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Meet Claire-May…

We’re thrilled to share this interview with Claire-May, inspired by her working on the crew of BBC One’s Ralph & Katie.

 

 

Hi Claire-May…please tell us a little bit about yourself.

 

My name is Claire-May Minett, I am 44 years old and I live in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

I live a full life of many different things.

I am currently involved in a circus performance as an unexpected leader. That means we are to research audience feedback and help them to give their feedback in unique and different formats. We as unexpected leaders help the audience to either record their feedback in writing, on a recording or filmed. We are doing this at Lowry Theatre.

I am also a Freelance Film Maker and have been involved with different gigs across the years after Covid. I did a friend’s wedding, The Rochdale Feel Good Festival and The Darn Hill Festival.

Currently I am working a production with BadKamra which is a company that is helping local communities in the Manchester areas. It is a film production about people’s lived experiences so it is sensitive material to handle. This will be shown to council professionals to make them understand how they are letting the system down.

I am also involved with the DSA Our Voice group.

 

How did you get to be part of the Ralph & Katie production?

 

I met up with a lady called Jules Hussey who was the producer of Ralph and Katie at the beginning of the year. It was an informal chat to speak to me about the role they wanted me to take. She had met me at the photo shoot in London in 2018 and knew of my work as a freelance film maker through the Disabled Artists Networking Community (DANC). I then had the job of EPK Producer trainee (Filming behind the scenes) on set and location. It was the best time of my life.

 

What does EPK stand by and what did your job involve?

 

EPK is Electronic Press Kit and basically means that its a fancy word for my film equipment. I go around the set or on location to keep a good eye out for any shots what need to be filmed for the show. Some of my rushes (filming) were used for a behind the scenes show at the Royal Television Society premiere last week at the Museum of Science and Industry.

 

What was working on the Ralph & Katie set like?

 

I worked on set and location for one day a week to start and then up to two days later on in the shoot. It was the most amazing experience.

Everyone was so nice, polite, helpful, kind and generous.

It was a groundbreaking production as all of the cast and crew were completely diverse. Our Director Jordan Hogg has cerebral palsy. Everyone had something unique about themselves. It was so beautiful that no one ever discriminated against me. I was very overwhelmed because it hasn’t happened to me before.

I bought a star award for everyone and handed it to Jules. She said to go and get photos of it with everyone and I did.

 

What did it feel like to watch the show on TV?

 

I went to my mums to have a family premiere. It felt weird to be watching it on Television but I loved it so much. I was laughing, got touched by heartwarming moments and felt shock to see my name in the credits. A good shock. I kept pointing, that’s my name.

A screen shot of the credits from the first Ralph & Katie episode showing Claire May listed as EPK Trainee

 

What would you say to other TV production companies who have been inspired by Ralph & Katie?

 

If any other production liked this show and feel inspired by it, I’d say do everything that we did to ensure everybody’s experience is the same.

Use the Call It app that Jules Hussey invented so that no one should experience any bad behaviour or anyone to feel intimidated, discriminated or bullied in the workplace.

Make sure your production is environmentally clean. Use companies that help to recycle.

 

Last month we read about you setting up a new support group, Rochdale DS All Stars. How did you get involved with this project?

 

I initially had the idea to start up a group in Rochdale for people who have children who have Down Syndrome as there is no support groups around this area.

I made friends with a lady called Lalain Mesky who has great organisational skills along with amazing contacts. We had one group at the beginning of this year and after that my good friend Emma Lambert another parent came along and suggested we make this a charitable organisation.

It took off with great force after that and the other little groups came together under it nicely. The parent group, toddler group and our main group. It is a great way to bring people together from all sorts of lives.

I stood back and observed when I was in group last time. It made me feel so proud that I can affect peoples lives for the better and help them not to have the experience I had.

 

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?

 

I love spending time knitting for my friends.

I was very brave recently when I joined a group, totally out of comfort zone. Since Covid took all of my routines away from me I’ve been really out of whack. So when I joined the Manchester Horror Group I was nervous but it was great. We go to see horror films in Manchester and afterward we go out for a couple of drinks to discuss the film and have a good time. I love my horror films.

I also love to visit my friends in many different areas who have children with down syndrome. They are all over the place from East Lancs, Penrith, Newcastle, Lancaster, Leyland etc.

 

What are you looking forward to in the next six months?

 

I am looking forward to getting out of this country, going on holiday with my friend Nicola. We are going to Florida for three weeks. I get to see one of my families too for Thanksgiving, which I am very excited about.

I am working on getting work experience in the new year with audio always which I worked at recently for the podcast on Ralph and Katie.

Looking forward to being busy again.

 

Is there anything you’d like to say to our readers/viewers?

 

Readers – If there is anything you dream of doing…Dream it, live it and be it.

You can spend however much time you need for each one. Sometimes it takes time just to think things through so don’t beat yourself up that it doesn’t happen overnight.

It can take years to reach your dream especially if you’re like me and have a slower development challenge.