Penny U R V talented!
Jo Mc : given the kind of work you do Penny do you rely on sponsorship or arts funding to create work?
Penny Woolcock : No, these films are entirely funded by Channel4, who were really 100% supportive.
Chat Ed : And lastly, something that's been confusing some people..
loud1dan : Brilliant film, But what a waist of a lot of eggs!
Chat Ed : A lot of people asking 'why the eggs'?
Penny Woolcock laughs
Penny Woolcock : I saw an egg war between two rival gangs and wanted to put it in the film, but it was a waste of eggs, and we had to scrap the cars because they stank! In the last scene the Ginger Prince and his team were all sick in his car, it was awful! It was more damaging than it looked!
Chat Ed : That's it! Thanks for coming, Penny, that was fantastic. And thanks for all your questions, folks! Hope you all enjoyed it!
Paul M : Thank you
Adremalus : Goodnight Penny! You've made my week!
flipper : thanks for that
Lisa Murfin : nice one Penny
Andrew : Cheers Penny your a star
jules31 : hope so see lots more from you
mister spleen : Well Done
Dave Johnson : Penny that was great
Doucha! : Kudos
Penny Woolcock : Thank you for being so lovely, I was expecting to be savaged, you were very kind.
Penny Woolcock leaves the room
