Chapman, Mark (2026) A Woman of Good Abilities. [Video]

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Abstract

Several recent studies have highlighted the lack of working-class talent employed in the film and television industry. For example, at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival, screenwriter James Graham’s keynote MacTaggart lecture cited a shocking study by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (McAndrew, et al 2024) that claimed only 8% of people employed in television are from a working-class background. My short thriller A WOMAN OF GOOD ABILITIES was a collaborative research project to identify and document a range of interdisciplinary, non-traditional casting methods -mixing fiction, documentary, photography and performance techniques- that allowed me to access unseen talent in marginalised working-class communities in North East, England in an attempt to challenge the so-called ‘class ceiling’ in the UK arts.

This project explored the following key research questions:

1. How can non-traditional casting strategies identify and promote marginalised working-class talent?
2. Identify new approaches to the fiction film that contribute to development of diverse production methodologies.
3. Examine how using real-life experiences to create characters impact the ethical filmmaker/actor collaboration.
With multiple research studies (Brook, et al 2023) suggesting that structural inequalities are responsible for the lack of working-class (and regional) visibility on our screens, I sought to implement a unique, interdisciplinary casting process for non-professional actors from working-class communities. This included community engagement, still photography, collaborations with third sector/charity partners, street casting (a technique seldom explored in film scholarship), interviews and a bespoke audition/rehearsal process. By removing the barriers to participation and employing a more holistic approach, we will nurture under-represented talents through the casting process. The film was completed in early 2026.

Item Type:	Video
Uncontrolled Keywords:	film, cinema, film production, short film, casting, performance
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Design and Creative Industries
Last Modified:	05 Mar 2026 10:12
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/52357

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