Proposal For

FRESHERS
Programme Working Title Production Company Name

Full outline of Programme Idea The programme is based on a group of students, moving in and starting at university. Over the summer Layla was a victim of sexual abuse. Unfortunately the court case was suspended and the rapist left without any charge. Since the incident Layla has been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, in affect she has isolated herself away from all her friends and family. But now the new academic year has begun, Layla is viewing university as an escape route from her past. In hope of meeting a new group of friends and rediscovering her identity. But after an encounter on the first night of Freshers, its apparent her past is there to haunt her. When she starts university for the first time, she begins as an outcast but starts to become socially involved with fellow members of her flat; Poppy, Sophia and Coco. They introduce her to the night life and they all become involved with alcohol and drugs. This is how they meet Liam and Jacob and their friends. Over the 3 years they are studying at university, the programme will feature a variety of problems, relatable to the target audience. Here are some ideas which would feature later on as the programme is aired: Pregnancy/abortion A car accident Relationship triangles Past/future issues discovered Family deception Post-traumatic stress related injuries Attempted suicide A fatal fire at the university As the programme will reflect the characters on a day to day basis, we plan to air the show over 3 years or so (typical of a normal university life), and then perhaps re-establish the programme with a new fresh face of characters after this time. As the show progresses, we plan on intertwining characters across different stories and episodes. This will stick to typical soap conventions, will be similar yet contain a twist of stories, resulting in a popular and successful soap.

Character names, profiles and relationships 6 Characters - Layla - Jacob - Liam - Coco (Colette) - Poppy - Sophia Layla quiet and reserved, she has a clear indication on her future. She is keen to make the most of university; this is due to her past. When she was 16 she was sexually assaulted by someone her own age, this has led to her feeling scared and intimated to even socialise with males her own age. This is portrayed through her appearance; she is always covering up on nights out, even though her friends encourage her to relax. She has a tendency to drink too much due to suffering with manic depression. Jacob he likes to be the centre of attention, youll always find him in a social environment. He goes to uni mainly for the social aspect rather than focusing on his future. He struggles to empathise with others, hes quite narcissistic. Liam even though you will find him out in the social scene, he is also very focused on his career and future. Hes the mature one of the group, like a role-model figure. Even though he gets a lot of female attention, he is a good boyfriend to Poppy. However, he is easily influenced by the other lads of the group. Coco an aspiring fashion student, who preferably wants to work abroad and go travelling. She is the gossip queen of the group, she knows everyone and is constantly stirring things between couples and friends. She remains friends with everyone but always has something to say, she has a hidden agenda. Poppy sweet, innocent and dainty. Never in the wrong, the kind of person who you would never want to upset. She has the girl next door look. The males of the group always have her back, including her boyfriend Liam, who have been together for 2 years. Sophia always seeking attention, this is shown through her appearance as she is always dressing provocatively. She takes any opportunity to get a males attention, even if it means jeopardising something else. She is not the cleverest of the bunch but is still keen to grasp the uni experience.

Key narrative ideas for first Episode / Series Jacob agrees to a dare. Set on a night out, the dare is to seduce the protagonist (Layla). He approaches her in the toilets, in a forceful way. Layla has flashbacks and sees parallel to the unfortunate events that occurred over summer. It is announced that Layla is missing the next day, who is to blame? The group return and argue about Laylas whereabouts as she is missing. The next day it is reported to police (filmed on the phone to police) Shot of Layla in unknown place. Meanwhile, Poppy is confiding in Sophia about her worries of Liam cheating. Sophia finds out she is pregnant from Poppys current boyfriend. Poppy is unaware and Sophia tells Poppy when it occurred and they both unpick at the facts which lead to Poppy finding out it was her boyfriend.

Why the programme idea will work It is going to be produced by students, for students. The actors will all be aged between 17-19 years old and will be playing the roles of characters aged 18+ that are just starting University so the audience will be able to relate to the storyline and the characters feelings. It will also be popular with younger students who are still at college, as some of these will be planning on going to University in a few years and therefore this will be of interest to them.

Where/When will it be broadcast and why FRESHERS will be broadcasted on a weekday evening, possibly a Tuesday or Wednesday around 8pm. This is because 17-19 year olds are most likely to be available to watch around this time. Broadcasting during the day or on weekend nights would not be as suitable as the target audience are less likely to have chance to watch. Putting FRESHERS on a channel such as E4 may gain the most viewers as it is similar to other products shown on here as it mostly broadcasts melodramas for audiences of a similar age e.g Skins.

Who will work on the programme and their job roles Each member of our group will have an equal amount of filming, acting and editing. During the filming process, it is important to have one person filming, one person reading from the script, one person aligning the actors in the correct position and one person to enable sound checks. Each couple of shots, my group will rotate these roles and ensure we double check every shot to ensure we are shooting the correct footage for our soap. When it comes to editing, we will all edit the shared footage on our own, this makes sure we all show our ability to create our programme and make it our own by using the same footage, but different editing techniques.

Estimated cost give justification We are trying to organise and produce the programme with as little cost as possible; this will create a more realistic look to our soap as its reflective of our age group. We need to bring in props such as old vodka and beer bottles, costume changes, uni notepads and pens and bags. As we all have the props and mise en scene that we need, we wont have to invest in anything new. The only costs we will have is transport between different locations.

Final sign off from Executive Producer G SMILIE