FROM HOLLYWOOD TO CRICKLEWOOD: DELIVERING DURING A PANDEMIC
My Grandma kept telling me to write down all the things that had happened to me over the years as a Cameraman.
It took a Worldwide Pandemic before I finally got around to it.
It went to No 1 in Apple Books Biographies and was there for 1 week. It was featured in The Sunday Times News Review and I have spoken about my experiences described in the book for KPMG C-Suite events.
But it’s not about filming.
“A beautifully rendered and powerful telling of the myriad stories of pandemic Britain through the eyes of a very good human indeed at the less celebrated end of the front line. Now, with many thinking the pandemic is over, it could not be a better time to remind ourselves of the struggles and loss, but also the hope and moments of simple joy that played out. That are still quietly playing out. Read this book. Cry, hold your loved ones tight, remember those lost, but also smile and laugh. Paul Lang has distilled humanity in a refridgerated crate with tenderness, with emotional intelligence and an experienced storyteller’s eye. This is like finding a new brilliant chippy. I want everybody to know about it, but I want to keep it all to myself too! But...everybody deserves the best chips.”
Kieron Townend- Film Director
The Global Pandemic has been a time none of us will ever forget. When lockdown descended and filming work and travel vanished overnight, Paul put away his camera equipment and started driving groceries around London to make ends meet. Instead of traveling all over the world filming documentaries he was now driving a 4-tonne truck through the streets of London.
‘From Hollywood to Cricklewood’ paints a picture of Paul’s experience delivering to a city coping with a crisis. Starting before dawn, he witnessed humanity on a spectrum.
A couple shielding in full PPE for months, a woman who had just received the news that her husband was dying in hospital, and a fully abled young man who watched Paul manhandle heavy crates up four flights of stairs to deliver his booze and fags, without lifting a finger to help.
There were times when he cried with exhaustion, frustration and heart break at the deprivation, poverty and fear for those living on the edge.
But it only took the kindness of a stranger standing at the door to receive their delivery, with a smile, kind word, a funny quip or a small tip, to put the spring back in his step. And then there were those who had nothing to give but a tune on the piano, or a tour of a stuffed lion, antelope and zebra, or a glimpse of 633 Squadron on the telly. Often a thankless task, Paul’s mood could turn on a penny, when a door opened to a cheery chap in a cravat or the giant grin of a young boy eagerly waiting in his ear defenders to help Paul in with the hobnobs.
This is a tale of our time, seen through the eyes of a documentary cameraman and the heart of a man doing an honest day’s work for very little pay, just like thousands of unseen, unheard workers like him across the country. This glimpse of life behind the scenes of a delivery driver shines a light on the keyworkers who keep a nation fed and watered.
