Red-carpet premiere in Durham for new Ken Loach movie The Old Oak

Transcript

00:00 I'm here with the writer of the movie, Paul Lafferty.

00:16 Paul, how thrilled are you by the premiere this evening?

00:20 It's an absolute delight to be here.

00:21 We started this project about four years ago.

00:24 So now to get to the end of the road, having imagined the story, having written it, having

00:31 worked with the wonderful director Ken Loach and a whole bunch of marvellous colleagues,

00:35 to have cast it and to have shot it and have edited, and now to get it out and be supported

00:40 by Studio Canal in such a forceful manner.

00:43 And so to get here at the end of four years is always an enormous pleasure.

00:45 So we're going to enjoy tonight after all the hard work.

00:48 A lot of the movie is set in East Durham.

00:51 How did you find the community there?

00:53 You know, we've had absolutely nothing but support from the people in these villages.

00:58 We've met some marvellous people who have helped us, guided us, who've encouraged us.

01:05 And essentially at the end of the day, the film is actually the people who live there.

01:11 So it's their wit, their talent, that's what you see on screen.

01:15 And so I've got nothing but great memories of this project and the two before as well.

01:21 We did 'I, Daniel Blake' and 'Sorry We Missed You' in the North East as well.

01:25 So to come back and do another one here has been a total privilege.

01:27 You play a barman in the movie, and I believe that you were a barman in real life previously.

01:34 Did the real life work prepare you for the movie?

01:36 No, not in any way, shape or form.

01:38 No, I didn't actually spend 30 years in the fire service.

01:41 When I retired in 2014, I worked for my ex-wife in a pub in a pit village in Durham.

01:47 So I worked there for four and a half years.

01:50 That was helpful to an extent when I had to pull a pint.

01:53 But out of the whole process, it didn't really play much of a part in it.

01:57 It was intense, it was difficult, it was emotional.

02:00 It was really hard and difficult.

02:03 But with the people around you, the cast and crew, you know you get through it.

02:06 And it's down to the people in the crew and the cast who were absolutely fabulous, great

02:10 with me, they got me through it.