Ghoul Friends wins best pitch in Poland

Bombito's Young Adult TV series in development 'Ghoul Friends' won best pitch at Kids Kino Industry Forum in Warsaw. The project was presented by Bombito producer Reece Cargan who also accepted the award.

Reece Cargan pitching at Kids Kino

Kids Kino

The forum is Poland's first international event for films and TV series aimed at a young audience and is part of the Kids Kino International Film Festival.

The award

Ghoul Friends won the m:brane Exchange Award for the Best Pitch at Kids Kino Industry.

"m:brane selected Ghoul Friends because it’s a challenging and inspiring story, told in an exciting context. We’re really looking forward to seeing this TV series".

The award was given by Lennart Ström, Managing Director at m:brane. The award is an invitation to pitch at the m:brane forum in Malmo in March 2023.

The series

Ghoul Friends is Young Adult TV series of 10 x 30 minutes. It is an LGBTQIA+ Paranormal thriller - with a healthy dose of comedy.

Synopsis

"Sent from LA to spend the summer in rural Yorkshire, American teen Mia discovers there’s more to England than she thought when she starts to fall for a girl haunted by a vengeful ghost".

Background

We received funding from Screen Yorkshire's FLEX Development Lab and from the British Film Institute’s Young Audience Content Fund to run a writers’ room. During the room we worked with a group of amazing writers to discuss, dissect and construct our first season. Following this we collated our pitch deck, show bible and detailed episode outlines. ​​ Please get in touch to view our materials.

GHOUL FRIENDS heads to Warsaw

Exciting news on our Young Adult TV series Ghoul Friends by writer Catherine Wignall. We are heading to Warsaw in September to pitch the project at Kids Kino Industry.

Writer Catherine and Producer Reece Cargan will head to Poland to pitch to commissioners and industry insiders.

Ghoul Friends

Teen influencer Mia puts her heart and soul on the line to save her ex-girlfriend from an angry ghost.

Background

The project was initially developed on the FLEX programme with Screen Yorkshire and further developed following the programme.

The project is being supported with development funding from the BFI Young Audience Content Fund. We are running a writers room at the end of August 2022 to further hone the series and then head to Poland to pitch.

Kids Kino

View the information page on the Kids Kino Industry website.

Get the pitch deck

For information on the project or to view the pitch deck please email reece@bombito.co.uk

Living With It - commissioned by BFI backed 'Sharp Shorts' scheme

We are so happy to announce that Living With It by Holly Summerson has been commissioned by Short Circuit's film scheme.

In April 2021, Short Circuit invited one-page outline submissions. Holly submitted her idea and was one of the 16 selected to take part in further development and to pitch. Following the successful pitch - this project has now been commissioned and we are in pre production already.

The film

Accepting the long-term effects of disease - and making the best of an imperfect situation - are explored through the relationship between two dysfunctional flatmates in this animated mockumentary.

Holly Summerson will direct and take the lead in animating. Niki Rooney is writing and Reece Cargan is producing.

Director, writer and animator Holly Summerson:

I’m so excited to create this fun, fantastical, emotional film with an amazing team and the incredible support of Sharp Shorts!

The story

Perfectionist Lee must adapt to the imperfect reality of living with a disease - brought to life as a chaotic supernatural flatmate 'BUG'.

Upbeat light-entertainment show ‘Dream House: Nightmare Housemate’ is attempting to renovate their relationship through a series of home improvements. Lee wants to ignore Bug and steam ahead with her perfect home makeover, but her surface-level changes changes keep backfiring.

Eventually, she is forced to confront the real issue: that Bug is a permanent and significant part of her life.

Lee & Bug

Themes of Living With It

Living With It’ explores the universal theme of making the best of imperfection, as well as an under-represented perspective on disease, focused on enjoying a life that’s slightly different from conventional expectations.

The comedic flatmate relationship and striking visuals discuss illness, grief and shifting identity in a creative, captivating and understandable way.

Writer - Niki Rooney:

It's so thrilling and moving to be working with an editorial team who all identify with disability/chronic illness for the first time in my entire career. This representation on and off screen is so important to me, and I've never been prouder to have my name attached to a project.

I'm looking forward to sharing with the world our funny, authentic portrayal of the lived experience of 'Living With It' through Lee and Bug.

Producer - Reece Cargan:

I am excited to work with Holly again after our time working on Bombito's Who I Am Now (currently in post production) as I know we work well together and will craft something unique and beautiful.

I'm also ecstatic to get to work with an established talent such as Niki who has a knack of being able to write scripts that can make you laugh out loud one second and then slap you in the feels with an emotional sucker punch the next!

The scheme

Short Circuit is a film talent initiative for Scotland delivered by Film City Futures in partnership with Glasgow Film, and funded by The National Lottery through Screen Scotland and BFI NETWORK. The programme aims to support new and emerging filmmaking talent across Scotland through a combination of funding, events and training opportunities.

Each team will each receive up to £15,000 to produce their film. Teams will also take part in intensive production training, and will be paired with an established Producer, Director or Writer who will mentor the team to help them to deliver their final film.

More information

Read the short circuit press release.

Read the Screen Scotland press release.