Living with cerebral palsy
Tuesday 13 November 2007
Georgina Studd, 16 , from South London, is the overall winner of the Mediabox and Channel 4’s FourDocs Documentary Competition, which gave ten disadvantaged young people aged 13-19 the opportunity to write, direct and produce their own short documentaries.
As a sufferer of cerebral palsy and confined to a wheelchair, Georgina ’s documentary is about the difficulties she faces during her summer holidays. ‘Georgina Goes Out’, will be broadcast on Channel 4 in Spring 2008 but you can watch it here first, or through the FourDocs website.
n2k spoke to Georgina about her film and her success.
What is cerebral palsy?
It is when the part of your brain which controls your muscles doesn’t work properly. Every person with cerebral palsy is different and some people can have other parts of their brain affected also.
How did you come up for the idea for your film?
By talking through my ideas on things I feel strongly about. I was just about to start my summer holidays which are very difficult for me, so thought it would be a good opportunity.
What other roles did you take on during the making of your film?
I was the main character in the film. I also made a lot of phone calls to organise things. I sat with Steve from Spectrecom Films for all the editing.
What are some of the biggest challenges you faced?
Editing the film down to five minutes was a real challenge. Everyone in the Spectrecom office watched and helped me with the decisions. I also found arranging a carer difficult because my social worker didn’t phone me back. It was lucky I had support from my school to help me.
Who helped you make the film?
So many people helped me with my film. I had Xanthe who was my mentor who helped me with planning out my ideas. Jim my friend helped by being in my film. Prem from school helped by acting as my carer in the film and by helping to organise my filming days and driving me everywhere! Kathryn from school helped me to enter the competition and with planning and organising. Spectrecom Film Production Company were fantastic who did the filming and Steve did the editing.
And Mediabox, which is a fund for young people to make media projects, paid for my film to be made.
You will be the youngest ever disabled person to have a documentary broadcast on Channel 4. How does that feel?
It feels amazing! I nearly jumped out of my chair when I found out.
If could change three things about the way the world is designed to better accommodate young people with disabilities, what would they be?
Having schools and boarding units like mine open all year round.
Having disabled people working for the council so they are aware of the real issues around access.
Ramps that always work on the buses.
What advice do you have for other young people with disabilities that want to achieve their goals?
To have confidence in what you want to do. Keep trying and keep smiling.
Would you like to make other films or be involved in other projects to raise the profile about issues faced by people with disabilities?
Yes I would because I enjoy film making. I would quite like to make a film about the wheelchair access to our local colleges.
Mediabox is a government fund for disadvantaged young people aged 13-19 to make creative media projects about the issues they are passionate about. If you’re aged 13-19 you can apply for up to £1000 of funding. Check the website.
You can find out more about cerebral palsy through SCOPE.
