North-East filmmakers set to start film production company in South Shields

A pair of North-East filmmakers are launching a new production company to put the North-East on the map. 

Libby Walker, an actress and producer from South-Shields has teamed up with Neil Marshall, a North-East director behind films such as The Descent, Game of Thrones and Dog Soldiers, to launch their new production company ‘’Nana Peg Productions’’ (named after her nan).

Their intention is to exploit and capitalize upon the North-East’s now growing film sector in a new effort to put this region on the map as a hotspot for both tv and film production. This amazing news follows on from the new £500 million dollar film studios that are set to be built in Sunderland.

Aside from the usual multiplexes that we find in most cities, the North-East is also home to a buzzing and vibrant independent film scene with the likes of the Tyneside Cinema located in the centre of Newcastle, Jam Jar Cinema in Whitely Bay and the Star and Shadow Cinema in Shieldfield.

(378) North-East filmmakers set to start film production company in South Shields – YouTube

(Disclaimer: the people featured in this video are not a part of this article)

(Video credit: North Tyneside Business Forum and Jam Jar Cinema)

(Jam Jar Cinema located in Whitely Bay)

(Tyneside Cinema located in Newcastle town)

I was lucky enough to sit down with Libby to ask her how she felt about the film scene in the North-East, it’s representation, her background to get where she is now, her company and what she envisions for the future.

When I asked Libby how she felt about the film scene here she had this to say: ” I think cinema everywhere is not completely thriving, it needs more drive to push people to go to cinema, so places like star and shadow are doing an amazing job because they’re trying to entice people in the cinema and they support indie film and film festivals and things like that’’.

(Star and Shadow Cinema located in Shieldfield)

Representing her home on the big screen has not always been her goal and ambition: ‘’No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t until that I lived so long in London and then was struggling as an actor because I don’t fit in somebody’s little tiny box of how they think I should be.

I then found that obviously a lot of actors were feeling the same thing. Working class actors are totally under represented’’.

A role in the film industry was not always a lifelong plan for Libby either: “No, it wasn’t. But it just so happens it’s kind of like people always say, like the universe will put you on the right path and you’ve just got to listen to your path. So my path initially I wanted to be on the West End as a performer, but then when I graduated from West End School, I was getting pushed more into film and television.”

I then asked Libby if she felt that the depiction of the North-East has involved the stereotyping of the North-East in general as well as the people: “One hundred percent, one hundred percent. [She then talks about how her Scouse friend would only get put up for a prostitute or a drug addict]. Why cant a little girl from South-Shields be a barrister or a princess, or an MP because there are people out there that do those jobs. One of my friends is a barrister and she’s from a working class background’.”

As to why she decided the name her company after her nan, Libby had this to say: “I just really like the name Nana Peg, obviously because it was my nana. And so I wanted to found a production company in that name and just get it like boxed off to nobody else had it.

“It’s so geordie that you would name your production company after your Nana and also she was like a big figurehead of our family. She raised 4 girls on her own. Like as a single parent back in like the 50s. So yes, it’s just like a pillar of strength. And also we’re quite passionate about getting more women in film’.”

As of where ‘’ Nana Peg Productions’’ is now, Libby added: “At the minute we’re in pre-production on two films [‘’King in the North’’ which about Muhammad Ali’s visit to Newcastle and ‘’Pound of Flesh’’ which is an action thriller].

As for what’s in store for Libby in the future: ”We want to have a continual flow of work that we can apply in the North-East and we just want to really expand on that and make it grow and then maybe have 2,3, 4 projects, all in production at the same time that we’re overseeing, and then people underneath us.”

I also spoke to Nic Greenan, the custodian for the Tyneside Cinema, to find out why it was like running an organization like this and if she feels the pressure of the North-East on her shoulder: ”I think its a big task because there is a lot of people that have a lot of love, care, heritage and history with the building. Its been a really important place for a lot of people over the years, whether that be families, the queer community, whether that be as artists or filmmakers, its been home to many over the years”.

When I asked Nic if she thought the North-East would eventually become a hotspot for film and tv she said this: ”I think its already doing that to a certain extent. I think it’s now about making sure we have the right infrastructure, the likes of the studios, the likes of ”North-East Screen”, the likes of ”New Writing North” and us as the ”Tyneside” are a part of building the right opportunities”.

As for how I feel about the future of the North-East film scene, I am very excited for what is to come…