Thanks to Hannah for sharing news of this new comedy series that will be premiering online today. Ed
Somewhen Productions is proud to announce that on 19th October 2015, it will be premiering the brand new comedy Web series S-Band by writer Hannah George. It’s based on the writer and director’s high school days on the Isle of Wight and features a wealth of new talent, mixed with established comedy names.
Shot entirely on location at the production team’s former high school, the comedy Web series, S-Band, follows the lives of the staff and students of the S-Band class at Northwood High School for students with behavioural problems, bad attitudes and a penchant for setting fire to things.
Mockumentary style comedy series
Audiences of all ages are sure to enjoy S-Band, a mockumentary style comedy series which follows try-hard Mr Thorogood and his heartwarmingly pathetic attempts to inspire his uninterested students.
S-Band takes place over a single day at Northwood High as Mr Thorogood, believing that with the right guidance and attention the S-Banders can achieve anything, decides that today he wants them to achieve friendship.
Buddying up
Persuading them into pairs using his new ‘Buddying Up’ scheme, we watch as teenage mum Destiny buddies up with anti-social oddball Anna-Rosa, whilst self-styled hard nut Stacey is forced to team up with tragically enthusiastic Matt.
Meanwhile, recently-divorced science teacher, Miss Grey, is having a nervous breakdown and the students also have to contend with psychopathic PE teacher Mr Barrett, whose teaching style mainly involves a mixture of threats and intimidation.
The chaos that ensues from putting together such an eclectic mix of personalities means that Mr Thorogood has a lot to deal with!
Local and established talent
The four main actors were hand-picked from over forty local students who auditioned for the show, many of whom are brand new to acting.
Their raw talent is complemented by more established comedy names in Gráinne Maguire (Stewart Lee’s Alternative Comedy Experience, Comedy Central, The Now Show, Radio 4) as well as award-winning comedian and actor Toby Williams (Bull, UKTV, High Rise, Dir. Ben Wheatley, stand up character Dr George Ryegold).
Writing success
Following on from her previous writing success on shows such as Trollied (Sky 1), Wolfblood (CBBC/BBC3), House of Anubis (Nickelodeon) and Miranda Hart’s “My, What I Call, Live Show”, Hannah George was keen to use her screenwriting experience to tell a comedic story about her high school days in a small town on the Isle of Wight.
Joining forces with Matt Hitt, an old schoolmate, they set up SomewhenProductions.co.uk and began the process of bothering headmasters to get permission to film in a local school. By coincidence, Matt and Hannah’s old headmaster, Richard Williams, had returned to their high school and was keen to allow them back into the school campus and the 200-year old Island Innovation VI Form building in Newport on the Isle of Wight.
Previous success
Somewhen Productions has previously seen success online with its now-viral sketch entitled “Watch This Incredible Moment When A Father Of Four Hears Silence For The First Time”.
This forty-second sketch is close to reaching 2 million views and stands as a testament to the comedic talent in the pairing of Hannah George and Matt Hitt of Somewhen Productions.
Almost all female crew
Achieving something that most production teams in the male-dominated industry of film and TV fail to manage, Hannah and Matt are also proud to state that, aside from Matt himself, all of S-Band’s main on-set crew were women – including the writer, director, DOP, camera assistant and sound recordist.
Hannah said of shooting S-Band;
“In many ways the entire experience was like going back to school, this was my first time directing, Matt’s first time producing, and many of our actors had never acted. But I’m so proud of what we achieved and overwhelmed by the talent of the teenagers involved.”
