Target Towns: Could Grimsby give Hollywood a run for its money?

Published

1 month ago

May 24, 2024

admin

Compared with Hollywood, Grimsby is perhaps more fish factory than dream factory – but just like La La Land, the Lincolnshire port town is aiming for the stars with ambitious plans to become a go-to location for filmmakers.

“Build it and hopefully they will come,” is the belief of Emma Lingard, a resident who once worked in TV but is now a manager at Associated British Ports (ABP), the owners of Grimsby Docks.

“Every producer or location manager that has come to us is saying that London is overpriced,” she says. “They’re finding there are too many other productions jostling for the same space… so they’re looking up North.”

Seeing the potential, ABP has set up the Kasbah Film Quarter, based around some of its historic buildings. The plan is to expand by building a much sought-after resource in the UK – a sound stage, for soundproof recording of film and TV, as well as production hubs.

It might seem a stretch to compare Grimsby with the famous Hollywood film and musical Sunset Boulevard and its antagonist, the fading silent movie star Norma Desmond – but there are definite parallels as it tries to find its place in an industry that doesn’t exist as it was.

Once the biggest fishing port in the world (it’s still big, it’s the catches that got small), signs of that faded glory remain but that’s actually quite a sought-after asset within UK film and TV.

“There is a great appeal for the old buildings we have… the authenticity and the character,” says Lingard. Part of the appeal for filmmakers is how they can save costs when it comes to building sets, she says.

It is an area that’s home to a wealth of empty historic buildings, including eight nationally listed ones which are clustered together and closed off to the public. These recently doubled-up for wartime London in the Netflix drama Bodies, starring Stephen Graham.

“You can look at that building and think East End of London or maybe a street in the back of New York somewhere,” Lingard says. “You’ve just got to have that vision.”

Grimsby also provided a location for filming of the 2007 film Atonement, starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy.

And it already has the acting talent. Thomas Turgoose, who found fame in his early teens when he was cast in Shane Meadows’s critically acclaimed This Is England, has remained a resident despite his film career taking him all over the world.

“Shooting in London is a nightmare,” he jokes. “If you’re in someone’s way or put a five-minute delay on them getting a coffee, oh my God, it’s like you’ve just ruined their Christmas… which is probably one of the reasons I’ve never moved.”

Turgoose is convinced more productions would shoot in his hometown if everyone was more aware of what it has to offer.

What is Target Towns?

Sky News’ Target Towns series aims to tell the story of the upcoming election from the perspective of voters in the new constituency of Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

We’ll hear from locals all the way through to election night to understand the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, and to discuss how the future could look depending on which political party is elected into power.

The constituency is high on Conservative and Labour target lists, lying right at the heart of the ‘Red Wall’ the Tories smashed to take the election in 2019.

Once again, it promises to be pivotal to both leaders’ ambitions.

“We’ve got so much going on around here… if you want to come to Grimsby and shoot period drama it looks amazing, but then also you can go to the beach in five minutes. Hopefully this opens people’s eyes.

“It goes back to people being proud of Grimsby and having a vision and being confident in it… and hopefully the film industry is going to do that for it.”

Would the likes of Hollywood stars such as Timothee Chalamet enjoy swapping the capital for Cleethorpes, a nearby seaside town?

“I think he’d quite enjoy it, actually,” says Turgoose. “I mean, he’d love the fish and chips.”

But are locals quite ready for an invasion of carb-denying A-listers?

Jade Shearer, the manager of local chip shop Ernie Becketts, reckons she could convert a few.

“I definitely wouldn’t say no to serving Brad Pitt,” she laughs. “We need more things to bring people back here again and make it as busy as it used to be.”

With Grimsby and Cleethorpes likely to be a battleground in the next general election, politicians will undoubtedly promise all sorts of investment, including getting on board with Grimsby’s Hollywood ending – but the creative minds here are currently ploughing on alone.

They say they’ve learned over the years that politicians’ promises tend to end up on the cutting room floor.

Putting it politely, Lingard says: “If opportunities came along to give us pockets of money to help restore the heritage, then great… but you need to see action sometimes more than words.”

For now, it’s the big screen action she’s concentrating on, including coming up with ways to attract the likes of 007 up North.

“Actually, in 1981, a James Bond movie was filmed in Grimsby,” Lingard laughs. “So why not?”

Get ready, Mr DeMille – Grimsby is ready for its close-up.

Sky News’ Target Towns series aims to follow the build-up to the general election from a key constituency prized by both Conservatives and Labour – Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Send in your stories to targettowns@sky.uk.

Politics

US politicians who may be spinning the news with crypto

Published

6 hours ago

June 25, 2024

admin

US politicians who may be spinning the news with crypto

Donald Trump seems to have doubled down on digital assets after he was convicted of 34 felony counts in New York.

Politics

Four men arrested at Rishi Sunak’s North Yorkshire home

Published

7 hours ago

June 25, 2024

admin

Four men arrested at Rishi Sunak's North Yorkshire home

Four men have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass in the grounds of the prime minister’s home, police have confirmed.

The incident took place at Rishi Sunak’s constituency address in Kirby Sigston, North Yorkshire, while he was attending events in London to mark the Japanese state visit.

A police statement said officers were “with the four men within one minute of them entering the grounds”.

Politics live: Labour to return £100k donation to suspended candidate

The arrests are connected to a protest by campaigners from Youth Demand. It describes itself as a group of young people who want “the Tories and the Labour Party commit to a two-way arms embargo on Israel, and to stop all new oil and gas licences”.

A spokesperson for the group said three of those arrested were taking part in the demonstration, while the fourth person was an independent photographer.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “They were detained at around 12.40pm before being escorted off the property and arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

“The men, aged 52 from London, 43 from Bolton, 21 from Manchester, and 20 from Chichester, remain in police custody for questioning and enquiries are ongoing.”

It comes after a separate incident last summer, when protesters scaled the roof of Mr Sunak’s home.

They held up banners which said “NO NEW OIL” and draped the building in fabric. It happened while the prime minister and his family were away on holiday in California.

Amy Rugg-Easey, 33, Alexandra Wilson, 32, Michael Grant, 64, and Mathieu Soete, 38, have pleaded not guilty to criminal damage, with a two-day trial set to take place in July.

Politics

Scale of gambling scandal for Tories is different magnitude to Labour’s issue

Published

7 hours ago

June 25, 2024

admin

Scale of gambling scandal for Tories is different magnitude to Labour's issue

After days of furore directed at Rishi Sunak for the election betting scandal, now a Labour candidate is under investigation by the Gambling Commission for his own betting activity – and is immediately suspended.

Is this an equaliser in one of the grubbiest electoral sagas of recent elections? Quite possibly not.

There is no doubting the utter dismay in Labour HQ at the revelation that they too have a candidate caught up in the betting scandal.

Politics live: Labour to return £100k donation to suspended candidate

It lends itself to the easy narrative that there’s a plague on all politicians’ houses – everyone as bad as each other.

However, if the facts are as presented, the scale of the challenge for the Tories is of a different order of magnitude to that now facing Labour.

Labour’s Kevin Craig was suspended immediately after the party was informed by the Gambling Commission of the probe.

We are told that he placed a bet – not on the election date, but that he would lose his race in a general election.

He is certainly guilty of gross stupidity, as he admitted in a statement on Tuesday evening.

However, if this scenario is as presented, it is hard to see an allegation being mounted that he had insider intelligence on the race – unless it can be proved he was deliberately setting out to lose.

An under-pressure Gambling Commission will investigate every candidate’s name on the spreadsheet from gambling companies of those who placed bets – but it is unclear from available facts where this will go.

The Tory betting saga, however, is more complicated and now on its 13th day.

It was almost two weeks ago that Craig Williams – Rishi Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide and former Montgomeryshire MP – admitted he had placed a bet on the election date – a date he might have known before the public at large.

He denies he committed any offence, and remains under investigation.

Laura Saunders, standing for the Tories just south in Bristol North West, has also been suspended for putting a bet on the date when her partner worked in Conservative headquarters on the election.

For most of that time, Mr Sunak has been insisting he could not suspend either candidate because of the ongoing probe by the Gambling Commission.

Ministers, as well as opponents, weighed in.

And on Tuesday he reversed that decision under that pressure.

This means there are questions about the prime minister’s own judgement and unwillingness to act on top of questions about the behaviour of those closest to him.

This story has had massive cut through with the public, topping the charts for any news story in the UK – according to YouGov’s AI news tracker – for the last four days.

There is dismay from the cabinet downwards.

Labour’s own problems have undermined their own ability to go on the attack. But it is not clear that voters will see the two issues on the same scale.

The full list of the candidates running for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich is:

Charlie Caiger, independent;
Tony Gould, Reform UK;
Mike Hallatt, independent;
Brett Alistair Mickelburgh, Lib Dems;
Dan Pratt, Greens;
Patrick Spencer, Conservatives.

The full list of candidates for Bristol North West is:

Caroline Gooch, Lib Dems;
Darren Jones, Labour;
Scarlett O’Connor, Reform UK;
Mary Page, Green Party;
Ben Smith, SDP.

The full list of candidates for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr is:

Jeremy Brignell-Thorp, Green Party;
Oliver Lewis, Reform UK;
Glyn Preston, Lib Dems;
Elwyn Vaughan, Plaid Cymru;
Steve Witherden, Labour.