 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Location
The main location featured in ‘Gorgeous
Labour of Love’ was the St Pancras
Chambers- Midland Grand Hotel in
London. A Gothic Victorian Masterpiece
designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in
1866. This little film called for a dramatic
stairway & St P has the grandest.
After the director, Stacy Harrison, toured
the building, it was decided that this
location, with its beautiful balance of
decomposing grandeur, dramatic use of
natural light & gorgeous architectural
detail was the perfect setting.
Unfortunately……….
The entire structure has been
uninhabited & unmaintained for almost
20 years .
The building that hosted filmings of
Batman, Bridget Jones Diary & 101
Dalmations was closed down completely
for any media use whatsoever. It would
be redeveloped into flats.
The task of Stacy Harrison & Paul
Clayton the producer was to convince
the Channel Tunnel Rail System,
Camden town council & the managemant
of St Pancras to allow their crew to film
in this grade I listed historical site for
free (no easy task) when they had
already said no to many of the biggest
production houses.
The pair tried Everything & the
response was a firm ‘NO’.
After exhausting a half dozen different
“angles” all leading to rejection, they
decided to give up. Paul returned from
his last encounter with them dejected as
he waited on the platform for the train
home. As he stood mumbling to himself
about what a beautiful building it was, a
woman standing on the platform
overheard him & turned around to
agree. As luck would have it, she was
the great great granddaughter of the
architect,
Sir George Gilbert Scott who originally
designed the building! She graciously
offered to help in any way she could &
that is how Judith Rowbotham became
our historical advisor & goddess of the
universe. With her help we were able to
secure a commitment from all parties
involved & almost a year after 1st
viewing this glorious structure, we were
allowed to film there. Effectively making
our film the last documentation of this
historical site before it is redeveloped.
Costumes for Gorgeous
Labour of Love
The costumes for Gorgeous Labour of
Love pull from an eclectic collection that
was created by Stacy Harrison over the
course of her 15-year career as a
costume designer for film & television.
In Seattle, Washington Stacy ran her
own design studio for 10 years in the
historical area of Pioneer Square. In
February 2001 an earthquake struck the
heart of the historical district, causing
severe damage to many businesses &
buildings. Stacy’s building, along with
her business slid into the street in 37
seconds. The building was immediately
condemned & re-entering the building
became illegal. A lifetime of work lay
inside the unstable structure. Entryways
were taped off & chain link fencing was
erected.
The decision was made to break into the
building & salvage whatever they could
before the building came down around
them or the police arrested them. With
the help of David Crellin (Composer&
Narrator) they stuffed everything they
could in garbage sacks & smuggled it
out.
The costumes appearing in this short
film are the “survivors” of the 2001
Seattle earthquake- the salvaged bits of
an unexpected natural disaster. Almost
every garment shown was hand made
for art exhibition or media enterprise.
After collecting herself, Stacy moved to
London & with Producer Paul Clayton
assembled an international cast & crew
to make Gorgeous Labour of Love.
of Love