Claim: Michael Winterbottom has worked with actors

24 Hour Party People is a 2002 British comedy-drama film about Manchester 's popular music community from 1976 to 1992 , and specifically about Factory Records . It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Winterbottom . The film was entered into the 2002 Cannes Film Festival . It received positive reviews .   It begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s and moves through the 1980s into the `` Madchester '' scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s . The main character is Tony Wilson -LRB- played by Steve Coogan -RRB- , a news reporter for Granada Television and the head of Factory Records . The narrative largely follows his career , while also covering the major Factory artists , especially Joy Division and New Order , A Certain Ratio , The Durutti Column and Happy Mondays .   The film is a dramatisation based on a combination of real events , rumours , urban legends , and the imaginings of the scriptwriter -- as the film makes clear . In one scene , one-time Buzzcocks member Howard Devoto -LRB- played by Martin Hancock -RRB- is shown having sex with Wilson 's first wife in the toilets of a club ; the real Devoto , an extra in the scene , turns to the camera and says , `` I definitely do n't remember this happening '' . The fourth wall is frequently broken , with Wilson -LRB- who also acts as the narrator -RRB- frequently commenting on events directly to camera as they occur , at one point declaring that he is `` being postmodern , before it 's fashionable '' . The actors are often intercut with real contemporary concert footage , including the Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall .