This year has seen the launch of 'Talk History', a series of 5 short films, written and produced by Kevin Hicks of History Squad for our client OCR to support their new history syllabus: SS Major, Nazi Nurse, Elizabethan Lady, Tudor Gunner and Medieval Surgeon.

This has been a great opportunity for us, since teachers for many years, have been asking if we can put what we do, in terms of live performance, onto film for use in the classroom. So when OCR approached us, we already had ideas waiting for them.

After initial meetings, we began our research on each of the 5 characters and began to build their story around the needs of the curriculum. Much of the research material used was biographical, coming from contemporary letters, diaries and even court records. Research the Nazi Nurse and the euthanasia project was a particularly harrowing and unpleasant task.

The making of the films was a real learning curve and we achieved so much on a very tight budget. To keep costs down, everything was sourced locally; Sarah Ball and Elaine Freeborn were perfect for their characters and gave excellent performances despite the January snow. We managed to shoot all 5 films over 3 days using a dance studio at the Playbox Theatre in Warwick. The film company, Blue Hippo Media were a great help and were totally committed to the project; having worked together before, they knew exactly what we were looking to achieve.

We would like to add our special thanks to Sloe Gin, who kindly provided the music for the Elizabethan Lady. www.sloe-gin.co.uk
Thanks guys!