Shiny Shiny Bright New Hole In My Heart - Wednesday 26 July 2006, 9.00pm, 91Èȱ¬ TWO
Introduction
Sally Hawkins, Steven
Mackintosh and Daniela Nardini are the stars of
Shiny Shiny Bright New Hole In My Heart, a single drama coming soon to 91Èȱ¬
TWO from 91Èȱ¬ Films.
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Sally Hawkins, who starred in the acclaimed Twenty Thousands Streets Under The Sky and Fingersmith, plays Nathalie, an attractive and successful young woman who works as a personal shopper in a glamorous department store.
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She befriends a wealthy client, Maya played by Daniela Nardini (Bafta-winning
portrayal of Anna in This Life, and Scottish Bafta nominated Joan in Festival),
and then tries to emulate her lifestyle.
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Nathalie is married to dependable GP husband Jeremy played by Steven Mackintosh (Small Engine, the forthcoming The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, and the acclaimed England Expects) but the opulent city centre of Manchester, full of designer shops, bars and restaurants, seduces Nathalie.
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As her spending habits spiral out of control, Nathalie is faced with devastating consequences for both herself and her family.
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Ruth Caleb, Producer, says: "Shiny Shiny Bright New Hole In My Heart is a tale of our time, a contemporary story of an aspiring and ambitious young woman whose life spirals out of control when, with the pressures of life and relationships, she finds solace in shopping.
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"Writer/director Marc Munden has crafted a superb piece of drama in which he shows how easy it is to tip the balance."
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Ruth Caleb has produced a number of highly-acclaimed improvised dramas, including the award-winning Out of Control, Tomorrow La Scala! and Bullet Boy.
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Marc Munden - whose credits as director include the acclaimed Conviction, The Canterbury Tales and Vanity Fair - spent three weeks in rehearsals with the cast, improvising on the core of a script and developing the characters.
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Marc says: "Improvising is really demanding on the actors. It requires them
to dig deep and it is relentless in the pursuit of the truth but it does create
something that is both spontaneous and organic."
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Producer Lisa Marie Russo, whose credits include Brothers of
the Head and Dance, explains more about the genesis for this powerful improvised
film: "I am a big fan of retail therapy and have experienced
the immediate gratification that comes with buying a potentially life-changing
frock.
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"But there can be a dark side to overindulging, and
I was intrigued to learn about Madame Bovary Syndrome, the tabloid name
given to shopping addiction."
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Lisa Marie continues: "With bankruptcy inexorably rising each year and more
and more of us finding our debts debilitating I realised that looking at the
human cost of spending too much was potent dramatic territory."
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Next Lisa Marie spoke to her husband, the film director and writer Marc Munden, about developing a drama about this phenomenon.
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"First-hand experience of my credit cards bills meant he immediately latched
on to my suggestion," she
says, jokingly, adding that stylistically he was keen
to explore this world in an authentic and accurate way.
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Together they approached
the 91Èȱ¬'s Ruth Caleb who
immediately joined forces with them.
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The detailed research that followed convinced the film-makers that shopping addiction is a real addiction, a behavioural addiction that grips people and destroys lives.
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Marc and Lucy Whitton (who researched Vera Drake) spent several months meeting shopping addicts, their family members and counsellors.
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Looking at the latest research from academics also gave invaluable
insights, as did speaking to medical practitioners treating patients with
more commonly acknowledged addictive problems such as alcoholism and compulsive
eating disorders.
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The groundbreaking GP Robert Lefever, founder of the Promis recovery centres, who has always been drawn to the emotional rather than the scientific aspect of healing, became a consultant for the drama together with one of his former patients, now a counsellor himself, Robert
Batt.
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Shiny Shiny Bright New Hole In My Heart was shot on HD in Manchester during November
last year and is a 91Èȱ¬ Films production.
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