'The Town Taking on China' was filmed in a cushion factory in Merseyside and in Hangzhou, eastern China and looks at global economic differences. It follows businessman Tony Caldeira as he attempts to reduce work in his Chinese plant and increase it in his Merseyside factory, in the hope of kick starting UK manufacturing. I developed the doc to commission and then progressed onto the shoot. It was great to be so closely involved in the programme from beginning to end and not just in one aspect of it as well as having the opportunity to go to China, Frankfurt and of course Merseyside! The second episode is going out this week and picks up the story after several staff in the UK have left. It begins with a 'make or break' cushion fair in Europe.
The great thing about filming in a cushion factory is that there are lots of cushions - which is brilliant for weary crew who need to take some 'time out'. Here's a picture of our China dv director Tom Pullen having a restful cat nap, after our return from China. Oh come on Tom - get back to work - eh!
It's not only DV directors who have funny turns on shoots. One sure fire way of making sure your SP makes a swift exit back to London is to suggest filming in the Radio City Tower - perfect if they don't have a head for heights.
Going to China was a real privilege and in typical TV style our J Visa's only came through on the Friday afternoon before our Sunday flights. The tripod went missing somewhere in Amsterdam on the flight over - something to do with the fact that it had been logged in as a wheelchair? Don't ask! We eventually managed to hire a local one but I'm not sure that we needed it as computer trolleys come in very useful - especially to do improvised dolly shots.
'THE TOWN TAKING ON CHINA' (Ep 2 of 2) airs Tues 15th May, 8pm on BBC2