Specky selected for full Channel 4 Emerging Indie Award!
https://www.channel4.com/press/news/fourteen-nations-regions-based-indies-named-channel-4s-2023-emerging-indie-fund
Specky secure C4 Commission ‘The Welsh Valley That Won the Lottery’
In May 2022 more than 400 people in the south Wales valley of Rhymney shared a lottery win of 3.7 million pounds. From Betty who won £3,984 to retired steel-worker Ted, who won £370,000; sums large and small have a huge impact at a time of the cost of living crisis. In a place where people have always struggled to make ends meet, what happens when they share a prize a multi-million pound prize? While for some the win is life changing, for many others the win is lifesaving. For mother of seven Mary, who has taken to growing her own fruit and veg to feed her family, the win means a trip to Devon for the first family holiday in 14 years. Former DJ John Price fulfils a lifelong dream as tears up the valley in his new quad bike. Directed by Sarah Howitt. Read the Broadcast article here
New BBC Scotland commissions (pt2)
My Husband the Cage Fighter (w/t)- 1x30
Natalie Ray is married to childhood sweetheart and cage-fighter, Stevie ‘Braveheart’ Ray. He’s one fight away from becoming Scotland’s first world champion – but at what cost? This is the all-or-nothing tale of Stevie’s 1-million dollar prize bout, told through Natalie’s eyes. Directed by Christine Johnston.
Specky gets Funding from C4 Emerging Indie Fund
Specky Productions are discretionary award winners from the 2022 Channel 4 Emerging Indie Fund. We will be using the money to fund a new development post. Thank you Channel 4! Read more here
New BBC Scotland commissions (pt1)
Nathan Evans: What the Wellerman Did Next. (w/t) - 1x45
Global TikTok sea shanty sensation Nathan Evans dreams of becoming Scotland’s next Louis Capaldi, but can he escape the ‘one hit wonder’ tag that made him famous? Directed by Neil Sargent.
#CancelKarenDunbar in Broadcast Magazine
“Comedy is about saying the unsayable but in a fast-changing landscape it’s hard to know what is acceptable, says #CancelKarenDunbar director Anne-Claire Pilley.” Read more here
The Scottish Island that Won the Lottery gets ‘Pick of the Day’ across the board.
The Guardian… Pick of the Day
“Playing like a real-life, less scandalous version of Kay Mellor’s The Syndicate, this charming documentary traces the changed fortunes of the inhabitants of the Outer Hebridean Isle of North Uist after they won a £3m windfall. We follow fisherman Donald, crofter Attar, postal worker Pamela, peat cutter Duncan and whisky distillery entrepreneurs Kate and Jonny, as they plan what to do with their winnings and see how it might – or might not – affect their rural lifestyles.”
The Sun
“A charming documentary about North Uist, a remote island in the Outer Hebrides, which won £3m on the Postcode Lottery in February 2020. But did it change the islanders' lives beyond recognition? The truth is more than a little surprising”
The Times
“Heartwarming”
New commission for Specky Productions, Karen Dunbar: The Comedy of Offence
The face behind such iconic Scottish comedy characters as Auld Betty, Almost Angelic and Shoeless Josie, funny woman Karen Dunbar considers how, in this newly woke world, a comedian navigates taste and offence.
https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2021/bbc-scotland-new-comedy-commissions/