Lancaster school teams up with Emmy award-winning comedy writer for zombie film

Thursday, 3 August 2023 12:49

By Greg Lambert @greglam72

Pupils at Dallas Road Primary School have been making a film about zombies

A Lancaster primary school has joined forces with an Emmy-winning TV comedy writer to create a film about zombies!

Pupils and staff at Dallas Road Primary School have been working with Lancaster resident Ian Martin, who won the prestigious American television award for his work on the hit political satire 'Veep' and has also written for BAFTA-winning BBC series 'The Thick of It'.

'Tig!' is described as "a funny, exciting and sometimes a little scary sci-fi/horror/comedy" written by a group of Year 6 pupils under Ian's guidance.

With the support of head teacher Adam Newton, Ian used a professional TV writers' room format to coach the kids and was so impressed with the results he reached out to local Lancaster based filmmakers to get the film made.

The Lancaster Film Initiative have been partnering with the school and have launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for the project.

The Tig! project began in 2020, but had to be postponed due to the Covid pandemic.

LISTEN to Will Shelmerdine from Lancaster Film Initiative talking about Tig!

"Now we're finally back in action and really excited to be working on the film again," said Will Shelmerdine from Lancaster Film Initiative.

"Sadly the original cast are all about two feet too tall these days, but we've got a terrific new cast who have been absolutely brilliant so far."

Here is a trailer for the Tig! crowdfunder:

"Tig!' is more than just a short film project," said Will.

"It is also an opportunity for Dallas Road students to have an introduction to the filmmaking world. Our aim is not only to make the film, but also to run assemblies, exercises and competitions to get as many kids involved as possible, as well as having them help out the crew on set."

The plot of Tig! sees Jessie and Simon in trouble again. Mrs Fairclough has caught them squabbling in the playground, but this is just the start of their problems. When aliens take over the school, they are forced to work together to save their schoolmates and even the aliens themselves.

As part of the project, the children have been learning about writing films, acting, how different kinds of films are made and what kind of filmmaking jobs they might like to do.

The Lancaster Film Initiative is run by Will, director Chris Wright and filmmaker/videographer David Chandler to help give aspiring filmmakers the skills and experience they need to start a career in film.

Ian Martin's screen credits include the BAFTA-nominated The Death of Stalin, Avenue 5, The Thick of It, Veep (for which he won two Writer's Guild of America Awards) and In The Loop. He has written a comedy drama for Radio 4, The Hartlepool Spy, and has written for publications including the Architects’ Journal, the Guardian and the New Statesman. His books include Epic Space and The Coalition Chronicles.

He has lived in Lancaster since 1988. In 2017 he set up an experimental “writers room” at Dallas Road Community Primary School in Lancaster, where two of his grandchildren are pupils. With the support of deputy head Adam Newton, he modelled the group on a professional TV writers room - the objective was to produce a high-quality shooting script for a short film.

Funds from the crowdfunder will go towards hosting an event where the whole school can come and see their film (and maybe spot themselves) on the big screen, producing DVD copies of the film, complete with a sleeve design by the pupils themselves, and to cover crew costs.