TOM BIRD ...kinda like TOM FORD. His work may not smell as good. Looks good though. And he smells nice. More info here ︎︎︎
TOM BIRD ...kinda like TOM FORD. His work may not smell as good. Looks good though. And he smells nice. More info here ︎︎︎
Channel 4
I Was There When... House Was Born
2017
Commercial work

A series about moments in history that changed the course of music. Episode 1 reveals how the demolition of disco gave birth to house.

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‘I Was There When’ is a docu-series format spearheaded by head of Pi Studios, Ravi Amaratunga Hitchcock. Unfortunately, the full series was never commissioned, but the pilot episode was a dream project to be a part of.

I Was There When House Was Born rewinds back to 1979 in Chicago. ‘Disco Demolition’ – a baseball half-time show led by a local radio DJ, who encouraged the destruction of thousands of disco records, lit the fuse for a new genre. The event morphed into a racial provocation, which forced a (predominantly black) disco scene back into the shadows, where it would stew and mutate into a new sound that would soon take the world by storm: house music.

My role in the project was a researcher and writer, helping map out the narrative arc by sourcing info, plugging gaps and recommending interview subjects.

We hosted a screening at FC Hyena in Amsterdam, where house legend Jesse Saunders came all the way from Chi-town for the party ... and boy can he still party.

Click here to watch Episode 1 on All4.


Creative Studio  ︎︎︎  Pi Studios
Commissioner  ︎︎︎  Channel 4
Series Creator  ︎︎︎  Ravi Amaratunga Hitchcock
Executive Producer  ︎︎︎  Ravi Amaratunga Hitchcock
Production Company  ︎︎︎  All Day Every Day
Director  ︎︎︎  Jake Sumner
Producer  ︎︎︎  Lucy Sumner
Art Direction ︎︎︎  Nessim Higson, Jack Samels (Pi Studios)
Researcher  ︎︎︎  Tom Bird (Pi Studios)

Mark
Wednesday May 11 2022
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