鈥淚t has been a privilege to work with these incredible new storytellers from the West Midlands and bring their stories to the screen.鈥�
大象传媒 Writersroom and 大象传媒 Studios Continuing Drama Productions have announced the five writers and two directors for the sixth series of The Break. The bold, short-form drama series is a collaboration between 大象传媒 Writersroom, 大象传媒 Three and and aims to showcase the best original, contemporary stories that reflect modern life in the UK. Filming has just been completed in Birmingham and the short films will be available to watch on 大象传媒 Three later in 2023.
For this sixth series, all the writers are from the West Midlands region. The five successful writers are: S芒mir Bhamra, Katie Arnstein, Laura Maloney, Tal Davies and Omar Khan. The two directors are Tenisha White and Clare Anyiam-Osigwe. Amongst the writers selected this year, following an open call out on the 大象传媒 Writersroom website, are three who were part of 大象传媒 Writersroom鈥檚 Coventry Voices development group, an initiative which ran as part of Coventry City of Culture in 2021 to develop their writing skills and secure opportunities across the 大象传媒鈥檚 scripted output.
The series will be produced for 大象传媒 Three by 大象传媒 Studios Continuing Drama Productions. The Executive Producers for 大象传媒 Writersroom are Simon Nelson and Usman Mullan. The Executive Producers for 大象传媒 Studios are Mike Hobson and Nichol Hoye.
Jess Loveland, Head of 大象传媒 Writersroom says: 鈥淲e鈥檙e delighted that production of series six of our micro short series, The Break, has taken place in Birmingham this month. It has been a privilege to work with these incredible new storytellers from the West Midlands and bring their stories to the screen. Our production partner, 大象传媒 Studios, has designed an innovative production model for the shorts that sees crew members stepping up roles on set. The shorts will therefore provide meaningful career development opportunities for both above and below the line talent. We can鈥檛 wait to share these dynamic and original short films with 大象传媒 Three and 大象传媒 iPlayer audiences later in the year.鈥�
Mike Hobson, Executive Producer, 大象传媒 Studios Continuing Drama Productions says: 鈥淚t has been a great pleasure working with the 大象传媒 Writersroom once again. Nurturing new talent is what we do best in Birmingham and we have been thrilled to work with two, exciting, new local directors who have stamped their mark on these brilliant, creative scripts. I am incredibly proud of the production teams who have worked tirelessly to bring these scripts to life and am looking forward to audiences immersing themselves in these diverse and thought-provoking stories.鈥�
About the writers and their films:
S芒mir Bhamra
Make U Amazing
A late night no-strings hook up blooms into rich romance for a trans-identifying bridal Make-Up Artist. But when she is arrested, she is forced to confront her experiences to discover what makes her amazing.
S芒mir says "I love to look into our history and behaviours to find and tell tomorrow鈥檚 stories today. At the heart of it, I am interested in how relationships make up and break up. The 大象传媒 Writersroom process has pushed me to think in a different voice (from my past works) to suit a 大象传媒 Three audience. In the process, Make U Amazing became a personal challenge to address intimate observations and unspoken truths so that all communities can have a more authentic tomorrow.鈥�
S芒mir Bhamra is a Kenyan born, Midlands based writer, director, costume designer and producer of Indian and Pakistani heritage. He is the artistic director of the theatre production company Phizzical and the creative director of the UK Asian Film Festival.
Bhamra developed his skills whilst balancing caring responsibilities for ten years through training courses from Sundance Institute, the National Theatre, London Film Academy, Stage Directors UK Opera course and 大象传媒 Writersroom. He is influenced by stories and art forms from Indian cinema, classical literature and unspoken truths discovered and co-created with our community.
His theatre credits include the musicals Bombay Superstar, Stardust, Bring on the Bollywood and Precious Bazaar. He is the director of the award-winning short musical film Mad About the Boy and the producer of the upcoming digital series Seaview made during the pandemic as part of Coventry UK City of Culture.
Katie Arnstein
Wolverine Woman
Bec is a young woman travelling home alone. Or is she?...
Katie says: 鈥淚 have written Wolverine Woman because I am scared, angry and exhausted in equal measure. The Femicide Census has revealed that 鈥淥ne woman in the UK is killed every three days by a man鈥�. According to 大象传媒 News the Met said, 鈥渁 total of 1,633 cases of alleged sexual offences or domestic violence involving 1,071 officers and other staff were being reviewed from the last 10 years鈥�. Wolverine Woman has been written in response to these statistics by one of many women who just want to get home safely.鈥�
Katie is a multi-award-winning writer and performer originally from the West Midlands. Her theatre work includes the storytelling trilogy It鈥檚 a Girl! which consists of three plays Bicycles and Fish, Sexy Lamp and Sticky Door, all of which have toured the UK.
In 2022, Katie was made an Associate Artist at the Pleasance. Her work has won Show of the Week at VAULT Festival twice, Pick of Pleasance at VAULT Festival, an Offie Commendation, was one of 8 pieces shortlisted for the 2020 Popcorn Award, the 2021 Evening Standard鈥檚 Future of Theatre Award and has been included in The Guardian鈥檚 Top 15 Edinburgh Shows Now Touring.
Her most recent show, The Long Run, has received critical acclaim and an OFFIE Award nomination for Best Performance Piece.
Laura Maloney
Loved
Cassie has never known what it feels like to be unconditionally loved and she thinks having a baby will fix that 鈥� but does her boyfriend, Faz, think the same?
Laura says: 鈥淚 was inspired to write Loved by my experience of growing up in a provincial city, where family planning can start young, and history repeats itself generation after generation. Cassie鈥檚 desire to have a baby is complex and driven by a deep need to feel needed. I wanted to explore the moment a vulnerable young woman makes that life changing decision.鈥�
Laura trained as an actress at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, before completing an MA in Writing for Script and Screen at Falmouth University. Laura鈥檚 first stage play, a verbatim piece about homelessness, was produced for Brighton Fringe and then adapted for radio. Last year, Laura completed the 大象传媒 shadow scheme to write for ongoing drama Doctors. Laura鈥檚 first episode was broadcast earlier this year. Laura also works collaboratively with her writing partner, Jasmine Jagger, on adaptations for TV and film, including a serialised adaptation of The Mill on the Floss for TV, and a modernised adaptation of The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen for film. With her other stage work, Laura has been shortlisted for The Royal Court writers groups and The Old Vic professional development course.
Tal Davies
BTEC Britney
Sophie is home from Uni and is absolutely fine, honest. Well, she was until things began to spiral in a very triggering local Balti house, anyway.
Tal says: 鈥淎lthough my piece deals with themes of grief, strained relationships and mental health, I wanted there to be moments of comedy too. A lot of people, myself included, use gallows humour to get through the difficult times, and the feelings of loss that come with bereavement are never straightforward; I wanted the full, complicated spectrum of emotions that come with grief to be present in this short. I also wanted to challenge the clich茅 that your uni days are always the best time of your life, and if they aren't then there's something wrong with you. Freshers week isn't always the overwhelmingly fun experience it's made out to be, and it's ok if you feel this way!鈥�
Tal Davies is an emerging writer and stand-up comedian based in Birmingham. Her first script, Waffnacky, was longlisted for the 大象传媒 Writersroom Comedy Script Room in 2020, and she was also selected for the 大象传媒 Coventry Voices development programme the following year. As a comedian she's performed at festivals and comedy clubs across the UK, was crowned Best Breakthrough Act at the Midlands Comedy Awards, named One To Watch by Funny Women, and reached the semi-finals of British Comedian of the Year.
Omar Khan
Cricket Test
Is Zayn a traitor, playing for the England cricket team, when he has supported India all his life?
Omar says: 鈥淚鈥檝e always been interested in why so many British Asians will support the India and Pakistan cricket teams over England. Inspired by the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal, this piece sets out to investigate why that might be.鈥�
Omar has written for TV, theatre, short films and radio. His short film The Plunge was longlisted for a BAFTA after screening at over 60 international film festivals. He has written for the C大象传媒 shows, Princess Mirror-Belle, The Dumping Ground and Biff and Chip, as well as a podcast for Malory Towers.
About the directors
Tenisha White
Tenisha White is an award-winning actor, producer and director from Birmingham with over eight years of working in film and creative industries. Currently a BAFTA Crew member, Tenisha has produced and worked on a variety of high end, commercial and independent projects including cinematically released films and 大象传媒 narrative content.
Through the launch of her own production company, Neash Films, Tenisha has written, produced and starred in a number of productions, showcasing her first love of acting in roles ranging from comedy to hard hitting drama. All of Tenisha鈥檚 main work has gone on to festival recognition, 大象传媒 screenings, and international audiences.
Clare Anyiam-Osigwe
Clare is an award-winning film director and screenwriter based in the Midlands who has directed Hollyoaks in Summer 鈥�22. She recently shadowed at EastEnders for multi-cam experience. Clare is the lead script juror and co-chair of the BAFTA, BIFA, AMAA accredited British Urban Film Festival (BUFF). Her directorial debut film No Shade secured an international theatrical release.