Westbury resident behind the sound of Mother’s Pride film

A Westbury resident played a leading role in capturing the sound for the comedy film Mother’s Pride, which included scenes shot in and around the town.

Paulo Frazão worked as the First Assistant Sound on the film starring Martin Clunes and James Buckley which was filmed in 2024 and released earlier this month.

“Being a resident in Westbury brings me great joy to see our work out in the cinemas and show our small town to the rest of the country,” said Paulo, whose work includes operating the boom microphone to capture dialogue and other on-set sounds.

Paulo, who has also worked on ITV’s The Hack and Bridgerton, said, “I didn’t know where the film was going to happen. We started talking about doing it, they sent us the pitch, we agreed, and then began the recce. The recce is when you visit the filming locations to check them out and identify any potential problems.

“When we were doing the recce, it was like ‘okay now we’re going to Westbury Train Station’ and I thought ‘Westbury Train Station?’ I live in the Spinnaker estate; I can see the train station from my bedroom window basically!

“We also filmed on the White Horse, and the rest was filmed in Norton St Phillip.

“It was quite surprising, but it was just pure coincidence, I knew we would film in Wiltshire, but not quite so close.”

Paulo has previously worked on locations in Bath and Bristol for Bridgerton, but said he never expected to work in his hometown.

“Usually I work in Scotland, London, Manchester, all over the place. I think it was the first and last time to film in Westbury.”

As he is currently working on another production, Paulo hasn’t had the chance to see the film yet but said he has heard good reviews.

“Some of my friends have seen it, and some of my neighbours, and they enjoyed it, it’s a feel-good film,” he added.