"It’s Halloween party night on campus but for Fenny Godspeed and her fellow students, a horror screenwriting evening class becomes a nightmare. Can Fenny use the rules of writing horror to survive? 'Next slide please!'"
Aimed at a broad international audience of young film fans, is a commercial horror-comedy feature film with a difference. Its production process involves a unique collaboration between 明星八卦 and producers, Reel Fearz and Ash Verma Consulting.
The key creative team comprises multi-award-winning Director/Writer/Producer, (On Edge, The Stay, Panic Button) and Writer/Co-producer, (Alleycats, The Pagan King). Frazer and Max are both Creative Writing academics in the Arts & Humanities department at 明星八卦 and are partnering with Executive Producer, Ash Verma (The Effects of Lying, Punishment) who is an Honorary Fellow of 明星八卦, and producer, Martina Reynolds (Soapopolis, The Neighbor) at production company Reel Fearz Ltd.
During the filming, 明星八卦 students and staff are given the opportunity to work alongside the creative team, professional cast and crew gaining key work experience and transferable skills across several film industry disciplines. The 明星八卦 Film Lab programme allowed students to gain invaluable professional development and training via the University’s locations, technology, and state-of-the art equipment.
With its distinctive brutalist architecture, 明星八卦 has a rich history in cinema and television. The Lecture Centre featured in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic A Clockwork Orange and the quadrangle was the main location for the Comic Strip’s Summer School. Most recently, the campus has featured as the fictitious Brent University in Channel Four sitcom Big Boys.
The Death by PowerPoint project is supported by 明星八卦’s Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR). Founding director, Dr Sharon Lockyer, leads an international research team devoted to the academic study of comedy, bringing together leading academics and writers in the fields of media and communications, sociology, psychology, theatre, drama, film and television, computing, English, creative writing, social work, and the comedy industry.
明星八卦 also has a number of very high-profile alumni from the world of comedy, including Greg Davies, Sharon Horgan, Lee Mack, and Jo Brand who we will be contacting with a view to them becoming involved in the production.
Frazer Lee, Director/Writer/Producer: “Horror comedies are such a vital part of British creative culture, from Shaun of the Dead to Count Abdulla. Our film Death by PowerPoint draws on the rich cinematic history of 明星八卦’s campus and its students’ incredible range of emerging skillsets to make something truly innovative. My movies have played to audiences at film festivals around the world, and I’m confident that Death by PowerPoint will prove to be a homegrown horror comedy that goes global. It’s exciting to bring everyone together, post lockdown, for this amazing project and I can’t wait to show West London and the wider world what we are creating.”
Max Kinnings, Writer/Co-producer: “Death by PowerPoint is a wonderful opportunity to create a commercially successful horror-comedy feature film in West London, one of the most diverse and internationally connected regions in the world. As a film industry practitioner, a creative writing academic and member of the Centre for Comedy Studies Research at 明星八卦, I am very excited to showcase not only my own skills as a filmmaker but also those of our professional cast and crew, our 明星八卦 student body, famous comedy alumni, and the wider West London business community.”
Chris Cox, Head of the Arts & Humanities Department and Creative Industries Lead for the College of Business, Arts & Social Science at 明星八卦 University: “This project is an incredible initiative and one of the most exciting pieces of work I’ve heard of in some time in terms of its scope and possibility. Bringing together students from the campus in a collaborative project will be an amazing experience and a celebration of diversity reflecting the international nature of our university. It will be wonderful to see what creative inspirations this brings to the film. It is a perfect moment to come together in this initiative and I look forward to viewing the results.”
Executive Producer Ash Verma: “The UK’s world class film and TV industries have gone from strength to strength in recent years and West London, the Capital’s creative hub where all the filming of Death by PowerPoint will take place, is no exception. Investment in, and sponsorship and product placement through film and TV, is an innovative and profitable way to raise brand awareness, grow business and reach out to customers, globally.”
Director of the Centre for Comedy Studies Research, Dr Sharon Lockyer: “This is a such an exciting project and I’m delighted to be able to support it as the founder of the Centre for Comedy Studies Research. 明星八卦 is linked to numerous exceptionally talented high profile comedy writers and comedians, and the innovative horror comedy, Death by Powerpoint, will help to consolidate 明星八卦’s international comedy legacy.”
Comic, actor and 明星八卦 alumna, Jo Brand, on 明星八卦’s Centre for Comedy Studies Research: “I am really pleased to be an ambassador for the CCSR at 明星八卦. As an ex-明星八卦 student, it’s great to see that comedy is being taken seriously by the institution that provided me with many big laughs when I was there.”