Tag Archives: Interview

Mike Nicholson Interview: The Truth About Hillsborough.

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Frost Magazine has an exclusive interview with Mike Nicholson, the director of a new Hillsborough documentary. Mike has worked very hard on his documentary and it is definitely one to watch. Read our amazing interview to find out more.

How did the documentary come about?

I took a documentary makers course at Raindance when I first bought my video camera, and the tutor said that your first film should be about something you know a lot about, and something you are passionate about. That was it for me; it had to be about Hillsborough.


Do you think that people know the truth?

I think the people of Merseyside know the truth, and many people outside the area do as well of course. Even as the disaster was still unfolding, Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, who was in charge of policing Hillsborough on that awful day, set the lies in motion. He gave the order to open a perimeter exit gate that allowed thousands of supporters into the ground at once, and he also failed to cut off access to the tunnel that led to the already full central pens. Once the enormity of his decision started to dawn on him, he lied, and said that Liverpool fans had forced the gate causing an inrush.

Duckenfield later admitted to that ‘disgraceful lie’ as it was called in the Taylor Report, but it had already set the tone for many media reports, and by the time he retracted it the damage had been done. I still meet people today that believe the lies printed all those years ago. I just hope that the findings of the Independent Panel are reported widely, and in headlines, so that the wider people who only say the lies will finally see the truth.

What did you think of the Taylor report?

I personally think that the Taylor Report was very thorough, and correct in its findings. Lord Justice Taylor found that a breakdown of police control was the main cause of the disaster, and rejected claims from senior officers who appeared to be in arse-covering mode that Liverpool fans wee ticketless, drunk or aggressive. As I said before though, the general publics don’t read such reports to get their news, so its findings are largely invisible to the wider public.

What is the legacy of the Hillsborough disaster?

All seater-stadia. You can never say never, and we should always guard against complacency of course, but I can’t see how another disaster of this magnitude could happen in today’s game and that’s great.

Daughters, sisters, brothers, father’s and sons all died at Hillsborough, and all they wanted to was to enjoy the national game with their family & friends. Today’s game looks after its supporters so much better than it used to, and that has got to be a good thing.

At least three people who survived the Hillsborough have committed suicide. Do you think more could and can be done to help?

I don’t know if more could have been done. I am no expert on post-traumatic stress disorder or grief, and I wouldn’t like to say to be honest. I can say that fantastic organisations such as the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, who still to this day have a shop on the Walton Breck Road opposite the Kop, offer counseling and help for those who are struggling to come to terms with their experiences at Hillsborough.


It has been over 20 years since the disaster now. Do you think there is risk that people might forget?

The families and friends affected will never forget.

What is the aim of your documentary?

I understand that some of the big TV companies are currently working on broadcast documentaries on Hillsborough to coincide with the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report, which is due this September.

TV content tends to be guarded by rights though, and it is rarely open and freely given away online for anybody to see after it has been broadcast, and if it is, it is for a short window of time.

I want this documentary to be online forever; so future generations searching for the Hillsborough Disaster will be able to find something factual that in the main was told by those who were there. I won’t charge a penny for it, and it will be freely available to anybody with the will to learn the truth. I just want the truth to be told really.


Who did you speak to?

I have spoken to survivors, the bereaved, professional people such as firemen and nurses who were their as fans that day, and ended up working in the most horrendous of circumstances. I’ve also contacted The Hillsborough Family Support Group, the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and Hope for Hillsborough. I have also spoken to fans who were at Hillsborough for previous semi-finals, and a professor who is one of the world’s leading experts in crowd dynamics. I still have some interviews to conduct, and I hope to have at least part one ready online by the end of September.

What can be done to make sure this never happens again?

I think football learnt its lesson after Hillsborough. The stadiums in the first two divisions at least are well maintained, they are all-seater, and there are no fences to keep supporters penned in like animals.


What do you think people don’t know about the Hillsborough disaster?

The truth. The South Yorkshire Police managed that event badly, and caused the deaths of 96 men, women and children, and as I have already said they started to lie about the cause while the fans were still dead and dying on the pitch.

I think I was naive enough before Hillsborough to believe that the Police are there to protect you, and they don’t tell lies, but that innocence went away after Hillsborough forever.

There is a lot of talk now about the freedom of the press, what with the News International phone hacking scandal, but while I agree that a free press is important, that can only work if they are responsible enough to tell the truth. When The Sun printed a headline that it later described as ‘the worst mistake in our history’ they caused unbearable pain and stress to people who were still arranging funerals for those lost on the 15th April 1989. The lies and the cover-up are often referred to as the second disaster of Hillsborough, and I agree with that sentiment.

Is there a charity that people can donate to?

There are three main organisations that I know of, and they each operate for slightly different reasons. You can visit their web pages here:

The Hillsborough Family Support Group – http://www.hfsg.net

The Hillsborough Justice Campaign – http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/

Hope for Hillsborough – http://www.hopeforhillsborough.piczo.com/?cr=

When will the documentary be released, and where can people see it?

The documentary will be a three-part series, and I hope to have the first part live in September.

It will be released first at www.thehillsboroughdisasterdocumentary.com

For updates and news, please follow @HillsboroughDoc on Twitter of like the Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hillsborough-Disaster-Documentary/283632178348441

Interview With A Hitman Review

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Raised in the harsh slums of Romania, Victor knows the value of life more than most, which makes him the perfect killer. But after being betrayed by the very men who made him, he must fake his own death and escape to London. Here he joins a new gangster family and finds his rules are again put to the test in the midst of a vicious underworld power struggle.

Viktor is now better, faster and more ruthless than ever before. With the secrets of his past refusing to fade away, an encounter with a dark beauty turns his world on its head and offers him the chance for a new life. But can he ever escape the existence he was born into? It is not long before a deadly threat from a past he thought long buried surfaces and he is forced to change his path. It is time to face that which cannot be forgotten.

Luke Goss plays Viktor, the anti-hero of the film. Viktor is a cold-blooded killer and you really shouldn’t like him, but in the end you do, just a little anyway. Goss is brilliant in the role. He really is an actor of note. Someone should give him a lead role in a Hollywood film soon. The reason you like his unlikeable character is because of his depth of range. He is not playing a character, he is playing a person. There are so many layers and so many ‘what ifs’ that you somehow relate to his character and empathise with him. This is of course due to the talent of not only Goss, but also writer/director Perry Bhandal who Frost Magazine has interviewed.

This film is a triumph. It makes you think and really involves you. Not many of the characters are likeable but you’re still interested in them. Interview With a Hitman may be a low-budget film but it is a very good film. Great entertainment. Very well done. A must see for everyone, but especially for low-budget filmmakers so they can see how high the bar has been set.

Perry Bhandal on Interview With a Hitman | Film Interview

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What inspires you?

Music is my biggest inspiration. Sequences just appear fully formed in my head as I listen, whether it be movie soundtracks, modern classics or just rock and pop. Snippets of life experience also play a big part. For example I was in India with my family in 2003 and we were visiting this incredible temple at the top of a steep hill with a bustling marketplace below. On my way down a little girl (obviously a street child) walked alongside me with her hand stretched out all the way down to the bottom. I gave her some money, she walked off and then stopped when she saw how much I had given her and turned and gave me the most wonderful smile. That small encounter inspired the complete screenplay ‘Assassin’ which is set in 1970’s India.

I also read a great deal both fiction and non-fiction and have come to have an understanding of how the world works and the compromises that we all have to live with working in the system as is. Which is why anti-heroes or flawed heroes are of so much interest to me. It’s easy to like someone who is perfect onscreen. Or perhaps with a flaw that would lead one to empathise i.e. a drug or drink habit. That’s not enough for me, because that’s not real life. Take for example the character Viktor in Interview with a Hitman. He’s a cold blooded killer who has done the most awful things. But by the end of film, people who have watched the film, have told me they like him, when they shouldn’t and that they empathise with him. Anti Heroes do that to us. The put up and mirror to ourselves and ask – given the circumstances – would you do any different?

What is the hardest thing about making films?

Every stage in the process has its challenges.

The screenplay. It is there that you absolutely, must get it right. If the screenplay doesn’t work then the film is never going to work. It is tempting to move on from the screenplay and think that it will work itself out. But it won’t. If it doesn’t work on paper it will never work onscreen.

Then it’s the casting. The casting for Interview with a Hitman was both a pleasure and nightmare in equal proportions. It was a pleasure when an actor came in nailed the audition or gave me an interpretation that exceeded or even challenged my expectations. It was nightmare seeing actor after actor, willing each and every one to do well and for no-one to even come close. Those were the low points. A prime example was casting for the lead, Viktor. Nobody that auditioned could deliver what I wanted. It got so bad that I began to think that I had written a character that couldn’t be played. So I got our casting director to send out another request and that’s when Luke was put forward by his manager. I had seen Luke in Blade and Hellboy and knew that he could do it. So I cast him straight away.

Locations. I had the film running in a loop in my head and after the selecting the actors that will make the characters real it was on to making real the world that those characters inhabit. I had to compromise on a few locations but Newcastle is a amazing city with exactly the kind of locations I was looking for so on the whole I got the look I was after.

Then it’s a case of inspiring the great cast and crew into delivering the best film possible. I knew from my business background managing large projects with big teams that everything is driven from the top. There can be no hesitation or doubt. I was a first time director with an experienced crew and a lead actor that had done over thirty four films and worked on two huge movies with one of the biggest directors in the world Guillermo del Toro. I had to deliver an impossible 18 day schedule. Even if I felt any doubt, which I did a few times during the shoot, I could not show it. I was absolutely clear on what I wanted all the time. I had trusted my instincts up until the day of the first shoot and come to rely on them. They didn’t let me down.

And then there’s the post production. I thought the hardest part was shooting the film but the edit turned out to be a real challenge. The film cut together beautifully and the first cut was just under two hours and everyone that watched it raved about it. I was very careful to protect the creative process during that period and was able to deliver something that worked really well in a really short space of time.

Then we got into the rounds of reviews and started getting input and great feedback from the distributor. There was a lot of interest in the film and lots of opinions that wanted to be heard. There were times that I felt the film was being pushed in a direction that I didn’t want but, as a first time director, you have to listen to those that have more years in the industry. Fortunately I was able to preserve the core of the vision I had set out to deliver. Protecting the creative process is massive in this situation and I was fortunate to work with two editors that were completely bought into that and I was able to deliver a final cut that pleased everyone. Having said that the Director’s cut will be a little longer than 92 minutes. I’m pretty nifty with Final Cut now so I’ll be putting that one together myself.

Once the picture’s locked then the music starts. This process normally starts earlier but finding the right composer took a while. I had a fantastic temporary score to work from and an amazing composer to transform that into the great electronic sound that I wanted for the film

At the same time I worked on the look of the film i.e. Grade. I wanted a de-saturated, high contrast, stripped out look to the film and we definitely got that but it took quite a few days in the grading suite!

Then it’s all down to the audience. You hope you have made something that audiences will enjoy and find accessible and also challenging.

What is your writing process?

I have been writing a long time so I’m now at the point where I spend most of my time tweaking the screenplays I’ve already written. I will need to sit down and finish the novel version of Penumbra – my next film.

As I mentioned above Music and my love of anti-heroes tend to drive my imagination down a certain path. It’s normally on a train or listening to music whilst driving that sequences starts to form in my mind. With Hitman, the characters of the young and adult Viktor and how one grew up to be the other came to mind first. I mull the idea for a few months to see if it builds any momentum. Then I start to sketch out the story in note form. I don’t start writing until I have the complete end to end story in place. Then I just sit down at write until the first draft is done. Interview with a Hitman took me four weeks from sitting down to getting the first draft out. Then a few months of script editing which resulted only in some changes to the second act. So pretty quick especially if you compare it to Penumbra which has taken some ten years to get it where it is!

How did you come up with the concept for your film?

I didn’t want to do a standard Hitman movie, where you’re usually introduced the protagonist fully formed. I wanted to get under the skin of what makes a man like Viktor. I wanted to ask questions like ‘does a man of violence like Victor deserve a second chance?’

There’s action in Interview with a Hitman but it is also a character piece. I remember after an advance screening, one of the audience who worked with abused children came up to me afterwards and said that it was a realistic description how children get changed by what happens around them and grow up to be men of violence like Viktor.

Did meeting Spencer Pollard, the CEO of the well-known distribution company, Kaleidoscope, change your life?

Kaleidoscope was actually just Spencer on his own and starting out when I met him! Amazing what he has achieved in such a short space of time. It was good meeting and getting to know him. I would like to say that my relationship had a bearing on him coming onboard as distributor but if you knew him as I do you would understand that ultimately it had no bearing. It was the compelling nature of the commercial proposition (script, cast, budget, vision) that I had put together that drove his decision to commit. Ie the opportunity to make a significant return for Kaleidoscope, which he already has, purely on international sales alone, with Interview with a Hitman. There were two other parties wanting to partner on the project, but I stayed with Spencer because of the relationship we had built up.

What advice do you have for other filmmakers?

Don’t let go of your dreams. Work on perfecting your art. Be patient. The creative industries are capricious and can be somewhat insular. Focus on what works for the mass market first. Even Spielberg had to start off by putting bums on seats with Jaws and ET before his name meant he could do the projects he wanted to do. And remember it is a business first and foremost and the greatest chance you have of breaking in is to do what any business does when entering a new industry – deliver a product that your market will want to invest in.

How hard is it to get funding?

It is inversely proportional to the commercial viability of the proposal. With Interview with a Hitman getting funding was fairly straight forward once all the elements in the package came together.

What are your plans for the film?

Interview with a Hitman has presold in every major territory worldwide going to the United States, Germany, China, France, Japan, Middle East, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, CIS, Baltics, Benelux, India, Indonesia, Australia, Kuwait

Kaleidoscope have released it in UK Cinema’s and the DVD release is scheduled 27th August.

I am hoping the audience will like it and that it gets critical as well as commercial success.

How did you get into the industry?

I did an MA in Film and Television at Brunel in 1990. I remember I had a Eureka moment in the first film studies class. It stayed with me and didn’t diminish. As soon as the course finished I borrowed some equipment from the University and set about making a short film.

Why did it take you a while to get back into film?

My short film started opening some doors for me. But as with a lot of people, life tends to have different plans for you. I got married and so ensued job, mortgage, responsibilities etc. And there’s not a lot of room for something as self indulgent and flighty as a career as a film director.

So I had to lay that aside, but continued writing in my spare time, building up quite a number of screenplays that I would have loved to see on the big screen. Over time I built up an IT consultancy business. In the back of my mind I always thought that I would take up my passion but a more realistic and down-to-earth part of me realised that it was becoming more and more distant.

My father passed away at the beginning of 2009. He, along with my mother had come to the UK in the mid sixties and had worked hard to give me the start in life and the opportunities they had never had. I know my father had his own dreams and aspirations but he was far too much of a stoic to ever burden us with them. He had given up on his dreams and I knew he wouldn’t want the same for me. So a few months after his passing I sold my consultancy business and set up my film production company Kirlian Pictures Ltd.

My business experience had taught me a great deal and I knew that to succeed in this industry was no different from any other. I had to deliver a product to market that audiences would want to watch. It was fortunate then that, as I had built up a compelling and highly commercial body of work and was ready to go.

I immersed myself in all aspects of film making, lenses, cameras, cinematography, lighting, sound. Being very technical had served me well in my IT business and I wanted to make sure I knew how to get what was in my head onscreen.

And because I was coming at the industry from a business perspective I took a part time producers course.

The first film was going to be Penumbra, a revenge thriller that’s been described as ‘Taken’ meets ‘Max Payne’.

The size of the budget led to significant pressure from investors to hand over the directorial reigns to someone who was more of a known quantity. Is a less risky proposition. I knew there was no way I was going to let anyone else direct Penumbra so I went back to the drawing board and wrote a lower budget feature called ‘Interview with a Hitman in April 2010. I spent a few months script editing and once it was right, moved on to production packaging.

I began presenting the film to potential investors. To head off any concerns about me being an unknown quantity I went out and bought a piece of previsualisation software that the studios use to model films sequences and try stuff out. I previsualised the first five minutes of the film as I envisioned it playing out.

The budget, genre, previz (which went down a storm) and the quality of the screenplay packaged together was a compelling commercial proposition in its own right. However, Cast is the primary determinant of value in a genre feature film (horror being the exception) so I went out to cast.

I got a fantastic response and I assembled a great cast very quickly. The only problem was casting the lead, Viktor. Nobody that auditioned could deliver what I wanted. So I got our casting director to send out another request and that’s when Luke was put forward by his manager. I had seen Luke in Blade and Hellboy and knew that he could do it. So I cast him straight away.

After that the investment just rolled in. In fact we had to turn investors down because I had decided to invest in it myself via my production company. I knew I could deliver a great film so absolutely wanted to be part of its success. That was in May 2011 and we started shooting in August 2011.

What was it like working with Luke Goss?

Working, with a Luke was great. I had a very clear vision of what I wanted and he worked so hard to give me that. A director’s vision is articulated through the prism of an actor’s performance. Great actors like Luke become the characters they play and bring their own nuances and detail. That part of the process I really loved, working with him and the rest of the cast to find the truth in this fictional world I had created. And I think we succeeded. You’ll see a very different Luke Goss in this film.

What’s next?

Interview with a Hitman was a stepping-stone. The way for me to prove I could actually deliver a film that was a commercial success and hopefully one that audiences have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy watching.

So now that I’ve done that it’s back to the much bigger budget action, thriller Penumbra. Penumbra is the story of a loving family man who, when his young son is kidnapped and killed by child traffickers is left with a choice; freedom from the unbearable pain (by taking his own life) or catharsis in the form of revenge.

He chooses the latter and in doing so descends into a vile underworld and risks becoming the very thing he seeks to destroy.

Set in present day Europe. This is the story of a man’s search for absolution, his fall from this world into darkness, his salvation by an unconditional act of love and his redemption through the ultimate sacrifice.

The film will be shot mostly in Budapest with a couple of weeks in the UK. I would love for Edward Norton to play the lead Blake. We’re aiming to start shooting in April Next Year.

For more info you can go to:

www.perrybhandal.com

Production company www.kirlianpictures.com

On twitter @perrybhandal

The film review is here

Manchester City Stars Interviews

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Manchester City stars lift the pre-season Blues with Umbro. We have some video interviews with the Manchester City stars below. Watch and enjoy!

Mario Balotelli, David Silva, Samir Nasri, Vincent Kompany and Joe Hart all face the camera as they prepare for the new season.

As well as giving their opinions on the new kit, the City stars shed some light on a variety of different topics, including;

– Mario Balotelli reveals that a career in UFC would have been his second choice after football!

– Samir Nasri gives his verdict on the cuisine of the North West.

– Vincent Kompany talks about his progression from being a central midfielder, to arguably the Premier League’s best centre-back.

– David Silva explains how he copes with the physical side of the Premier League and the great British weather!

– Joe Hart provides an insight into his approach when facing a penalty

The Home shirt retains City’s iconic sky blue colour and also incorporates black detailing and trim which takes influence from the 1969 FA Cup and 1970 League Cup winning kits. The new Away shirt sees a return to the classic maroon colour worn by the FA Cup winning teams of 1934 and 1956, also tailored by Umbro.

The away kit is on general sale now, while the home kit goes on sale 26th July. Both kits are available to buy at www.umbro.com.

www.umbro.com / www.mcfc.co.uk

Balotelli:

Silva:

Kompany:

Nasri:

Hart:

Gordon Ramsay Interview

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Those who would like to see Gordon Ramsay in prison (including rival chefs, certain critics, and one or two specific journalists) will be disappointed to discover that his new series, Gordon Behind Bars, does not follow the famously volatile chef embarking on a lengthy custodial sentence. Instead, it is a thought-provoking, astonishing and occasionally moving look at Ramsay’s efforts to set up a catering business with the inmates of HMP Brixton.

Here, Ramsay reveals just how scary the experience was, why he’s convinced this could make a massive difference to prison life, and what made him want to tackle such a complex project. And, speaking of tackles…

First off, Gordon, how are you recovering from Teddy Sheringham’s somewhat robust tackle in the recent Soccer Aid match?

I’m all fine, thank you for asking. I didn’t see that one coming – I suppose no-one would have! I’ve never had a problem with my back up until now. I felt slightly embarrassed, getting stretchered off. I had this horrendous spasm that put my back into shock. I couldn’t feel the back of my legs. But I’m 100 per cent better, and ready to go for my next run.

So your new series is Gordon Behind bars – what’s it all about?

This isn’t just a ‘let’s go and cook along with Gordon in prison’ thing. The idea came from the fact that there are approximately 80,000 inmates across the country now, which is a hell of a lot. It was about getting them doing something with their time, giving something back, and also getting job-ready. The biggest problem is the re-offending percentages, people just go round and round in the system.

It sounds like an incredibly complicated project to take on, on a number of levels. Why did you want to do this?

I quite like that jeopardy, those up-against-the-wall odds. I don’t like it when it’s over-comfortable, too easy, something that can be done in two or three weeks. I like a challenge. And personally, I’ve dealt with these kind of guys on many occasions, whether in a Young Offenders Unit when we were filming The F Word, or dealing with my little brother, who’s been an addict for 15 years. When we were filming in the Young Offenders Unit in Leeds, seven years ago, that’s when I started to think of the huge missed opportunity in these places. There was so much excitement and boisterousness from the guys in there, but they had nothing to do in there, none of it was being harnessed.

What was it like walking into prison for the first time? How did you feel?

I’ve been in a few dangerous situations. But this has been one of the most intimidating experiences, because at times, you could just sense the atmosphere reaching boiling point, and you were just waiting for that fight to start. Everyone got particularly nervous when the cameras were around. And we were a small crew. The sense of intimidation was rife. You could feel it in the air the minute you walked in there. It was bloody intense.

How did you select the prisoners to take part? Did a lot of them want to do it?

We had an overwhelming response. We spoke to over 100 prisoners, we had to find out what they were in for, what their sentence was and they had to be security cleared. You have to understand that a lot of them were on remand, so they get moved on a regular basis.

What were the biggest logistical problems you faced?

If someone wanted a knife or a peeler or a spatula or a plastic scraper, you’d have to go to the shadow board on the wall, take out what you wanted, sign for it, give them a number, and then they weren’t allowed more than two utensils out at any one time. When one thing went missing, it was bedlam, the place would be on lockdown, everyone would be searched, and you’ve lost half a day. Getting them out of bed in the morning was tough as well – they don’t have to be up. Most of them get locked up after dinner, at 5:15pm, and they’re not let out the next day until the morning. So gathering them around was just horrendous. You’d go to every wing, accompanied by an officer, you’d have to take the crap on the wings from those who didn’t get on the course, and so by the end I stopped gathering them, I had to get the officers to do it. But they came in dribs and drabs for the first couple of weeks. I had to say to them “If I say 9am, I really want you in here for 9am.” To be honest, that’s not that early to start.

How hard did you work the prisoners, and how did they find that?

First couple of months was tough because they couldn’t stand on their feet for anything longer than two or three hours, so making bread rolls and soups, that was it. They’d want a break within the first two hours. It was like a social event in there sometimes. They could chat, they can watch TV in their cells, some even have a DVD player. They’ll go to the gym, see the doctor or even the dentist. So the first couple of months it was hard, because they couldn’t work past two or three hours. But after that, you could see some really strong differences in some of them. By the end, I had 95 per cent of the brigade working 7- 8 hours-a-day. And another interesting feature of that was that they would put in a full day, go back to their cell, have dinner, a shower, and slept, as opposed to sitting around getting bored. And they would sleep better because they’d put in a full day’s work.

You can be quite aggressive in the kitchen. Did you have to modify that at all?

I’ve been with offenders, from robbers to smuggling arms to gang members, you name it, we dealt with it. You knew any time that it was going to kick off. It could be about anything. The first big argument was because somebody left his sauce in his cell, and didn’t have it to add to his sandwich at lunchtime. I had to walk on eggshells, because it was very fragile, insecure, awkward temperaments that I was dealing with. Every time something went wrong, you could tell it was going to kick off. They did push my buttons, I did get upset, because there’s only so much you can take before you get to boiling point. And I did end up letting rip in the end.

And lived to tell the tale?

Yeah! One of the inmates complained that I’d dirtied his stove when I was doing a demo to help him get through this exam. What did I get? “You just dirtied my fucking stove?” Man, I flipped.

Were there any stages at which you regretted taking on the project?

About halfway through, I think. One of my guys had been sent to another prison, there were rumours going around that my team was on a jolly, they weren’t working hard, so they were getting treated differently when they were going back onto the wings. Then there was this turning point, when we set up a pop-up bakery in the middle of Clapham, and the response was amazing. I’d been worried that the general consensus of the British public would be ‘They were made by inmates, there’s no way I’m going to eat them,’ but the biggest message coming off the high street was really positive. They were really happy that the prisoners were working. Taking that message back in to the senior management meeting the following day was a real turning point. It meant that these guys, who had made a mistake and were serving their time, were doing something positive, were getting job-ready, and going to leave prison with a better work ethic and a better chance of not reoffending. Of course some won’t make it, but surely it’s a good start?

Did you form close relationships with any of them?

It was hard, because you spent so much time with them, you couldn’t help yourself, you got close to them. And they were desperate for the course to continue, it was a lifeline for them, to help them for their rehabilitation and get them job-ready. There was one guy in there, who showed such amazing determination. He lost touch with his family and when he left the army he started taking drugs. But he was such a talented guy, was passing every exam with distinction. He’s been on methadone for the past 12 months, and is out in 18 months, and is as keen as anything. Then there is Andrew who is working for the Roast group and he is doing really well.

Did you uncover any talent there who you would consider employing?

Well, Paul was working for me at The Savoy Grill. David I’ve got my eye on. He was pretty disciplined. There was another guy from Brixton, called Adonis. Smart guy, 6’5″, he got caught with a shotgun under his bed. He’s a talented, talented guy, so methodical, everything was really precise.

Is the idea in all of this to create a sustainable business that will exist and grow without you being involved on a day-to-day basis?

Yes. There are a large number of individuals in these prisons who are dying to get off their arse and work. So we’re looking at getting funding the Badboy Bakery so it can continue and grow. I’m hoping when we submit a business plan to Ken Clarke, the government will find someone to put money into it. And Café Nero has been brilliant, they’ve set up a pilot scheme whereby we’re flogging our amazing lemon treacle slice in eleven of their branches. They are presently not taking any money for them, all the takings for the cake going back into the Badboy Bakery. And it’s selling amazingly well, challenging their caramel slice to be the bestseller. So early indications are that this could be a real hit, if we get support from the government.

At some points you found the prison a terrible, oppressive place, at others you said you felt it was more akin to a holiday camp. What are your opinions now about prison?

What struck me most was the waste of time, effort and energy that could be channelled into something incredibly positive. Lying in bed, reading the newspaper, deciding what you’re going to have for dinner, playing the X-box, watching TV, going to the gym, their minds are so bored. They resent the outside world, they have a grudge, and they’re losing their self-esteem on an hourly basis. They have lost their will to work, and had all responsibility taken away from them. For me, it’s such a waste, such a missed opportunity. They’re just using the system, they’ve not motivated to do anything. They’ve got everything they need. If they were given more incentives to do some work, to get job ready, to be disciplined, it would help them, and surely their time would also go faster.

Do you think the project made a big difference to the self-esteem of the guys you worked with?

Yeah, I think it made a massive difference. Some of them had tears in their eyes when they got their certificates at the end, and they were saying “Is this going to continue?” And I said “If I can get the finance, and the support, and get individuals to understand the hunger of some of the guys in here to work, then of course. Currently we have funding in place until the end of July, while we look for an investor to keep it going. They would be mortified if they couldn’t work on a daily basis. At the end, we set up a pop-up restaurant in the prison, and served an amazing lunch for 50 guests, local restaurants and catering employers and community figures, and it was amazing. After that lunch it was like having a team of chefs, I almost forgot they were prisoners. In their minds now, they are ready and hungry to get out with real and realistic ambitions. They go back to the cell tired at the end of the day, they sleep well, and their sentence goes a thousand times faster.

Gordon Behind Bars is on Channel 4 on Tuesdays at 9pm. Thanks to Channel 4.

CAGGIE DUNLOP CASTS HER SPELL IN ‘THE WALK’

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Star of Made In Chelsea captivates passers-by in new silent movie

Made In Chelsea’s Caggie Dunlop has returned to the streets of Chelsea to star in a new short silent movie, entitled ‘The Walk’. Frost Magazine went to the W Hotel to see the film and we also interviewed Caggie. Caggie was brilliant in the film and was absolutely lovely. Caggie even said that her interview with Frost was the ‘best of the evening’, and you can read it here.

Shot in a style reminiscent of classic black and white silent films, the movie follows Caggie as she takes a walk around her regular South West London haunts. As she strolls through the streets of London channeling Brigitte Bardot’s 1960s glamour with her voluminous hair and smouldering makeup, Caggie leaves a trail of men transfixed in her wake.

After captivating everyone from an ice-cream seller to a painter, the secret to Caggie’s mesmerising allure is revealed in the final scene of the film as ‘Loving Words’, the fresh new scent from Impulse.

The fruity fragrance, designed by the world’s best perfumers under Ann Gottlieb, creates an air of romance making Caggie so irresistible to the men she encounters, she doesn’t need to utter a single word to have them falling at her feet.

Laura Grant, Assistant Brand Manager, Impulse said, “Impulse ‘Loving Words’ is such an irresistible fragrance, it does the flirting for you so there’s no need for words. We wanted to demonstrate its power by removing words entirely from the film. We felt there was no better way to showcase the ‘wordless’ love story than by taking inspiration from timeless silent movies.

“Caggie’s short on-screen stroll left her with a series of smitten admirers, the possibilities for spontaneous romance are endless!”

Watch the film, ‘The Walk’

Kate Moss Wants People To Keep Their Clothes On.

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Supermodel Kate Moss may have spent most of her career naked but has some advice for her fellow Brits during summer; ‘Put it away!’

The gorgeous 38-year-old has, who lives in north London with hubby Jamie Hince and Kate daughter Lila, 9, doesn’t think women know how to dress when summer comes, as we see such little of it.

She told Grazia in an interview: “When you’re driving down the road in the summer, the English people… it’s not our natural thing, no. So it’s, ‘Put it away!'”

Griff Rhys Jones Interview

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This summer, Griff Rhys Jones is hosting a brand new comedy panel show on Channel 4, A Short History of Everything Else. This six-part series uses brilliant, hilarious and downright weird archive clips to challenge contestants to remember key moments from our recent history, and provide new and irreverent perspectives on our past. Team captains are Marcus Brigstocke and Charlie Baker.

Here, Griff talks about the ageing process, his love of box sets, and the joys of filming indoors for a change.

You said in an interview a while back that you were always too busy because you couldn’t say no to things. How’s the work-life balance shaping up these days?

Not bad, actually. The trouble is, a long time ago, I started doing all sorts of different types of programme. I think if a finger had pointed at me and said “You will be brilliant at pulling faces and doing silent, exaggerated comedy, and everyone will admire you for that,” [like former comic partner Rowan Atkinson] I would have stuck doing that. But it didn’t quite work out like that. So I put myself about a bit. I do lots of different things, and that’s rather exciting. It’s given me a new lease of life. I’m happy to do it. But I don’t say ‘no’ very easily, it’s true. In fact, I rather like having work, because it gives me the opportunity to say no to things.

What was the attraction of doing A Short History of Everything Else?

I’ve always quite fancied doing what I’d call a desk job. I’ve spent quite a lot of time on the road. And they sent me a pilot they’d made, and it just worked. There are a lot of these comedy panel games, and many of them, I have to say, are based on false premises. Often they’re too complicated – people get themselves really worked up creating a complicated structure, and the audience doesn’t have the faintest idea what’s going on, and nor does anybody playing it. This is a very simple idea – to revisit fads, moments in our past, look at them again, and answer questions and see what we can remember, about everything from the whole ‘video nasties’ scare to Boris Yeltsin and his extraordinary drunken career. We show clips, and you watch them and go ‘Wow, I’d forgotten all about that!’ And when it all comes flooding back, it really gets people talking. It’s a sort of nostalgia piece. I suppose that’s why they chose an ancient figure, old enough to have forgotten everything, to introduce it.

The programme only deals with very recent history, doesn’t it?

Yes, because we use archive footage. I don’t think we go much further back that the 70s. I’m afraid I suffer from the affliction of being nearly 60, which means I find myself going ‘The 90s? That’s not history!’ They did a recent TV series about the 70s, and I watched it going ‘Wow! All of these things were going on, with the unions and everything, I don’t remember any of that. I remember it being rather dull and wet and grey for a lot of the 70s.

What recent period of history was your favourite?

My favourite era of recent history was about 1965 to 1970, because I was growing up then. I spent my time in an awestruck state, looking at people like Jimi Hendrix, wandering around thinking there was some sort of nirvana in central London that I was denied access to, because I lived in Brentwood. So the train out of Brentwood and into town was the sort of Yellow Brick Road. We’d get into this world where people wore funny sunglasses and had frizzed out hair. That was our dream, which we fulfilled by going to the Roundhouse and things like that. After that I became an adult, and realised that you get on with life, get married, have kids, grow up, try to follow a career, do things, and the tide of history is just washing past you. Which is one of the reasons why this series is fantastic, you can watch it and go ‘Oh yes! Was that really 20 years ago?’ I went to , and they read a piece by him and he said “as you get older, the most terrifying thing is how quickly it all goes – how it seems to all speed up.” And I do find that the last ten years have gone alarmingly quickly. I’m not ready for what it is I’m supposed to be ready for!

Are you quite pleased to be presenting a programme in a sharp suit rather than your anorak?

The sharp suits were very, very nice. Of course, I’d already been doing It’ll Be Alright on the Night, which had obviously been a huge success, because I got a nice suit out of that. I would also like to say that the red anorak that I wear in other shows is not just an anorak! It’s actually a jacket that was designed for the Italian racing drivers in the Mille Miglia in the 1950s, and it’s an object of great veneration. People write in to the manufacturers saying ‘Please, please make one for me – because Griff looks so good wearing his.’ It was made in limited edition, and I have two of them. But I must say, to be able to sit and wear a suit, and totter the journey from the dressing room to the studio is pretty good. There was a time when Mel and I were finishing off filming Smith and Jones together about 15 years ago, when being in a studio was my life. And as we finished, I thought ‘This is crazy. I’m really good at this. Changing out of a costume really quickly and getting on to the next set. I can really do that! Not many people can.’ And it’s quite nice being back in that environment. The only difference is that now I have to wear glasses to read the autocue. I did notice during filming that I look a bit like the old man from the film Up. I was really disappointed about that. That’s not my self-image at all.

Is there anything you enjoy about getting older?

Everything, absolutely everything. All that slightly furious business of peer pressure goes away. It’s fantastic. I’d really recommend it. I’m really glad that I’m still getting work. They’re probably desperate to fire me. My wife would like me to do less work – but in the last two weeks I’ve done less work, and now she wants me to work again. My wife and I were 26 when we got married. We had kids at the tremendously early age of 30. Most of my friends seem to have decided to wait until they were about 50. We go round and they’ve got toddlers everywhere, and they’ll go “Oh, oh, oh, Griff,” and hand me a child, and I’ll say “No, it’s okay, I’ve done that! I remember when you used to come round to my house and play loud music and stay up drinking til 3am while we were trying to get the kids into bed, and I don’t care about your kids!” I do a little bit of babysitting from time to time, and I have godchildren, but my kids have now fled the nest, and believe me, there’s no better time in life.”

You’re not tempted to go round to their houses and play loud music until 3am?

Luckily, that’s the other thing that happens. You suddenly think ‘Why did I ever go to stadium rock? Why did I do that? What was that about? Is there a less entertaining experience than sitting on one of those ridiculous bucket seats, peering at a sort of mini-picture of the Rolling Stones four miles away? Some of my friends still go to Glastonbury! I can’t think of anything worse. At the moment I’ve been trying to get into 40s jazz, because I’ve realised that some people are obsessed with 40s jazz, so there must be something in it. So I’m listening to a lot of that.

Back to A Short History of Everything Else – what sort of a host are you? Are you strict?

Yes, I’m quite schoolmasterly. No mucking around, please. It’s quite difficult getting them to shut up. We ran a programme which was part chatty and part quizzy – Marcus would go off on these long tangents, and Will Self, who’s a guest, was unbelievable. I’m no slouch in terms of yakking on in a non-stoppable way, but I found stopping people the most complicated thing. But I did have to be a bit schoolmasterly at times.

What’s it like being back in front of a studio audience?

Quite interesting, for me. It was quite a big transition. I was talking to Mel about this. We used to parody presenters, and then, when I started doing restoration, I had to talk to a camera. As an actor, I’d only ever looked into the camera in character, and suddenly I had to be me on camera. Now, of course, love it – I can’t go anywhere without a camera. And I now talk continually to the camera, which causes great problems for the editors, who wish I would shut up from time to time, and they could film me walking or looking at stuff. So that was quite a transition for me. And now I have to undergo another transition, being in front of a studio audience, and speaking more slowly, and getting the audience to join in.

Who are the guests you have on the show, and who would be your ideal guest?

The guests we had were all ideal guests! Robin Ince was brilliant, we had Kirstie Wark, and she was fantastic, absolutely marvellous. Not only did she have more knowledge about everything, but she was great on what I call the argy-bargy as well. Bob Mortimer was fantastic – very, very funny. And of course each guest brings a slightly different flavour. Bob was surreal, so he’d take the whole thing and push it off in a different direction. And, of course, as team captains, Charlie and Marcus were absolutely fantastic. Marcus is remarkable – his capacity to take the audience with him was really asomething – and he has such strong opinions. And Charlie was just very, very, very funny. But, to be honest, everyone was really good – it’s going to be very difficult to edit. I know it’s quite commonplace for these quiz shows to do long recordings, but we were doing three-and-a-half hour recordings, and they were pretty high energy all the way through. We’d walk off exhausted. I haven’t seen any of it, so I shall wait to see which of my gems has been cut, and then complain furiously.

Which is more difficult, being a contestant on a panel show, or being a host?

Well, they’re rather different. This has been a learning curve for me. What you’re involved with is what they call the housekeeping. If you’re a guest, there’s a lot of waiting around, and maybe a bit of preparation. But all the top guests and the top team captains don’t actually prepare anything – if you go on Have I Got News for You, Paul and Ian always tell you not to prepare stuff. They never do. They allow spontaneity to happen. One of the keys, whether you’re hosting or on the panel, is to be relaxed enough to let it happen – which is quite a challenge for me!

Does it feel like a comedy gig? Do you get heckled by the audience?

We did a lot of appeals to the studio audience. Actually, I remember Will Self heckling the studio audience, which was a bit frightening. He rounded on them and shouted “You voted for them!” I wondered whether they’d stay for the rest of the programme!

What makes you watch on TV at the moment?

I spend most of my time watching films and HBO. I’ll sit down and think ‘Oh good, they’ve made something called The Wire which goes on and on and on. And Mad Men as well. I’ll get annoyed because for some reason it takes a long time for Mad Men to come out on DVD now, which is the only way I can watch shows now. I can’t bear watching things on Sky Atlantic – it’s the principle that bothers me. You’ve paid a subscription and they’re putting in advertisements. If that’s the future of television, we’re all doomed. The future of television is being able to watch a long series one episode after another and have to say ‘Look, we cannot sit here in the middle of the afternoon and watch a fourth episode. We’ve really got to get out.’

A Short History of Everything Else is on Channel 4 on Wednesdays at 10pm from 13th June.