Client Proposal

Alice Bertozzi
Auto Box
06/10/2014

Channel 4

2014

Aquinas: Media and Film Studies Department

St Thomas Road

PROPOSAL
Prepared by
Brad Rigby

Project name: St Thomas Road

Outline of idea:
The show will be a melodrama based in a college in Greater Manchester with a focus on the
relationships between family and friends, as well as coming of age and dealing with all the
things that entails. The college itself will be a central location for the show, as well as the
nearby town and some of the characters houses will be central locations, as well.
We will be aiming for a primary target audience of teens and young adults between the ages of
sixteen and twenty-two, as we believe that they will either be going through the same issues
featured in the show or, will have recently come out of college and, as such, will be able to
relate to the characters well and find enjoyment in that. A secondary target audience would be
teens aged fourteen and fifteen who may be nervous about going to college, or would want to
know what its going to be like, which our show will be able to give an idea of.
As previously mentioned, there will be a focus on relationships and the issues that sometimes
arise. Some potential plot ideas will be break-ups, family feuds, teen pregnancy, and making
friends in a new school. We believe that these are common problems that a lot of young people
will be dealing with and this will draw their viewership, as well as help guide them through the
issues themselves. Though, as it is a melodrama, these things will be exaggerated and largerthan-life and a lot of the characters will be oversimplified, but we do not believe this will take
away from the message of the show.
The characters featuring will mainly be students, as a younger audience will better be able to
relate to people of their own age. There will also be teachers who will take prominent rolls in
some of the storylines, especially those featuring exam stress and other difficulties the students
face in the college itself. Some of the students parents will also feature in the show, as well.
We believe that the nature of the show as a soap and its focus on a young audience will mean
that it will be able to go on for many series and remain relevant, keeping a solid fan base. The
show will build up the relationships between the characters and explore conflicts which arise,
creating plots that could span several months and include a wide array of characters.

Narratives:
5 narratives will be shown in the trailer; this is use of
segmentation to make the trailer more interesting to watch.
All narratives are biased in the college of St Thomas road. This is the college that
the TV series features.
Exam stress- It is exam period, and students of Aquinas are getting stressed with work,
revision and each other. This is biased in the class room and at break time, this features many
students but in particular savannah getting stressed with maths work. JJ tries to help her, and it
turns into a fight about who knows better Rebecca catches them but doesnt think of anything
yet.

Cheating a guy student from Aquinas is cheating on his girlfriend with another girl from the
college. Girlfriend Rebecca is suspicious and goes through his phone when he goes to the loo.
She finally finds out from texts on JJs phone from savannah. When Rebecca confronts him of
these texts and cheating rumours he denies and leaves the scene. Rebecca Is left upset and
confused.
Kidnapped/ran away A girl runs away from home, and parents contact the college
because they think she has been kid-napped (un aware of what is happening in Rebeccas
private life). When it turns out she has run away from home. Rebecca runs away from home
because of stress at home, she has been cheated on and she is stressed with exams. Andy
goes out and looks for her, and finds her with a sleeping bag on the side of the road trying to
sleep. Scene ends with Andy comforting Rebecca

Fight- Two friends get into a physical fight in college at lunch time. Andy Johnston and JJ have
a fist fight about the way he is mistreating Rebecca. Andy has had enough of rumours and
storms in and punches JJ, it turns into a huge fight and before the fight gets out of hand
students have to pull Andy off JJ.

Family feud- two sisters get into a fight over general family life. Fight captured, showing
conflict and disagreement. Leading to a cliff hanger. Amy Andrews and Rebecca Andrews have
a fight about Amys attitude to college life, and her drinking habits. This happens in the college
when Rebecca finds out from friends that Amy has been smoking drugs and seeing a guy that
is known for being a drug dealer. Amy and Rebecca disagree with each other

Character Profiles:
JJ Davids - JJ has had a tough upbringing having lost him mum at a young age. He is an 18
year old student at Aquinas. He is currently dating Rebecca but is seeing Savannah. He claims
he loves Rebecca but it is quite obvious he doesnt or isnt aware of what love is. He is a typical
Manchester lad and his relationship with Rebecca doesnt quite fit.
Savannah Hulme Savannah is a bit spoilt and has always got whatever she wants. She is
seeing JJ despite knowing of his relationship with Rebecca but seems to enjoy carrying her
easy reputation. She is from Bramhall and has been brought up well which makes the
audience wonder why she acts so badly. Her slightly posh accent doesnt quite fit with her
attitude and behaviour.
Rebecca Andrews Rebecca or Becky is a relatively quiet, pretty girl. She is dating JJ and is
very much in love with him. Finding out about his affair will crush her. She is smart and does
well at college and has plans for university. She is well behaved and has good principles and
morals. She is good friends with Andy and confides a lot in him. It is obvious that she can do a
lot better than JJ and is more suited for a friend in the friend zone, Andy. She is very oblivious
to the fact that Andy is in love with her despite his consistent efforts to be wherever she is. She
gets on well with her sister, Amy, despite looking down on her behaviour.
Andy Johnson Andy is well behaved, respective 18 year old student. He is in love with
Rebecca and hates JJ for what he is doing to her. He is smart and truly cares about the people
around him. He has plans to go to university and hopes to end up wherever Rebecca is. He is
interested in music, enjoys playing his guitar and occasionally writes lyrics but is too shy to
share them with anyone else. Ultimately, Andy is the one in the end who slips it to Rebecca that
JJ is cheating on her.
Amy Andrews Amy is the sister of Rebecca but seems to be the opposite of her. She doesnt
concentrate at college and prefers to socialise, sometimes even skipping college. She is a wild
child, enjoys drinking and smoking and being friendly with boys. Despite her differences to her
sister she has a close relationship with her.

Production Team, roles and skills:

Producer:
Zaid
Director:
Brad
Production Manager:
Alanah
Camera:
Lucy
Sound:
Alice
Assistant Camera/director:
Alice

Target Audience
We are basing our target audience on teenagers as most of the characters which we will be
acting are 18 and under, also teachers and parents as the teachers teach the students and
parents are the students guardians.
It is based in a college which are full off young students and teachers, so the audience could
relate to this. Also the audience could relate to the young students and teachers lives outside of
college as well.
Teenagers 18 and under will be interested in this because they might of not been college yet
and might want to see what its like or teenagers that go to college could relate to the drama
which is in this series we are going to create.
Another reason that teenagers would watch this if they dont believe in discipline at college e.g.
fights and getting punished etc. This would interest them because it would show the actors get
away with it without punishment.
Teachers would be the target audience as well because they can relate to the college life as
they would teach students and make rules in the college and come across students which are
bad. Parents would also be the target audience as they would like to see what happens during
college and what dramas go on during the college.

Reasons as to why the idea will work (broadcast time, demand for
style of show, mass/niche appeal)
Our idea will work as it relates to teenagers similar to our age, (15-19) so that
teens will be more likely to watch as it will relate to their lives in college and out of
college as well and what they do on weekends with friends. It will also relate to
their family situations that happen in the household.

The estimated cost and justification of amount:

According to research, the series Waterloo road is estimated to cost 20,000,000
a year so with ours being similar would cost around 17,000,000 per year.

When it will be ready:

19th December

Client feedback (including areas for development prior to

drafting of treatment):

Certified suitable for development:

Client.............................................................................
Executive Producer.......................................................
End