Creating The Break
Anne Edyvean
former Head of Â鶹ÊÓƵAV Writersroom
The latest series of Â鶹ÊÓƵAV Three's The Break landed on Â鶹ÊÓƵAV iPlayer this week with all five bold short dramas showcasing some brilliant writing, directing and acting talent.
When Fiona Campbell (Controller of Â鶹ÊÓƵAV Three) said she wanted the next series of The Break to be from disabled talent we were delighted. We told our Writers’ Access Group (Â鶹ÊÓƵAV Writersroom's development group for writers with disabilities), and called out to agents and leading disability Arts organisations. We asked for ideas for short films that might fit the brief.
The writers who sent the best ideas were invited to attend a one day workshop based around The Break in particular, and short-form storytelling in general.
Meet the writers of Series 5 of The Break
We then developed some ideas further, working with the production company () who were going to make the five films. In the end, we all jointly settled on the five stories that went on to form Series 5 of The Break.
Three of the final five writers are from our first Writers' Access Group, and the writers of the other two were invited to join our current group, as were some of the others who got quite far through the process.
Bim Ajadi, director of ‘Oh Toni!’ for The Break, explains their experience of being a film director who is deaf.
Â鶹ÊÓƵAV Studios went on to interview disabled directors, and started the casting process for disabled performers.
Filming was held up due to Covid, and when we did eventually film in November we took stringent precautions. We could not risk any infections on the shoot, and managed to achieve that goal.
Socially distanced post-production was successfully achieved, with editors working remotely and sending though files for us to view. Some films went through various versions as we worked to tell the story in the clearest and most effective way. The final steps were in a post-production facility in Soho, with much hand sanitiser and mask-wearing, and limiting the number of people in each room at a time.
Let’s Talk: Disability Representation with George Robinson - George Robinson and the cast of The Break talk about disability representation in the TV industry.
Everyone involved worked tirelessly on these films. and we all love the results – I hope viewers enjoy them too!
Today is Anne Edyvean’s last day as Head of Â鶹ÊÓƵAV Writersroom after six years. We’d like to thank her for her unstinting work supporting new writing and writers at the Â鶹ÊÓƵAV from across the whole of the UK and wish her all the best for her future endeavours.
Watch Series 5 of The Break now on Â鶹ÊÓƵAV iPlayer
For the first time all 25 episodes of The Break are now available to watch on Â鶹ÊÓƵAV iPlayer
Find out more about the writers of The Break series 5