The Splott Division, a film that follows three Superheroes coming to terms with redundancy in the wake of Government cuts looks set to be an Internet smash. The trailer (see below) has already notched up over a thousand hits in a matter of days.
The story follows three unlikely Superheroes who warden the district of Splott; The Splott Division. They are Mia aka Superosmia (Hanna Jarman); Aiden aka The Hearing Aid (Tim Howard) and new addition to the Division Jack aka The Iceberg (Jonathan Ash) who is keeping a secret from the team. The Splott Division are counseled and represented by Ms Loach (Siwan Morris). The series follows the Superheroes coming to terms with redundancy, following cuts to The Superhero League Council.
Jonathan Ash of Trusty Sidekick Productions told us:
“Trusty Sidekick Productions are Jonathan Ash and Tim Howard. We are Acting graduates from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (PG Acting for Stage, Screen & Radio), and we graduated this July. Back in May as we asked David J Evans (BAFTA Cymru Winner 2008; Best Film) to direct, having worked with him on a project whilst at Drama School. We also contacted Hanna Jarman (current BA3 at RWCMD) to join the cast, and we began to workshop the script.
“We developed the script through workshops, and with each workshop the story would develop and change dramatically, and we had to spend a lot of time developing the back story behind this new ‘Superhero World’ and the characters. Although David was brought in as the Director he ended up having a big involvement in the writing of the script.
“The original story was created by Jonathan Ash and Tim Howard, while the final script was written by Tim Howard & DJ Evans. The series was produced by Jonathan Ash.
“As we didn’t have any funding, we had to put some of our own money into the project. Furthermore, it meant we could not afford to pay actors or crew – though we did provide food (the key to keeping your team happy!).
“The ethos of our company is to spread the net as wide as possible when it comes to collaborations, which meant posting breakdowns (casting and crew) on lost of websites, e-mailing film courses looking for crew, and inviting professionals whose work we have seen and admire. Furthermore we want to try an act as a bridge between experienced professionals with extensive CVs and young professionals who have the skills, but don’t yet have the CV. For example, when it came to actors we had people involved like Siwan Morris (Skins), Lee Mengo (The Indian Doctor), and Gareth Pierce (Y Pris), alongside actors who have just graduated/graduating from Drama School.
“We filmed all 3 webisodes over a weekend in November – which required military precision; as the first day involved 5 locations and avoiding traffic/parking issues from the Wales vs South Africa rugby match.”
The cast includes Siwan Morris (Skins); Lee Mengo (Indian Doctor); Gareth Pierce (Y Pris); Jenni Davies (Svengali); Jonathan Ash; Tim Howard; Hanna Jarman; and Gemma Reynolds.
