Apologies and… something new

Some time ago, I published a post-STC report in which I stated: “One of the councillors proposed to contact Youth Services at DCC and ask them to come to the STC meeting so we can ask for help/guidance/funding. At this point of my “career”, I know- no one will come. ” Today, I have to apologize for these words. However, it turned out that the Youth Services staff at Derbyshire County Council not only quickly responded to the contact attempt but even offered that they would come to Shirebrook to meet and talk about the development of youth programs in our town.

Before describing the meeting results, I must emphasize that I contacted DCC Youth Services, not on behalf of STC but my own. I have been working on a unique pilot project for youth in Shirebrook for some time now, and by contacting DCC, I just wanted to know more about the DBC requirements and all the additional regulations I need to meet to get my project going. I thought I would arrange everything by e-mail, but I accepted the offer with pleasure and gratitude since a meeting was offered.

I also contacted the STC to invite other councillors to the meeting, but unfortunately, it was very short notice, and on the day of the meeting, people who might be interested had already scheduled meetings. I also failed to convince STC to provide me with a meeting room in Town Hall. It appears taxpayers spent 500,000 on a building where no space like this has been planned or planned, but it’s only available to Labor Party councillors. Overall, the meeting was not an official meeting of the councillor, so I have no regrets.

Fortunately, the meeting took place anyway- at the Shirebrook Children Center. After talking for an hour with Tina Eltringham and Richard Masters, I was sad to admit that I would not be able to start the program on the planned date (beginning of February), and I would have to delay the start for at least a month. However, I received a lot of information, advice and a promise of help and further substantive support. Everyone I talk to admits that the program looks interesting, but no one will know if our youth will be interested until it collides with reality.

PROJECT “BATTLE OF SHIREBROOK”
The project is a pilot project. This means that no one I spoke to had heard of something like this so far. No one had tried anything like that. So the first edition is a project that will take kids off the streets and give them something interesting to do. But on the other hand, it will allow me to refine the formula so that the possible second edition will be more professional and offer even more valuable and exciting experiences.

The project is called “Battle of Shirebrook”, and it is a series of scored challenges, competitions, tasks the completion of which will give the group the necessary skills… to make a film about the lives of a group of young people in an ex-mining town. The group will be divided into two groups so that there is an element of competition in the project. It will give the members the opportunity both in front of the camera (acting) and work behind the camera. While one group will be acting, the other will perform technical roles such as directing, camera operator, key grip, make-up etc.

As a result: both groups will be equally responsible for the quality of the film and will have the opportunity to experience everything involved in filmmaking. Even though they will be competing against each other- they will still form one team working toward a common goal.

The project has elements of crafts, arts, creative writing, improv, acting, choreography planning, planning skills, music, graphic design, make-up skills (due to the “battle” element- we will need to simulate injuries), social media campaigning, video editing and even an aspect of business skills. After shooting the first scenes, the group members will meet with business leaders in Shirebrook to make a “sales pitch” for advertising space in the film.

Of course, companies that agree to listen to the pitches will not have to buy anything – it’s just about giving young people the opportunity to participate in a simulated business meeting. Each interested company will listen to two presentations – one from each team. After the presentation, the company’s representatives will choose which presentations made a better impression on them and which team will receive points. I sincerely hope to find at least three companies whose managers or owners would spend ten minutes listening to the presentation. If I cannot find them in Shirebrook, I will convince my friends who live outside our town to help. A few of them run their businesses and will certainly not despise free advertising, even on a small scale like Shirebrook.

The last element of the project will be “hospitality skills” experience. If we manage to make an interesting film about the life of young people in Shirebrook – I will sponsor the room rental so that the group can organize a special premiere screening of the film. It is also the main element of my “sustainability plan” for this project. If the film is good enough to attract viewers, the sale of tickets for the screening may be a source of funds for the next instalment of the project. A sequel for Battle of Shirebrook or a completely new story.

BIG PROJECT WITH SMALL BUDGET
Filming a movie is an incredibly complex, complicated, lengthy and, above all, costly process. Honestly, I don’t know if it’s even possible in Shirebrook. I don’t know if kids will be interested in such a project. I don’t know if we have enough talented and hardworking kids in the town who will be able to cope with this challenge. I don’t know if we will get permission from STC for the shooting day at Market Square. I do not know if the participants will like the scenario I have prepared. In fact, at the moment, the project has more unknowns than finished things. Therefore, I did not apply for any external funds to carry out the project. Instead, I will try to “make” the first “movie” using my own funds (leftovers from my last election campaign).

The script is written so that the largest possible group of actors can take part in it. Most of the supporting roles are currently written gender-neutral to quickly adapt the dialogues to the actors when I know if I have any actors at all. At the same time, however, I am writing a much smaller script in case of less interest in the pilot version of the project.

BLAST
The same day I met with DCC Youth Services, I also had a meeting with the head of BLAST. The outline of the project looked so encouraging that the head of BLAST decided to take me under her wing to help me in the pilot part. I will write about the details later; however, what I would like to emphasize for the moment is that the BLAST experience significantly increases the chances of the project’s success, and I am incredibly grateful that they agreed to participate in my project until I can stand on my own feet with it.

SCRIPT
I wondered whether to reveal more about the script, but after reflection, I concluded that if everyone knew what the film was about, no one would want to come to its possible premiere. Therefore, the details of the scenario will be known only to the parents and participants.

By writing the script, I was going to make it comedic. However, life in recent years has been somewhat complicated and depressing, so the story took a darker turn to reflect reality. When creating an artistic commentary on the current situation – it’s hard to be a happy optimist, and although I think that most of what I have made has a light tone, it does not mean that the whole film will be like that.

During the project, there will be “writing room” sessions in which the kids will set the tone and the final shape and direction of the story. If they choose to make the movie darker – it will be so. The existing scenario at the moment is the backbone of the story. In itself, it is an integral, ready-to-shoot story. However, I left special “windows” to implant alternative “storylines” without disrupting the main plot.

LAUNCH
I cannot confirm when the first group meeting will take place. As soon as everything is ready, I will publish a post on S247 Facebook fanpage and a blog post. If you are a business owner and would like to receive a bit of free advertising in exchange for “grilling” kids at a pitch meeting – please contact me. No matter how big your business is – your skills, knowledge, view of the advertisement are unique, and in no way I will be able to simulate a meeting with someone like you. Only a business person can give the kids participating in the project an authentic business meeting experience.

If you have a child aged 13-18 and you think that they would like to take part in such a project – ask and if they show interest – contact me. It will be a while before the project starts, but now I can start collecting people willing to participate. All parents and their children will be invited to an information meeting where I will detail all the competitions waiting for participants and the details of the scenario.

Sylwester Zwierzynski info@shirebrook247.com