PRODUCTION TEAM
CREATORS, WRITERS AND PRODUCERS
Mellie Buse and Jan Page have created, written and produced all five series of Grandpa in my Pocket. After coming up with the original concept weve developed and written 118 stories. We have cast it, supervised all areas of the show design, music, costume etc. We have also done all the business and legal side involved in running a television show including finding the money and sorting out all the contracts. Adastra is a boutique company and very much writer led which is fairly unusual in the UK. We operate a show running system which means that we are on set all the time ready to make changes to the script to help the shoot and to make quick decisions. This means that you get a consistency in the whole vision of the project (in theory!) and it also means that you can shoot it faster if the writer/creator is on tap to make any quick edits if the day is going slowly. It is widely used in the U.S. less so in the UK but quite often it is a system embraced by Childrens programming.
DIRECTORS
Martin Franks and Iain McClean directed 26 episodes each of the series. They really had their work cut out. It isn’t that usual to ask a director to do that many shows without any kind of break in between but, we are operating on extremely tight budgets and there was no other way of making it work. They had scripts well in advance with time to prepare and they had many meetings together so that we achieved a unity of style across the 52 shows. They also each met with the Art Department Team to prepare for each episode. Luckily they share the same sense of humour and the relationship between them rubbed off on the rest of the crew. It was an extraordinarily happy shoot.
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FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Rhidian Evans has worked with Adastra on other series of Grandpa. He is just what you need to keep everything calm and efficient on the floor. Here he is having a good day….
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Gerwyn Lloyd, our Production Designer is a genius. There were thirteen sets involved here and he approaches every single one with such enthusiasm and flair. He visited the Windmill at Cley and reference the interior of real Mill in the set design. The wall textures, the beams, the doors – all this is paying homage to the real mill up in Norfolk. He has an inspirational moment one afternoon during the get in and splashed some red colour onto the set in judicious places. It suddenly brought the whole thing together. So look out for the “red moments!” You’ll see how they just lift the whole look to another level. It’s a visual feast all round!
Gersh worked with an amazing Art Department Team who could make anything from a fully operational Robodoggy to the whole of Sunnysands in cake.
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Bryan Moses was our Production Manager who is brilliant at managing the day to day running of the show. He has worked on all five series of Grandpa as well as another Adastra show – The Ha Ha Hairies. He deals with all personnel issues and liaises with the First AD about the schedule. He also keeps a beady eye on all budgetary issues. You don’t mess with Bry!
