Fiction Adaption: The Pitch

Here is my Pitch for my Fiction adaption:

I personally haven't had much experience with war. I can't relate to it personally but this got me thinking...  What 'war' can people relate to? Because I'm not sure how many people can say they have personally been effected by war without having a family member or being involved themselves. Well for me war is usually a conflict between 2 sides. Usually one side is bigger and stronger than the other. Its about power and its about control. And therefore a more relatable version of this is bullying. Bullying is an unfair fight where 1 side controls and punishes another for gain, they use superior strength or influence to intimidate someone, typically to force them to do something. It sounds a lot like war to me. More people will know someone that has been bullied or will have been bullied than will have been effected by war. So i wanted to explore this and touch upon the one of the things that can happen as a result of bullying - Suicide. 
I know people that have tried to commit suicide or have committed suicide and therefore its a subject close to my heart. 
When i first read The Death Bed i felt a strong connection to it and was able to immediately picture the story in my head in relation to a bulling theme. 
The plot for my short film is centered around a 15 year old boy called Jack who after months of being tormented by a gang who have 'befriended' him, he makes the decision to end his life. We follow Jack as he makes his last journey to his favourite place and along the way see his abuse, through flashbacks. 

Here are some statistics:

• Almost 45,000 children talked to ChildLine about bullying last year.
• More than 16,000 young people are absent from school due to bullying.
• 45% of young people experience bullying before the age of 18.
• 26% of those bullied have experienced bullying on a daily basis.
• 61% of respondents have been physically attacked.

• 30% have gone on to self-harm as a result of bullying.
• 10% have attempted to commit suicide as a result of bullying.

Childline Statistics (2014)

I hope that by making a film like this is can do something to help teenagers being bullied and show the consequences that can result from bullying. 

Stay safe

Helen