"If it wasn't for music, I wouldn't know where I'd be. It's my get away and thanks to the different genre music that's out there, it supports each and every one of my emotion for whatever I'm feeling at the time." - Jacob Hutchings
"There's no journey without music. How can you imagine things or feel better about things if it's not there?" - Alastair Read
"Netflix is our go to. Our life is Netflix. You can not only pick what you want to watch but you discover new interesting programmes, films and documentaries on there that you'd never usually pick. It takes your mind outside of the box." - Maddie Evans and Jack Goddard.
"Books! I love books. You get to use your imagination and tell yourself the version of the story. They soak you into their words and it allows your mind to think of something else than what may be getting you down/stressed." - Nicola Hutchings
"What would I have to look forward to after work if I couldn't come home to watch something on the TV with my partner? Not just this but in a way I find it brings us closer to do this. It's our time." - Rebecca Bartlett
"TV series and films. If I've had a stressful day at work it's ok because I look forward to coming home and having that break from reality/my own life." - Nicola Hutchings
"Music and films are something I need in order to get away from real life. I don't tend to watch real life events so much because I'm leaving life behind for a while. I pick funny films or really good music to take me to my good place or to make me feel good." - Alan Hutchings
"If music wasn't there, I wouldn't be who I am now. There's some words that change your whole way of thinking and gives you a new view on life in general." - Alex Gill
Answers to how they would cope without what they love:
BRIAN WARRENS
Brian has worked for 40 years in the Entertainment and training sector. Recently Brian has been appointed as the Director for The Backstage Centre based on the world-class High House Production Park in Purfleet-on-Thames, Essex.
He has had a firm-footing in creative networking and has positively engaged up-and-coming talent with access to industrial opportunities in employment, training and personal development.
Brian is excited to be supporting the regeneration development for Purfleet-on-Thames and is happy to contribute to the south-eastern and Creative Estuary network.
Here are some questions I asked Brian in line with my project:
Q1) Do you have an input for this overall project or have an area in mind that should be highlighted within the documentary?
"The historical position for the entertainment industry takes its status from centuries of misinformation, assumption, and prejudice. We are to hold the belief that entertainment was born from a ritualistic celebration of ancient rituals, feasts, and storytelling based on societal folklore. And from this viewpoint, it is easy to perceive how this isn’t seen as a ‘job’, or true career when it is amalgamated into a world of fantasy, and for many centuries was unpaid. The focus, therefore, could explore whether that is still the case today? And if so, upon what evidence can we make this assumption?
Commercially it is easy to make the case that the industry today offers a career and ‘genuine’ jobs and considering the amount of private investment from the manufacturing sector, this is very real and genuine. The film industry is an example of this.
For example, during the filming of Star Wars feature films, the company, now owned by Disney, followed a seriously impressive inclusion for brands. The toy giant Lego invest $110m into each film. Members of their design team are on set throughout filming to make modifications to technical drawings for the manufacturing process of making their toys. In 2016 they sold over $5 billion worth of toys and saw profits rocket by over $1.3 billion.
With the impact from Covid, the other growth area has been Volumetric film-making techniques where LED screens are providing the backdrop instead of physical scenery. This has brought in specialists from the wider entertainment community, particularly the music and games industries. Two years ago, when Disney bought outright Pinewood and Shepperton Studios, they realised that they needed to crack on make the product fans were demanding worldwide.
In a recent meeting I had with a leading SFX company, they revealed that the current backlog for filming content for Disney and Netflix alone would fill 100 football pitches. These are film studios that aren’t yet built, including the 11 being built in Purfleet-on-Thames."
Q2) Do you feel the entertainment industry isn't taken seriously and that it's unappreciated?
"The entertainment industry is taken very seriously by the people working in it and its supply chain. The biggest hit in the last 12 months has been for Theatre, live music, and events. Barely 10% of the working population in these sectors has been able to work since March last year.
There have been some winners though. The Games sector has rocketing profits, usage and is in a constant battle to produce content.
The measure of whether the industries we represent are taken seriously will be when you can no longer access something because it has had to close.
Will people flock back to theatres and cinemas? We will have to see, but there exist tensions for many about sitting next to others in close proximity.
If people take the industry seriously, is it more about if they understand what we do? In my acting days, I was often asked if I “did this for a living?”.
The question needs to differentiate the impact for an audience, compared with being considered a profession by the financial and business communities."
Q3) What did you think of the advert from the government on the subject?
"The government's campaign created a ferocious backlash from the industry and is possibly one of the most patronising public information films/propaganda we have seen in a generation. The question for the government isn’t so much whether the industry possesses ‘genuine jobs’, more that it doesn’t want to pick up the bill for paying people during the Covid crisis. A non-essential trade. And compared to health care professionals and manufacturers you can understand how many in the media, the wider population, and across government could see things this way."
4) Is this documentary worth making for my final project within TV and Film studies?
"I’m not sure how to answer this question, but essentially ‘yes!’, as there are many aspects you are considering that is raw right now, and many of us are concerned about the long-term damage done to the creative industries as a whole. History shows us that things don’t sit still for long, and we know how much we live in a demand and supply regime today.
The TV and Film sector is busy at the moment, and this will continue. There are many questions to answer."