All About Adoption: special podcast episode

[00:00:00] DAWN: Welcome to the Creative Life Story Work podcast, where we explore how to make life story work better for all care experienced children and young people. Creative Life Story Work is an approach which can improve children and young people’s lives and their relationships with others, both at home and at school.

[00:00:28] It’s based on the Rose Model of Therapeutic Life Story Work. Every month, we’ll explore a different aspect of Creative Life Story Work and we’ll give insights into how you can use this approach To help care experienced children and young people make sense of their past and build a brighter future.

[00:00:49] Today, it’s very exciting because we’ve left the studio, donned our posh frocks, and we’ve travelled to the Georgian Theatre in Stockton. We’re here for a film premiere called All About Adoption. So I’ve got my posh frock on, everyone else is in their finery. The premiere is a film called All About Adoption. 

VOICEOVER: Adoption is part of my story. Adoption is part of my story. Adoption is part of my story. Adoption is part of my story. I just found out. I was only in year three, year four, and my mum told me.

And I sort of just announced it at school. I couldn’t believe it, and I was like, let’s just tell everybody. And then I couldn’t take it back. 

[00:01:48] DAWN: This project is the result of a new partnership between Blue Cabin and Adoption Tees Valley. The group, who’ve called themselves Adopt Bats, have been working with two of Blue Cabin’s associate artists, Laura Degnan and Nic Golightly, who are both experts in co creating with care experienced children and young people.

[00:02:10] They’ve been working together for a period of about six months to make a film which will tell their friends, teachers and professionals who all support care experienced children and young people about what it’s like to be adopted. I’m delighted to welcome the young filmmakers themselves and one of the artists.

[00:02:31] Nic Golightly, who’s been working alongside the film with them. Well, a huge warm welcome to our podcast. Hello. Hello. Hello. What were some of the most important parts that you wanted to include in the film that you’ve made together? 

[00:02:46] YP1: I would personally say the most important thing is the bit at the end where we all have the capes on and it says it’s my story.

[00:02:56] The amount of times in the past that I’ve been asked the same question over and over again of why are you adopted? Is that your real mum kind of thing? It gets really annoying because I feel like you do not need to know the ins and outs of a person to like them. 

VOICEOVER: My secret was out. I just wanted to be like everybody else again.

[00:03:19] Nothing had changed. But everybody else seemed to think that everything had changed. I went to my teacher, Miss Smith, for help. And she just had more questions. Questions that were my business. So I stormed out the room. And then Miss Smith thought I didn’t want her help. Can’t adults just help without all the questions?

[00:03:39] You don’t need to know the details to be there for me. 

[00:03:41] YP1: It takes seven seconds for a person to judge you and to like you. 

DAWN: Seven seconds? 

YP1: Yeah. 

[00:03:50] DAWN: Seven sec- I’m just counting to seven in my head. 

[00:03:53] YP1: Yeah. 

[00:03:55] DAWN: Is that a fact? Wow. 

[00:03:57] YP1: And that was the thing that I wanted to leave with people. I wanted them to realise that we are all not, like, bad people, as what education system defines us as bad people.

[00:04:12] Because when I was in secondary school there wasn’t, like, it was counted as the equivalent of like, being discriminated all the time. And I thought, why don’t we put a stop to this at once? 

[00:04:28] DAWN: What was the best bit about making this film? 

[00:04:31] YP1: I would personally say the best bit about doing this film is working alongside Nic to do the graphic design and stuff. It takes a lot of patience and I am not the most patient person.

[00:04:48] DAWN: Nic, just as the artist working on this project, What about some of the techniques that these young filmmakers have learned?

[00:04:54] NIC: So it was really important at the start of this process that it wasn’t determined by me and the other artist, Laura, or the other adults in the room. It was really important that these young people were able to look at films, see what they liked, and then we made the film according to that.

[00:05:12] So, they watched three different films and kind of reviewed them. And then we thought about the ways in which we could incorporate those techniques. So some of it was drawing on an iPad, so typography, and making sort of digital typography that could be layered over the film. They also did some stop frame animation.

[00:05:32] We also then did some film making on the beach as well. So there was like live action. 

[00:05:38] YP1: It was quite difficult work because obviously we had capes on and with Britain obviously being Britain, the weather was quite unpredictable … It’s on the back of me, and Nic, he had to hold it, and it got to a point where every time I was running, 

[00:06:01] NIC: It wasn’t as glamorous as you might think, Dawn, I think it’s fair to say. Yeah. Not glamorous at all, actually. 

DAWN: Nic, did you learn anything new? 

NIC: Well, it’s always a learning experience when you’re collaborating with people, and genuinely collaborating. The stories that young people shared were amazing, but that sometimes ideas don’t come straight away.

[00:06:22] So it might be that in the space we were talking and questioning something and we couldn’t find the solution or the way of doing that. And actually we needed to play around with ideas. And sometimes it’s good as an artist to remember that, isn’t it? That you don’t come to the final conclusion straight away.

[00:06:38] So we kind of problem solved, got it wrong and then got it right. And actually that was a really important, and that’s really important, isn’t it, to get it wrong. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

[00:06:47] YP1: Because if you don’t, if we don’t like learn anything and we don’t get it wrong, then what’s the point of doing it? 

[00:06:56] DAWN: What’s the one big message that you want people who’ve watched the film tonight to take away with them?

[00:07:03] YP1: I personally think the one big message is that it doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. It’s about how you learn to move on from it and how you learn to be who you are. What matters is that you have the strength to go on and fight for what you believe in. 

[00:07:25] DAWN: Absolutely fantastic. So 

[00:07:29] NIC: we’re here in our posh frocks, aren’t we?

[00:07:32] We’ve got about 60 visitors coming and we’re going to celebrate and showcase this film to friends, family, colleagues and have a marvellous evening in Stockton. 

[00:07:45] VOICEOVER: Please don’t tell my story. Let me tell it. Let me tell it. Let me tell it. Let me tell it.

[00:07:56] DAWN: We’re currently chatting to one of the younger members of our audience who’s just seen the film. What was the best bit? 

[00:08:02] YP3: I learned to know more about adoption because I am adopted. And which for you was the best bit of the film? Probably like the bits, like, on the beach. 

[00:08:14] DAWN: With the big capes when they’re running on the, with the words on the back.

[00:08:17] YP3: like, it’s my story. It’s my 

[00:08:20] DAWN: story. 

[00:08:21] YP3: Yeah, I like that little bit. 

[00:08:24] DAWN: I’m delighted to have pulled from the throng Liz from Adoption Tees Valley. Welcome to the podcast couch, looking gorgeous in your glittery frock. So Liz, have you been involved in working with the group and the making of this film? What was your, what was your role? 

[00:08:42] LIZ: I’ve been involved with the children’s groups that we have at Adoption Tees Valley since right from the start. We had lots of fun when we were making the video. Really early on me and Mike were having sessions with the girls talking about what was important to them.

[00:08:55] And it’s just really lovely to see how Laura’s put it all together to put it into the film to get their messages across that they were talking about right in the very first sessions that we had. Yeah, and when you were 

[00:09:06] DAWN: talking to the young filmmakers about the stories that they wanted to tell as part of the film, were any parts of it a surprise to you?

[00:09:14] LIZ: I think one of the most surprising bits was the common themes that they had between themselves. One of them would say, oh, this is an issue for me, and the others, And it’s like it’s a common theme going right the way throughout. So they 

[00:09:30] DAWN: were identifying the themes and then able to amplify it as a group, and make sure that that went in the film. How did they make decisions as to which stories got chosen to go in the film? 

[00:09:38] LIZ: There was a lot of discussion when we first started and Laura would put bits together and then bring it in for the girls to check. They are very headstrong girls so they had a lot of input to do with how it was presented as well but they were very good at voicing their opinions but very good at compromising as well.

[00:10:01] DAWN: Oh that’s interesting, so how did that happen? I’m just interested in the dynamics of the group and because you’ve been involved from the beginning, when they set up.

[00:10:08] LIZ: They were all very vocal and if they didn’t like something they weren’t scared to say it and if it worked it worked and they’d be open to say oh actually no that doesn’t work.

[00:10:18] DAWN: Were there any insights that you as a worker got from watching their film? 

LIZ: I think one of the really interesting bits that they’d brought up was the issues with the life story books. So that was initially what I’d been brought on for at Adoption Tees Valley to do life story books. So it was really interesting to hear them say what they thought should be included in life story books.

[00:10:39] Things like photos of birth family and things like that, like what they thought was important. 

DAWN: Is there one thing that you might do differently as a result of watching this film? 

LIZ: I’d say listen to them more. They know what they’re talking about. And it was lovely just to get them into a room together.

[00:10:58] And sometimes it was absolutely crazy. Like the big cartwheels going on all around the room, balls being flown everywhere. We had like huge balls and at one point we had to take them out because they’re just, and it was like we’d have an hour of craziness and then they’d do 20 minutes but in those 20 minutes some of the stuff that they came out with was absolutely amazing.

[00:11:18] DAWN: I managed to grab a conversation with one of the young film makers’ mums to find out what she thought about the film too.

We’ve just watched the film. We have. Is that the first time you’ve seen it?

[00:11:30] MUM: It is. She was very secretive about what the content was. Oh, really? So, for the first time, I’ve even had an inkling of what would be in it. 

DAWN:What was the best thing about the film for you? 

MUM: I think it was just really important that they share their story.

[00:11:42] It’s about them, not other people. And it really resonated some of the experiences that were mentioned, such as people constantly asking questions at school, feeling it was their story. And it happened. Um, so I think it just touched me on so many levels, really. It’s their story to tell, and they can tell it in their own time, so don’t put pressure, don’t ask questions.

[00:12:03] That really resonated, I think. [00:12:06] 

DAWN: Who do you think they should show that film to? 

[00:12:08] MUM: I think it has quite a broad spectrum, from education providers such as schools, because they’re quite a difficult place for some adopted children to be. I think younger children that are adopted so they know they’re not alone and there’s others.

[00:12:20] I’ve brought much younger children with me today. 

DAWN: All in their frocks as well. 

MUM: Absolutely, in their finery. It was a movie premiere. 

[00:12:28] DAWN: What’s the message you want to send after seeing their film that they’ve made tonight? 

[00:12:30] MUM: She’s done amazing. She’s grown in confidence. She’s found more of who she is and her identity.

[00:12:38] She’s more comfortable in her own skin, having digested some of the content of it. So I think it’s been a great project to be a part of for that reason. 

[00:12:49] DAWN: Delighted, after that premiere, to have sitting, happy to chat to us, esteemed filmmaker and esteemed filmmaker’s best friend. Is that fair? Yes. That’s a good description.

[00:13:02] Very good, very good. So, how are you feeling now that you’ve had that standing ovation at the end after your film was shown in public? 

[00:13:12] YP2: I feel ecstatic really. I’ve been waiting for months obviously for everyone to hear it and see it and just for everyone to just see what we’ve been working through it just melts my heart.

[00:13:21] DAWN: And now that you’ve seen it, which were the best bits that you liked? 

[00:13:25] YP2: I loved seeing my feet.

[00:13:29] DAWN: Well you might have done because there was quite a few footsteps in it as well, so that could be. I’ve asked the others as well, how did you decide as a group, which stories to tell?

[00:13:39] YP2: So originally I actually wanted a full blown movie. Yeah, honestly, I was even thinking I was going to be the star, but you know, things took a different shape. Thank you, thank you. I mean, I was thinking that, but I didn’t want to say it out loud. We just spoke about it and we just like, we made a script, yeah. I forgot about that.

[00:13:56] We made a script and we just spoke along sessions. I think we had like three sessions where we just talked about what we wanted and then we had two drafts of a script and then there was the real script. 

[00:14:06] DAWN: The young filmmaker had been joined at the premiere by her friend, who gave her thoughts about the film, and I wanted to find out if she’d known what to expect before coming along this evening.

[00:14:17] YP4: I thought she’d made, like, a movie, but, like, she didn’t tell me. But she, like, invited me to it a couple of months ago, so I was, like, really excited to come see it and everything. But she did really well in it, I’m so proud of her. 

[00:14:29] DAWN: Which was your favourite bit of the film? 

[00:14:31] YP4: What are they called, the animation?

[00:14:33] YP2: Stop motion, stop motion, yeah it was really hard to manoeuvre. That was actually really creative of them. 

YP4: It was also like, like heart touching, like when they were talking about the life story and everything like that. You never know what someone’s been through, like their entire life and they know but like, if they get asked a question about it then they don’t obviously want to share it.

[00:14:52] It was good that you taught, like, that you expressed that as well. 

DAWN: After you’ve seen that film, have you learnt anything new? Anything surprising there? 

YP4: Well, I’m adopted as well, so I don’t really tell people, like, much, but, and then I didn’t know others thought that as well, really. [00:15:06] 

DAWN:So you were seeing things there that you thought, yeah, I recognise that. Um, and my last question for you both is, who would you like to see this film?

[00:15:15] YP2: So I’d like people in school, people who work in schools, like principals, like the, like the SLT, and then possibly the Prime Minister. 

[00:15:22] DAWN: Absolutely, very important that they see that as well. 

YP2: I also think that, like, kids who are in adoption as well should hear about this, because sometimes they might feel, like, peer pressured to share their story.

[00:15:34] So, I live with my grandma, so most of the time people were wondering, like, That isn’t your mum, because obviously she looks a bit older. So, they’ll just ask questions and sometimes you don’t really want to answer because it’s your personal life. 

[00:15:46] DAWN: Absolutely. What’s the message that you want people to take away from tonight’s film?

[00:15:51] YP2: You don’t always have to share your story. Adoption doesn’t define who you are. 

[00:15:57] DAWN: Adoption doesn’t define who you are. That’s a brilliant note on which to end our podcast. I’d like to thank all of the brilliant young filmmakers who we’ve met this evening, the artists that they’ve worked with, Adoption Tees Valley, and everybody else  who’s been in the room supporting tonight’s premiere. Thank you very much for all of your support.