Britney Spears shoots Criminal video as council bars gang drama filming on Hackney estates
Screenwriter and Hackney resident Ronan Bennett. Photograph: Grant Smith
Hackney Council this week has defended its decision to refuse Channel 4 drama Top Boy filming rights on estates in the borough, whilst Britney Spears got the go-ahead to shoot her new music video, Criminal.
The crime thriller Top Boy revolves around gang crime in and around the fictional Summerhouse Estate in Hackney.
Top Boy writer Ronan Bennett says the council refused premission because the programme’s portrayal of the borough could damage tourism ahead of the Olympics.
Mayor Jules Pipe did not directly comment on Bennett’s claim, but responded by saying: “[I]t was not fair on residents to run the risk of having their neighbourhood stigmatised on national television as riddled with drugs and gangs.
“Even where estates do suffer these problems, few people would want their home portrayed like that, and I’d question the motives of any that did.”
Defending the decision, Mayor Pipe said: “Estates aren’t film sets to be casually rented out, they are people’s homes. When filming is proposed on an estate, before approaching residents’ associations for their agreement, Hackney’s film office looks carefully at the application and considers numerous issues including whether the portrayal would have a detrimental effect on the reputation of the area.
Had Hackney agreed to the filming and had our worst fears confirmed, what possible justification could the Council give for being complicit in such negative stereotyping?”
Whilst there was nothing to prevent Top Boy filming in Hackney’s streets, the Town Hall refused filming on council estates, for which specific permission is required.
Notwithstanding, Britney Spears was earlier this week acting out scenes of an armed robbery, brandishing a gun around Stoke Newington Town Hall as she was filmed for Criminal, her forthcoming music video.
Hackney Council had given the go-ahead for the filming, but in a statement to the ITV London Tonight programme, it said: “In this case we did not agree that a replica gun could be used at Stoke Newington Town Hall and we are disappointed … We will be raising this matter with the production company.”
The council’s focus on reputation management paid off last year, when the Local Government Association (LGA) highlighted Hackney as a case study as part of its reputation campaign.
The LGA outlined the borough’s efforts to improve its ‘Reputation Index score’, and, according to the study, the council identified crime and anti-social behaviour as areas which particularly affect public perceptions.
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