Knowsley Children Get Expert Script Advice from Phil Redmond

A GROUP of young people from the NCH Knowsley Family Intervention Project (FIP) had a memorable writing workshop recently when Phil Redmond, Creative Director for Liverpool’s Capital of Culture and well known TV and media guru, popped in to offer them advice.

The visit was organised as part of a new partnership between children’s charity NCH and the BBC writersroom, which is giving some of the Merseyside’s most vulnerable children the opportunity to become the creative stars of the future.

This partnership is also being supported by Northwest Vision and Media, which works on behalf of the TV, film, radio and digital content industries to grow a world-class media economy in England’s Northwest.

Janette O’Carroll, Training and Development Manager at Vision and Media, commented: “Phil Redmond visiting the young people involved in this project was a great experience I’m sure none of them will forget. In terms of developing their confidence and skills in writing, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we’re proud to be contributing to this wonderful project.”

Coinciding with Liverpool’s year as Capital of Culture, Phil Redmond - creator of some of Britain’s favourite programmes including Brookside, Hollyoaks and Grange Hill – visited to see the group’s work so far. Phil was accompanied by Mick Ord from the BBC to the workshop and both were impressed by the group’s skills.

As part of this initiative the youngsters are working with writer Lucia Haynes to develop their own animated online soap. Lucia is a former journalist who has written for Doctors, and has taken part in the Eastenders shadow scheme.

Under Lucia’s guidance the group has been busy creating the soap over the last few months. They are currently working closely with animators from Liverpool John Moores University on getting the visuals perfect, and have been involved with the whole process from writing the script to deciding what the characters will look like. The character voices have also recently been recorded in Liverpool by professional actors.

Lucia is excited about how the project is going: “The animatics and storyboards are looking good and I'm looking forward to seeing the final result,” she says. “It’s really great to see how committed the kids are. They’ve learned a lot of lessons through this project and together we’ve made something I’m really proud to be a part of.”

Jake, aged 14, who has been attending the workshops said, “When I was told about the workshops I thought they might be boring, but they have actually been really fun. I enjoyed meeting Phil Redmond and think it was good he came to see us.”

The soap is expected to be ready to be viewed in early August, and will be available on a number of platforms including the NCH and BBC writersroom websites.