Northern factual indies Button Down, ClockWork and LA Factual have landed commissions from BBC3 and BBC England as part of a drive to unearth new voices from local communities.
The trio all submitted proposals to the Factual Development Scheme, which called for ideas that reflected the life experiences of 16 to 24 year-olds in the region.
York-based Button Down’s ob doc series Bricking It follows groups of young bricklayers competing incentivised to earn the most cash by laying the most bricks. The series will also offer glimpses into its contributors’ lives away from the building site.
In Leeds indie ClockWork Films’ No More: Bad Girl, producer/presenter Persephone Rizvi, who has previously worked as an AP on shows such as Gold Wala’s Mate’s a Muslim, 7Wonder’s Hometown: A Killing and Expectation’s The Steph Show and The Tez O’Clock Show, returns to her native Huddersfield, seven years after leaving without telling the friends she grow up with.
Completing the set is Nail Bar Boys from the factual arm of LA Productions, the indie behind many of Jimmy McGovern’s dramas. It follows a group of second-generation young Vietnamese men from Manchester and Liverpool who run a nail salon.
The commissions are part of BBC3’s commitment to run at least one creative partnership in each nation or region to support the factual sector in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
BBC3 controller Fiona Campbell, Controller said: “These three original commissions are exactly why it is so important for us to collaborate with BBC England and the nation’s teams. We were blown away by the ideas presented to us and we’re proud that BBC Three can be the platform to tell these stories and showcase new voices.”
