Latest news with #BankJob
The Guardian
01-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Michael Sheen and Channel 4 questioned over ‘originality' of debt documentary
A team of independent TV producers who spent their life savings developing a documentary about the UK debt crisis, which they had pitched to the actor Michael Sheen, have questioned the originality of a separate project the Welsh star later made with Channel 4 on the same issue. Lawyers for the film-makers Daniel Edelstyn and Hilary Powell have written to Sheen and the makers of his show Michael Sheen's Secret Million Pound Giveaway, which aired three weeks ago, raising the similarities it bears with their 2021 project Bank Job. The pair said they were shocked at the transmission of the Channel 4 documentary because they had been in correspondence with Sheen's team between 2017 and 2020 about the actor being involved in their film, which was pitched unsuccessfully to three Channel 4 commissioners. In Bank Job, the producers used debt experts to identify £1m worth of high-interest debt owed by people who lived in Walthamstow, east London. Debt portfolios can be bought and settled for a reduced amount if they are unlikely to be paid off in full, so the documentary makers raised £40,000 by selling bank note-style artworks, bought the portfolio and blew up a van to mark the cancellation of the debt. Sheen's programme focused on reducing debt owed by people in his home town of Port Talbot. Sheen used £100,000 of his own money to buy £1m of debt, which was then written off. Both programmes were able to buy large amounts of debt for so little because bad loans are often written down to a small percentage of their value on the secondary market. In their letter, Edelstyn and Powell's lawyers said they 'support Michael Sheen's efforts to support those treated unjustly in the UK', but that there were 'questions as to the originality of the Channel 4 documentary' as 'it focuses on a specific write-off target of £1m as a story hook [and] … grounds the debt write-off in a very specific locality'. They claim that Bank Job marked the 'first time an action like this had been undertaken in the UK', adding, 'our client invites all of you (Full Fat TV, Channel 4 and Michael Sheen) to explain what you knew of our client's work.' 'It is difficult for our client not to conclude that its ideas have been used without its permission or, at the very least, cursory credit.' According to Edelstyn and Powell, the genesis of their film was 2014, when they secured partial funding for the project from the Guardian. Aware of Sheen's work in social justice, they made contact with his team in 2017, who replied saying: 'We are working on a big debt project so we are interested in finding out more.' Emails show Edelstyn responded to say Optimistic, their production company, planned 'to buy up and destroy a lot of predatory debt' and suggested 'getting Michael involved in one way or another. Perhaps to be the voiceover of the film … given that Michael is an actor I'm sure he could really heist it up.' Subsequent correspondence included a video call with Sheen's personal assistant, who said in a later email he hoped Sheen would visit them; it was 'too early to say' if Sheen's money could support their film but there were ambitions for 'wider cultural impact … We'll keep you in the loop.' Powell updated Sheen's PA in December 2018, saying: 'We have purchased and cancelled £1m local payday debt', explaining the stunt wrote off more than £1m 'of toxic high-interest debt in our local community' to highlight the debt crisis. The last correspondence was in June 2020, when Sheen's PA replied to Optimistic saying their email would be forwarded to Sheen. According to the letter sent on behalf of Optimistic by lawyers Russells: 'Bank Job premiered in May 2021 at Hot Docs international film festival followed by a UK cinema release and nominations for Bifa and Grierson awards. Our client understands that the production company Full Fat TV pitched their film in June 2021 and Channel 4 subsequently commissioned the idea in 2022.' A spokesperson for Full Fat TV said the company, 'independently developed and pitched Michael Sheen's Secret Million Pound Giveaway to Channel 4. It is a shame that an important message about the unfairness of the credit system in this country, which Michael spent £100,000 of his own money to highlight, risks being lost due to these unfounded claims.' Channel 4 said it did not know Sheen's team had been in contact with Optimistic. A spokesperson added: 'These two programmes are significantly different and it's ludicrous to suggest that one is a copy of the other. 'Buying and writing off debt is an established practice which has been covered in the media on multiple occasions and the commissioner who greenlit and worked on Michael Sheen's Million Pound Giveaway had no awareness of Bank Job.' A spokesperson for Sheen said: 'Michael has said many times that the inspiration for him doing something like this came from watching John Oliver buying medical bill debt in the US in 2016. Michael has long campaigned about debt inequality, which is why Full Fat TV came to him with their ambitious proposal. 'They asked Michael to author a campaigning film to drive change in the debt and credit buying industry and to spend £100k of his own money to write off debt of people in his local community. 'The production company had to demonstrate to Michael how that could be done and, once satisfied, Michael took an enormous personal and financial risk – pledging £100k of his own money. Michael was not paid for making the documentary. Michael is regularly pitched documentary ideas but only commits to the ones he really believes in.' Edelstyn and Powell have now made Bank Job available free.
The Guardian
14-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Michael Sheen's kindness shows how cruel the credit business is
Michael Sheen's 'heist' of buying and cancelling people's debts is an inspiring act of solidarity, but it also exposes a fundamental injustice in our financial system ('It's not because I want people to think I'm great': Michael Sheen on paying off £1m of his neighbours' debts, 10 March). Debts of people who are struggling are bought and sold for pennies on the pound, while they remain liable for the full amount – and may face distressing visits from debt collectors and bailiffs. Our research, with the Centre for Responsible Credit, found that debt purchasers expect to collect back between two and three times what they paid for the debt. Personal debt has spiralled because of low wages, insecure work and a broken lending system that punishes communities who can least afford it. Sheen is right – people are working hard, often juggling multiple jobs, yet are stuck in cycles of high-cost credit simply to cover essentials. More than 10 million people across the UK are 'over-indebted', either behind on bills or finding debts a heavy financial burden – up 70% on pre-pandemic levels. Council tax arrears in England alone have reached £6bn. With debt on this scale, we can't rely on the generosity of individuals to cancel debt. We need systemic reform, including fairer lending practices and government action to address unaffordable debt at its roots. Heidi ChowExecutive director, Debt Justice Michael Sheen's gesture illustrates the power of people in positions of relative wealth and/or power to alleviate suffering and do something genuinely life changing for a pretty big number of people. It's a tale for our times and is heartwarming, if only to remind us that there are truly community-minded people still among us. Imagine the suffering the super-rich could alleviate, if only they felt the poor and needy were worth it. There will, of course, be the cynics and the envious who claim he's in it for the publicity – but aren't there always? I am very touched by what Michael has done for the people of his area. It's a beautiful thing. Donna WhiteBarnet, London Bravo, Michael Sheen, for what you have done and continue to do. I first learned about the buying and selling of debt from the wonderful 2021 film and book Bank Job, where Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell organised their very own heist and blew up a million pounds worth of local Walthamstow debt in a gold-coloured transit van in London's financial Kelly-TanguayLondon Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
