Directed and produced by Jeanie Finlay. A Glimmer Films production
2009 – 2011. World Premiere SXSW 2011. Winner Cinema Versa best documentary award – Leeds International Film Festival
**** EMPIRE **** THE INDEPENDENT **** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
**** EVENING STANDARD **** SUNDAY TIMES **** SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY
“Like a mint pressing in a bargain bin “Sound It Out” is a rare find” NEW YORK TIMES
Sound it Out Records is tucked just off the high street in Stockton-on-Tees, one of Britain’s most deprived towns. The shop has kept going while many other local record shops have passed away to the great high street in the sky. Struggling to keep afloat in the face of recession and changes in technology; it is an old fashioned enclave in an old fashioned town.
Tom is at the helm of this distinctly (99%) male environment and our guide through the film; a shop-counter philosopher, he knows each and every one of the 70,000 records in his tiny shop and his clientele trust his word. “When I look at the records on the walls, I can hear them all in my head, it’s memories, all of them, every single one.”
Filmed over 18 months, the film gives an insight into today’s vinyl addict and today’s Teesside, offering a window into the North East. We meet an eclectic stream of visitors to the shop and accompany them home to witness them listening to their new purchase, or played as part of a DJ set.
“I sell hard music, it’s a hard area” The DJs, the lone female customer, the junkies, the blaggers with carrier bags of stolen goods and the Makina+ fans, there’s always the Makina fans. What compels them all to keep coming back and will it be enough to keep the shop open?
Tom ends each working day with a defiant cigarette in his public, private place. With 10 independent records shutting a week he’s not sure how he would survive without it all but for the moment he’s where he belongs, among the fans, the collectors and the reassuring black discs laden with memories.
SOUND IT OUT is the first self-shot film by director Jeanie Finlay who grew up in the North East, three miles from the shop.
Audience Development: Sally Hodgson (Pipoca Pictures) connects artists and filmmakers with their audiences. Previous credits include Communications Executive for EM Media on Shane Meadows’ BAFTA winning – This Is England.
