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Camden News - by TOM FOOT
Published: 20 November 2008

Nick Love

Take your fight elsewhere, film producers told

Riot street scene plans axed after outcry

FILM producers who wanted to film a brawl between rival football hooligans in a Kentish Town street have been run out of town.
The Castle Road Residents Association objected to an application to shoot a fictional 140-strong punch-up outside the Tavern Inn the Town pub in nearby Hadley Street over two days later this month.
Film company Vertigo Films wrote to residents warning “there will be noise and swearing from 9am on Sunday” and that “modern cars” must be cleared from the surrounding streets because their movie, The Firm, is set in 1984.
Last night (Wednesday), the council confirmed it had acted on a petition from residents and filming had been cancelled. Vertigo said it would shoot the scenes in Hackney instead.
Jennifer Owens, 36, who lives in Hadley Street, said: “We see enough violence on television without having it on your doorstep. I don’t see how anyone could think this is a good idea any day of the week – let alone on a Sunday morning. I’ve got two young children for heaven’s sake.”
At least 28 parking bays in surrounding streets would have been taken up by film crew trucks and Hadley Street will be blocked to cars. Building companies in the area said they were worried that roads would be clogged up.
Residents contacted about the filming were offered parts as extras.
Despite widespread opposition, some locals said youngsters would not be drawn to hooliganism because of the filming of fight scenes.
Mother-of-two Tracey Powley, who lives on the Widford estate, said: “It’s just a film, isn’t it? I don’t see what the fuss is about really.”
A Town Hall spokeswoman said: “Camden Council always consults with residents before giving the go-ahead to production companies, particularly if they are filming scenes of a sensitive nature.
“Following the opposition, the production company confirmed they had found an alternative location.”
The Firm is the brainchild of hard man film producer Nick Love, the creator of Film Factory, The Business and Outlaw – all about violence.
His new film is an adaptation of the 1989 cult classic The Firm.

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