With a film and TV industry saturated with the same celebrity actors, directors, and the overdone Hollywood formula, finding a good new show can be difficult. If only there was a youth-led media group who prioritised the voices of underrepresented artists and creatives, you say. One which sparks debate and spreads awareness of the issues facing young people in England, which might otherwise be ignored. Fortunately, here you’ve found exactly what you’re looking for.
Fully Focused Productions is a non-profit media organisation who engage in a range of film-related projects, from mentoring young people interested in film and acting, to releasing films by these young people weekly on their Youtube channel, Million Youth Media. Founded ten years ago by school friends Teddy Nygh and Nicky Bedu, the group had evolved to become a multi-faceted, close community, partnered with companies such as Channel 4, the BBC, ITV and Picture House. In their own words, they handle a huge range of projects - “documentaries, films, music videos, news reports and online content.”
One important arm of their group is the MYM Academy: a training opportunity for youth where they can learn production skills and other transferable skills which make it that much easier to enter the film industry. Another aspect which helps it to be more in touch with younger voices is its MYM Youth Council. When potential writers send their scripts in to the Million Youth Media YouTube Channel, it is solely in the hands of the Youth Council on whether to accept it; not the senior members. As Nicky Bedu says in the latest The British Blacklist podcast episode, “[We] wanted to have a space where this was just young people cultivating what content was being distributed.” Recently, Fully Focused is one of a few grassroots groups to have just been given official support by Netflix itself - they are happy to be able to “continue to offer hands on training, vital skills and industry insights”.
Some of Fully Focused’s work includes their critically acclaimed 2012 documentary Riot From Wrong, one of their founding works and screened over 80 times across Britain and Europe. When mainstream media failed to cover the riots of the previous year, a small team at Fully Focused, with barely any budget, produced an insightful and widely researched look into the events through the eyes of many different people. The documentary was so well received that it was screened at Parliament; Cambridge University's Institute of Criminology; and Christ Church College, Oxford. Their YouTube channel also regularly gains millions of views on their professionally produced short films, which usually highlight a real-life problem affecting many - an example is their film Nadia, produced in a partnership with Centrepoint to inform young people about their right to accommodation and address the stigma of homelessness. Some of their latest productions are Watch What I Do, Drawn Out, and 18, all available to watch on their channel.
However, their newest and biggest project yet is delivering its pilot episode in less than a week. It’s called Pru, and is their first scripted broadcast commission airing on BBC iPlayer on the 2nd of March. The synopsis on BBC’s website is thus: “PRU is a comedy about a group of teens struggling to navigate adolescence in a pupil referral unit, a school for excluded kids. Told through the eyes of four charismatic but complex young people, for whom sometimes even the smallest of obstacles can feel like the end of the world.” One of the reasons Nicky Bedu wanted to enter the media and creative industry was representation: watching the TV in his childhood, he never saw anyone like him in anything like his life and situation - hopefully he can provide this for the younger generations now.
