FILM MAKING

RISKY BUSINESS – in conversation with writer, actor & theatre producer Alison Stanley

/ Alikivi

Have you ever wondered how working class people survive in the arts and creative industry? From my own experience I can tell you it’s hard. Very hard.

In the early days of the 1990s I had a weekly diet of baked tatties. I’d go to me ma’s for me Sunda’ dinna. I got by.

It’s surprisingly full for a Tuesday morning in Newcastle’s Central Station bar The Centurion when I spot Alison. Looking resplendent in her beret while finishing off a bacon sarnie we find a quieter place to talk. She throws back her head and laugh’s out loud when I ask her have you ever had a proper job?

Yes, I was at the Inland Revenue for years. When I was there, I thought of myself as a resting writer, a resting actor but really found it soul destroying.

Sometimes you have to take jobs that you wouldn’t choose to do to survive in the creative industry. You have to get by. I’ve been lucky that my husband who doesn’t work in the arts, has a full time job and supports me fully as do all my family.

An opportunity to work as a library assistant in North Tyneside Council came up. I love the smell of books so the idea of being surrounded by them was great. I loved being involved when schools came in, I would read stories for the kids and put on various events.

The job was part time so it gave me more time to focus on what I should be doing – writing. I became busier in my creative work and was being offered jobs that I couldn’t turn down so had to decide if I was working in a library or an actor. You have to take the leap, you have to believe in what you are.

I’ve been acting now for about ten years. A freelance creative has always been my career choice that’s in all of my disciplines that I’ve worked in from actor to writer to theatre producer now film making.

I decided years ago to go out and make my own work rather than wait for someone to knock on the door and offer something – that doesn’t happen. You’ve got to get your name out there to increase your network. That would be my advice to anyone starting in this business. You’ve got to take chances. This is what I do. It’s a mind set.

I consider myself as a socio-economic playwrite. I write about subjects that are relatable to people, quite pertinent and pushing boundaries seeing how far you can go. If it makes people laugh, cry or squirm I’ve done my job. It’s important to me to be challenging and turn a spotlight on real issues.

I’ve got a few projects that I’m working on now. Lately we’ve been touring ‘Living the Life of Riley’ around the North East which was great and that is going out again in February 2026. ‘Life of Riley’ has been in the works since 2016.

And another short North East tour for ‘Tits Up’ co-written with Leah Bell. That’s planned for another tour next year. Really pleased with that as it’s sold out now.

That’s a play about three women who meet when they are diagnosed with cancer and how it impacts on them and how they deal with it. Unfortunately, we live through a time where if it’s not breast cancer it’s some form of cancer that lives are touched by. The play is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

In ‘Tits Up’ there is someone who is diagnosed with cancer and there is the carer who she couldn’t manage without. That is real stress. You’re worried about the situation and the endgame that might be coming.

Of course, we all fall off our seats laughing with the actor Leah Bell but there is a serious side which comes through. There is a balance we have to get right.

My ambition is to produce more plays outside the North East and tour nationally, which ‘Living the Life of Riley’ is already doing and we are working towards that with ‘Tits Up’. We have taken ‘Hard’ to London and it’s definitely something we want to pursue more.

Screenwriting is something else that I’m starting to do. I filmed a scene from ‘Hard’ over two days on a shoestring budget and I loved it plus it has been awarded three times in UK film festivals so that spurs you on.

I’m interested in using latest phone technology for film making and being creative with it, keeping it fresh. I roped in Leah Bell and Tony Hodge (Byker Grove) to be involved. Really looking forward to more. I’m excited about it.

Have I got time for anything else? Me mother Rose was a talented writer but didn’t have anything published. When she passed away last year, I started a writing competition for Working Class Women Over 35. The first winner is announced in October this year and next year the play is produced at Laurels in Whitley Bay.

Also, it’s early stages at the minute but I’m writing a few fictional stories about events that happen in a town. That’s maybe for a book. I’m really enjoying it there is no deadline so it’s sort of like a hobby but we’ll see where it goes. Owt really that stops me getting a proper job!

Alikivi   August 2025

Links to previous interviews >>>

DREAM CATCHER – in conversation with writer & performer Alison Stanley from Newcastle based theatre company, Life of Riley. | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE

DREAM CATCHER #2 in conversation with Alison Stanley from Newcastle based theatre company, Life of Riley. | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE

COME AGAIN in conversation with writer & actor, Alison Stanley part 1/2 | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE

NOTHING LIKE SHOW BUSINESS in conversation with writer & actor Alison Stanley 2/2 | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE

YOU NEED TO SAY SORRY – new play by writer & actor, Alison Stanley | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE

FLYING HIGH – Manhattan, Helicopters & Council Estates

/ Alikivi

The site has been live since 2017 and now in 2024 is on course to hit 400,000 views so it’s a big thanks to readers from all over the world.

As the years fly by I find myself looking back and remembering film projects I’ve worked on. Memories may be a bit fuzzy but the good stuff comes to the front.  

During a recent sort out at home I came across a work diary from 20 years ago. A quick flick through revealed a busy summer starting with dates for a short film I was commissioned to make about public art in the North East.

When discussing the project I was asked how would the film be made? Looking at the map of the art trail there’s quite a few sites located over a large area.

Off the cuff I remember replying ‘Well you can get great angles from above…so why not use a helicopter’. To my surprise my suggestion was met with enthusiasm and I was given the green light. Now I’d never been in a helicopter before and I’m not too clever with heights, when leaving the meeting I asked myself why did I even suggest it?  

Back to my office and a quick look through Yellow Pages, yes it was that long ago, I came across Eagle Helicopters based in Newcastle, so put a phone call into them and booked a flight.

One sequence was shooting at Roker Marina in Sunderland, then the Conversation Piece on South Shields seafront and another circling the Angel of the North in Gateshead. To be honest it’s hard to believe it was 20 years ago, but the exhilarating feeling of filming in a helicopter hundreds of feet in the air will always remain.

A couple of weeks after that I flew out to America and enrolled on a film making course at New York Film Academy. Within days of landing at JFK airport and booking into a hotel in East Village, I was shooting a music video on the streets of Manhattan! I picked up some great tips from the Academy’s instructors for future projects.

A month later I returned to South Shields and was approached by South Tyneside Council about making an in-depth documentary recording a regeneration project in the town. Basically, the council tenants were looking to spruce it up. The brief was to document the progress working with the residents. Sounded like a good opportunity to use the techniques I learned in New York. And it was.

I remember first day of filming and a resident asking ‘What do you want to see’? my reply was ‘Show me the worst on the estate and we’ll work up from there’. ‘You’ll do for me’ he said.

He showed me the back of a vacant house where there was a make shift wooden shelter with a sleeping bag and quilt. Obviously, somebody’s bed, somebody’s home.

Years later when reading through those pages it made me realise the highs and lows of documentary film making in one summer. From capturing the celebration of public art from the sky, then brought down to earth by filming real life desperation.

Alikivi   July 2024