EBC TV premieres new school drama

Surviving School is the name of the Eastbourne College TV mini-series which has been in production throughout the Michaelmas term and is now a permanent fixture of the Drama Department.

As the name suggests, the series covers issues relevant to pupils at school, ranging from creating friendship groups, feeling academic pressure, coming out as LGBTQ+ and even dealing with embarrassing siblings!

The project is entirely pupil-led, from the script-writing to the filming and editing, and filming takes place on Saturday mornings.

The premiere took place in the Jennifer Winn Auditorium on Thursday 2 February, and Polly Symes (Watt, Year 13) reports:

'It was a really exciting event for everyone involved, from the actors to the EBC TV production team, as none of us had ever seen the episode in its entirety. The atmosphere was supportive and buzzing, and we got a big turnout from pupils and parents.

'After watching the episode, OE and BAFTA winner Mark Freeland (School 1976-81) appeared on stage to answer questions about the TV industry from Daniel Fathers, our resident film and TV expert at the College. Everyone will agree that Mr Freeland had some great anecdotes and advice, from having met a nascent-stages Spice Girls before they were famous, to advice on keeping in touch with people after events and remembering coffee orders! He also generously let us hold his BAFTA - it was surprisingly heavy…

'To celebrate afterwards, we all dug in to a ginormous chocolate cake. The EBC TV team are already hard at work on episode 2 of Surviving School, which is looking to be bigger and better in all aspects - we hope to see you in the audience at the next premiere!'