Production: Location and Contributor

As producer, my most important job was arguably to secure the location and contributors required for our film. I did this by contacting Gerard Fitzpatrick, owner of Reid of Liverpool, via the E-mail address on their website: liverpoolbooks@btconnect.com. Attached is a copy of the message I sent to him.

 

To whom it may concern,

My name is Tyler Mason, and I am a Film & Media Production student at Sheffield Hallam University. I am writing on behalf of my study group to enquire as to whether you are interested in being part of a documentary about your store.

There are six members in our crew who will be visiting Liverpool to film a documentary over the course of three days from the 17th to the 19th of February. After researching local businesses, we are very interested using your shop as the subject of our film, as we feel it has a lot of interesting points of discussion. Some things we would like to discuss in the film are the potential challenges that bookstores face in the age of digital e-books, the history of the shop as a surviving Georgian era building and the (assumed) passion of the staff (with particular interest on the owner/manager). We are also more than willing to discuss any issues you may feel are particularly important so that you may promote these messages through the film, should you accept our offer.

We understand that agreeing to take part is a commitment on your behalf, and so we feel that we should briefly outline what being a part of the project would consist of:

• We do not require any monetary support and will provide our own food and drink.
• We would like to visit the shop on Monday 17th February in order to perform a risk assessment and create a list of shots. We would be happy to do this within opening hours if it is preferred. We may need to take photographs.
• We would like to film the documentary on Tuesday 18th February. We would prefer to film within opening hours in order to get a feel for what the shop is really like, however if this in an issue we are flexible. This would consist of both general footage of the shop's day-to-day activity, as well as casual interviews with the staff.
• Whilst we feel that we could potentially film the documentary in its entirety within Tuesday's opening hours, we would appreciate the possibility of returning between the hours of 10.00am and 3.00pm should we need to record any additional footage.

As you can hopefully see, we are not requesting that you deviate too much from your average working day (albeit with a film crew present!), as this is the kind of activity we would like to document: we wish to portray the bookshop in a way that is true, respectful to the staff and clients and has creative flair. We hope very much that you consider our offer, as we would love to create a documentary about Reid of Liverpool in the modern era.

We would greatly appreciate a response regardless of whether the outcome is what we are hoping for, as we are working to a

deadline. You can contact the producer by any of the following methods:

Tyler Mason (Producer)

Mobile: 07598 435930

E-Mail: tylermellins@live.com (the address from which I am contacting you)

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Tyler Mason

Producer 

 

I felt it was important to summarise what our plans were from the get-go, as though it may have seemed presumptious I believed that it would help to ease the contributor's mind regarding allowing a crew of university students into his life. (I was concerned that, had I not provided enough information, potential contributors may have been put off and I felt the need to clarify several points). I think that I handled the situation well, as I was professional and tried to give as much information as possible, including contact details. In the future I should have more confidence in my contributors and not bombard them with so much information.

 

Nevertheless, it was effective. Gerard Fitzpatrick soon got in touch and expressed an interest in taking part in the documentary.

 

Hello Tyler

Yes that should be fine.. your proposal

so please telephone ..ahead, from the 10th Feb onwards... 12 to 5 most days

to put the timing in place

Best regards

Gerard Fitzpatrick

www.reidofliverpool.com

01517092312

07796015067

 

I wrote back to Gerard confirming that I would be able to contact him by telephone, and did so the following day. I also assured him that the change in opening hours from 10.00-17.00 to 12.00-17.00 would not be too much of an issue for us.

 

Hello Mr. Fitzpatrick,

 

Thank you very much on behalf of my crew for your response.

 

I'm sure we can work around the 12:00 to 17:00 opening hours, however we may need to visit the shop on both the Tuesday and Wednesday in order to accomplish this. To discuss timing, along with other matters relating to the documentary, I would like to telephone you, as understanding and clarity is inevitably limited by E-Mail.

 

I will telephone you at the shop tomorrow (Wednesday 5th) between 2:30pm and 3:00pm in order to take things forward. If this is not convenient for you, please let me know and we can arrange something more suitable.

 

I would like to once again thank you for this opportunity and look forward to speaking to you soon.

 

Best regards,

Tyler Mason (Producer)

 

 On the telephone, Gerard and I discussed in greater detail the nature of the project. He mentioned that he is often asked about the effect of eBooks on the bookselling industry and that he would love to document his opinions on film. He also gave us permission to ask his customers if they would be willing to participate in interviews during our shoot. Apparently enthused by our phone conversation, he also offered to open the shop at an earlier time of 10.30am, giving us more time to film. He did, however, express some concerns about the space available in the shop, and suggested we do some research online to confirm that the premesis was big enough. Aside from this concern, Gerard was more than willing to participate.

 

Following our phone conversation, I did some online research following some pointers from Gerard and located a Google Map documentation of the premesis. This allowed me to take a virtual store of the shop and discover that there was more than enough room for us and our equipment. You can take the virtual tour of Reid of Liverpool here.

 

I also sent Gerry written confirmation of the timetable we had agreed on the phone. I did this in a way that was simple for him to read and understand, with the intention of creating a more detailed schedule for the crew members. I also reiterated some of the points we would like to discuss in our interview, although I was aware that he himself had made a list during our conversation.

 

 Hi Gerard,

Thanks again for the opportunity, the whole crew is looking forward to meeting you and seeing the shop on Monday. We are all very excited about the project.

I just thought I would send you an E-Mail so that you had a written reference of the rough schedule we would like to work on: 

MONDAY: 2:30pm - 4.00pm

Introductions, health and safety check, written permission 

TUESDAY: 10:30am - 5:30pm

Filming 

WEDNESDAY: 12:00pm - 3:00pm

Filming if necessary

 

I also have a list of points we would like to address during our interview. We have opted not to send a complete list of questions as we would like the interview to have a casual, relaxed feel with spontaneity. As discussed with you on the phone, the main point we wish to discuss is the effect of new technology such as eBooks and the Internet on traditional books and bookstores, and your opinions on this. However, we would also like to explore the story of Reid of Liverpool itself, including not only the story of you and your brother setting up the shop, but also any historical information you may have. Our research has shown us that the premises used to be a tea room run by a lady named Sarah Beard in the late 1700s, however we would be appreciative of any information you have at all.

 

As a final note, we would be grateful if you could have a think about two things for us before the interview. The first of these is which of the books you have read is/are your favourite(s), and why? The second of these is simply which of the books in the shop you are most interested in. This could be as simple as it being the oldest book you have, or that you like the cover, etc. We feel that discussing these with you would be a nice addition to the documentary if you are willing to do this.

Once more, thanks for your continued support and understanding during this project. We are confident that we will be able to make a great film about you and your shop.

Best regards,

Tyler Mason (Producer)

 

Overall, I am very satisfied with my job in terms of securing a location and contributor and felt that I had built a good relationship between us and Gerard before we had even met. Having these two vital components of the film secured made everyone feel confident and excited about the project which had initially seemed quite daunting. By this point, we were all enthusiastic about our visit to Liverpool and meeting Gerard.