Shakesperean in its proportions, Tell Me Why is a character-driven, psychological drama structured on actual events and people who defined an era.
A Goldspin Films production with BAFTA and EMMY nominated, director, Ursula Macfarlane attached. Created and written by Heidi Mumford-Yeo.
“We live in a time where the vapid and superficial are often rewarded, and fame is sought regardless of talent or substance. But it hasn’t always been like this. Long before the era of cheap reality TV, stars were made off the back of ferocious talent and inimitable charisma. Paula Yates belonged to this era. Growing up in the 1990s, I remember watching Paula on The Big Breakfast while getting ready for school. It wasn’t until I began delving into her life that I truly discovered how intelligent, talented, and deeply misunderstood she was.
Far beyond the reductive labels and lazy tropes, Paula Yates and Bob Geldof embodied the cultural heartbeat of the 1980s and 1990s. They were zeitgeist, and Paula was symbolic of her time — irreverent, beautiful, and subversive — but fame came with a personal cost that few can imagine. Tell Me Why seeks to reclaim Paula’s story from the distortions of a toxic media lens, offering a visceral and compassionate portrait of a complex woman. In doing so, it also celebrates the intertwined cultural legacies of Sir Bob Geldof and Michael Hutchence.
This year marks twenty-five years since Paula’s untimely death, but I question whether the narrative toward people in the public eye has changed? With striking parallels to that of Princess Diana, Tell Me Why asks deeper questions about complicity, compassion, and cultural memory.” Heidi Mumford-Yeo, Creator and Writer.
Based on the best-selling book Damaged by Chris Wild, this pulse-catching journey of triumph over adversity set in Halifax during the 90s explores the crisis in British children’s homes and one man’s fight for justice against all odds.
A Goldspin Films production.
