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People & Places In The News
THE BEST
THEGONG CSHOW
ongratulations to Floella Benjamin who was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours List. A tireless work- er over many years for BAFTA
on the Council, Television Committee and Children’s Committee, Floella has recently been one of the driving forces behind the Cultural Diversity Network.
There were also OBEs for Michael Bunce, who retired last year after nine years running the Royal Television Society following a distinguished career at BBC Television, and for radio presen- ter Sue Lawley, actress Charlotte Rampling and comedian Jim Davidson.
BAFTA member and BBC executive Jenny Abramsky became a CBE as did actress Zoe Wanamaker, actor Joss Ackland and writer Fay Weldon. Coronation Street stalwart William Roache and The Archers’ veteran Trevor Harrison both received the MBE.
Tom Courtenay was knighted for his services to drama while eccentric funnyman Spike Milligan received an honorary knighthood. Veteran actor Paul Scofield CBE became a Companion of Honour. ■ John Morrell
ALLFORONE
Paul Bradley was just eight when Merchant Ivory Productions made their first international splash with Shakespeare Wallah in 1965.
Now, at 43 and some 20 years into MIP service, he’s an indivisible part of that famous ‘Wandering Company’ which also comprises the more cele- brated trio of James Ivory, Ismail Merchant and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.
Bradley’s title is Executive Producer but titles don’t really mean much at MIP. “In an office with so few people but yet so multi-faceted as Merchant Ivory, you have to be able to turn your hand to almost anything,” he explained with a smile while changing some light bulbs at the company’s cosily shambolic London HQ off a tiny courtyard in Soho.
Apart from bringing down the aver- age age of the tireless quartet, Bradley explains how his role is on occasion to help “three wildly different personali- ties mesh together in a productive way. We have almost a family relationship which entails all the pluses and minus- es which can arise with any family.
“Personalities do clash and you do need to do some glueing together from time to time. That’s part of the fun, really, and also part of the producer’s job – to mould together talents which don’t necessarily always fully under- stand their co-talents’ point of view.”
Bradley clearly revels in his job which, he claims, presents endless challenges “on an almost hourly basis.” Hired in 1981 after working for
a spell in public relations, he’s
seen the company produce 21
films since then.
Typical of the ever cos- mopolitan, penny-wise, nature of MIP is its 39th and latest pro- duction – an adaptation of VS Naipaul’s first novel, The Mystic Masseur, co-starring Om Puri,
James Fox, Aasif
Mandvi and Jimi
Mistry. Directed by
Merchant on location in Trinidad for $2.5 million, the cast and crew com- bines Indians, Americans, French, English and locals islanders.
unique kind of esprit de corps with this industry, and it saw me through.”
After two decades, the challenge remains for, as Bradley points out, “it’s not like staying 20 years with one com- pany; it’s like staying one year with 21
companies because every film has different people. It never feels the same from one year to the next.
“The advantage with a small company making films the way we do is that we’re involved in absolutely every stage of the process – from the optioning of a novel and the writing of the screenplay, through raising the money, casting and shooting to post production and even release. I couldn’t ever claim to be an expert in any one of those fields – but by now I deal with them all.”
Bradley is confident that a couple of more personal pro- jects – Thomas Keneally’s The Playmaker and Peter Ackroyd’s Dan Leno And The Limehouse Golem - he’s long nurtured at MIP will come to
fruition over the next 18 months. “While they will not compromise on the quality and character focus we’re noted for, they will represent a change of style for the company,” he predicts.
What never changes is the nature of the company leadership. Explains Bradley: “Ismail’s energy, commitment and passion is as fierce today as it was when I first met him 21 years ago. He has only one aim: to keep making as many films as he possibly can, to the highest level - for the lowest pos- sible amount of money. And try to make sure everyone has a good time too.” ■ Quentin Falk
Photos this page above left: Floella Benjamin and Michael Bunce; top right: Executive Producer Paul Bradley; inset: Merchant Ivory’s The Mystic Masseur
Photos opposite page: Snowman, Christmas Carol and inset Iain Harvey; When The Wind Blows art
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Bradley started out as the London contact when MIP was about to begin production in India on Heat And Dust: “There wasn’t an office as such. Instead we tended to work out of telephone boxes before ending up in the post-
room at Ruth’s publishers. “For me it was sink or
swim and I barely managed to keep my head above water. The amount of help I received from people – from costumes and cameras to artistes’ agents - who could tell I didn’t know what I was talking about was tremendous. There’s a
O