Testimonials

 

Sue Nathan, Head of Tameside Youth Service

“I have commissioned Reel Manchester to produce 4 films with young people from Tameside. The process provides the young people with a distinctive voice which is denied them in this society. The film "Grounded” was groundbreaking  involving over 100 key worked young people in the Positive Activities for Young People scheme. The premiere was and will remain, a highlight of the lives of the young people, the staff and myself.
… perhaps more importantly they work to change the lives and the life chances of the most disaffected and disadvantaged young people in Tameside. The process and methods they use enables the young people to gain in confidence and raises their self esteem considerably. They gain and develop lots of transferable life skills. They also enable the young people to acquire accredited outcomes, in the last film project this is a NVQ Level 3. The partnership we have developed with Reel Manchester is one of the most valuable within our service. I would recommend them without reservation to any agency working with young people.”

 

Tony Walsh, Community Regeneration Manager Salford

"Most important of all however has been the process and the outcomes of that process for those involved.  REELmcr is a company led and staffed by people with a rare passion and exceptional skills, experience and resilience.  Throughout the workshop and production stages of filmmaking they have brought these qualities to working with some very challenging young people and mixed-age groups.  We have witnessed some incredible, indeed life-changing transformations in the confidence and aspiration levels of those involved which we are now working to channel and support.  I understand that this has been replicated with every group with whom they have worked.
REELmcr deliver a product, which consistently exceeds client expectations – often beyond that which has been funded in terms of hours worked and beyond reasonable levels of tolerance and commitment.  They are capable of replicating this success and indeed of growing as an organisation and improving their processes and end-products even further."

 

Cilla Baines, Director of Community Arts Northwest (CAN)

"Wherever they work, they always create real impact. This is because their work prioritises the whole creative process of working with young people, ensuring that young people are able to gain real skills and an insight into video production, through creating work that is both imaginative and entertaining and not afraid of addressing real issues that young people face.

In my experience they are one of the few companies In Greater Manchester that can work successfully with excluded young people in the places and environments that they live.

They are at all times extremely professional and reliable with a consistently high standard of work. In my experience this is crucial to the delivery of successful work with communities.
They also work with real Integrity, creating participatory work that stretches and challenges the people involved, building working relationships that encouraging young people the majority of whom who have had little or no opportunity, to work with dedication and creativity.
Not only are REELmcr accomplished and inspired artists, they really care about the people they work with and it is this combination of factors that enables them to produce work that is successful and has real attention to detail."

 

Nicola Shindler, Executive Producer -  RED productions

'"I think the work done by REELmcr is as good as some professional films I am asked to work on and certainly better than many. The use of drama and film making as a way for young people to express themselves and their concerns is invaluable and very important. I would give them every support possible."

 

Claire Cowell – Youth Arts Manager, Manchester City Council Cultural Strategy Team

“REELmcr are highly pro-active in profiling the films whilst providing a rich and lifelong learning experience for participants, through the process and the premiere.  REELmcr have also been successful in attracting funding from a range of sources.   The director Jacqui Carroll is a valued member of Manchester Youth Arts Network, advisory group and in November 2004 gave a presentation at the annual seminar on the impact of the work on young peoples health.”

 

Tommy Lever MBE– Director of Lower Kersal Young People’s Group

"REELmcr have been a role model for me & the Kersal Young People's Group.  They have taught me and my group new skills and motivated me enough to go on to and make our own films.  They are also masters at getting young people to work with a wide range of people from the local community, particularly cross-generations”

 

John O’Neil (15) who has worked on 2 projects:

“I believe working with REELmcr is great because it ‘s a chance for you to show yourself in a different light in the community whilst working with REELmcr I worked alongside a lot of people I wouldn't usually work with eg. religions, ages.  A good thing about making the film is that all the young people were able to say what they want and were able to voice their opinions and because of how much the young people enjoy working with REELmcr we have set up a group to apply for funding to pay for another REELmcr film.  We also managed to raise the money to fund the premiere of  "A Knight in Salford"”.

 

More quotes to come soon.