The film was developed during Amber’s five-year North Shields residency, a period in which the collective embedded itself in the community, even purchasing a pub, The New Clarendon, which became both a social and creative space. Writer Kitty Fitzgerald led writing workshops with women from the Meadow Well estate, drawing on their experiences to shape the film’s narrative. The project also connected with The Privatisation Tapes and Shields Stories, work that emerged from a writers' group established by Amber at the Cedarwood Centre.

Dream On is a distinctive example of Amber’s social realist filmmaking, balancing documentary-style naturalism with imaginative storytelling. By weaving magic, fantasy, dreams, and realism into a story grounded in lived experience, the film presents a deeply personal yet universally resonant portrait of resilience and aspiration. It remains an important record of Meadow Well at a time of hardship, preserving the voices and experiences of a community that was too often overlooked.

Alongside the filmmaking, photographer Steve Conlan was commissioned by Side Gallery to document the estate, creating a parallel visual record of the area during a time of significant social and economic change.