‘Mockumentary’ tells a gritty story of growing up in Swad
A MOCK documentary TV show about life on a tough Derbyshire housing estate has been released.
The inspiration for the show comes from Swadlincote and has been produced by celebrity Derby tattoo artist Kevin Paul, who has previously inked Rihanna, Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran to name a few.
For the past year Kevin has been shooting scenes in Salisbury Drive, Midway, as part of his series, entitled Common, which stars actors depicting real people who have been surrounded by crime in and around the Swadlincote area.
But despite his success, life has not always been so easy with Kevin involved in drugs and crime in his earlier years before turning his life around.
The dad-of-four, who now lives in Melbourne but is originally from Swadlincote, is now trying to bring his early experiences to the small screen after launching an acting group last October.
The group has now created its first mockumentary, entitled Common, with two pilot episodes covering the stories of five lads from Salisbury Drive in Swadlincote.
Although there is plenty of comedy, the mockumentary highlights the harsh reality facing many people across our region.
Kevin said: “One lad [who was involved in the pilot], his dad is a drug user. In the show, there is another lad, who plays a shoplifter and whose dad is a drug user.
“The lad who really had a drug-using dad, was telling him about what his childhood was like.
“It was like a therapy group – everyone’s negatives that they had in real life, they were able to talk with the group honestly about it, trusting each other, and they could help each other. It’s a great way of expressing yourself.
“That’s what I wanted with the group – everyone helped each other to play their role and there was a really close bond between them.”
After being uploaded to Youtube on September 5, the two episodes have gained more than 10,000 views combined.
Kevin hopes the acting group behind the documentary will tackle wider issues in the area and provide an outlet for people of all ages from troubled or under-privileged backgrounds.
Alongside his work as a tattoo artist, he also worked with schools, prisons and the police to help understand both sides of the divide when it came to drugs and crime.
But his work with children and offenders made him understand the lack of options for people of all ages wanting to develop and learn, which inspired the acting group.
He claims the first open auditions for the group were attended by over 100 people at the Bank House in Swadlincote, with several other people of all ages and backgrounds wanting to join the
group and showcase their creative talent.
He said: “I’d love to get it signed, I’d love to get on Netflix, or BBC or anywhere like that.
“We’ve made a good enough product, where people are paying attention to it. The biggest goal for me would be to get this made as a TV show, but on the other side of it, what this does for the community and what we can do with kids around here is endless.
“We’ve done this with no money at all, so if we had a pot of money, from the council or whoever, imagine what else we could do and how many more kids we could help.”
The show represents a huge source of pride for the 43-year-old, who stumbled across tattoo artistry aged 12 and even built a tattoo gun from the motor of an electric razor aged 13.
But it could have been very different for him after being locked in a flat aged 12, an incident so traumatic it convinced him to leave that life behind after previously being involved in shoplifting and drugs.
Now a life coach alongside his tattoo work, he recently supported Rolls-royce staff with their mental health and wellbeing after thousands were made redundant during the pandemic.
He believes the group represents how anyone can achieve their dreams if they have the support and outlets to do it, but also expressed concern about a rise in knife crime and drugs across the country.
He said: “I come from nothing. I was told I would never amount to anything and I was told I was a waste of space.
“I was told I was a dreamer, that’s all I got every day, from being a kid to being a teenager, all the way through until I did become successful, and then no one ever said anything about me ever again.
“I thought if I could do that then anyone could do it, so I wanted to try to do it and prove it.
“I see where the issues are. Grime music and drill music are a massive part of why these kids are living this lifestyle. Grime music and drill music promotes carrying knives, taking drugs and selling drugs, promoting this as a glamorous thing.
“For most of these kids from bad backgrounds, that’s the only way they see of getting a good life. That’s the only way they see it.
“They need better options and they need to be shown there is a better way of life and a better way to move on with things, but the kind of people that are teaching them are the wrong people.”