Channel 4
I Was There When...
2017
Commercial work
I Was There When...
2017
Commercial work
A doc series about moments in history that changed the course of music culture.
The pilot episode: I Was There When... House Was Born rewinds back to 1979 in Chicago.
In a baseball half-time show now known as ‘Disco Demolition’, a local radio DJ
encouraged the crowd to bring disco records to the game, where they would be stacked in a giant pile and blown to bits. The event triggered local racial tensions and forced a (predominantly black) disco scene into the shadows, where it would stew and mutate into a new sound that would soon take the world by storm: house music.
I worked as a researcher and scriptwriter on the project, helping map out the narrative arc by sourcing info, plugging gaps and recommending interview subjects. Unfortunately, the full series didn’t get commissioned, but the pilot episode was a dream to be a part of.
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)
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The pilot episode: I Was There When... House Was Born rewinds back to 1979 in Chicago.
In a baseball half-time show now known as ‘Disco Demolition’, a local radio DJ
encouraged the crowd to bring disco records to the game, where they would be stacked in a giant pile and blown to bits. The event triggered local racial tensions and forced a (predominantly black) disco scene into the shadows, where it would stew and mutate into a new sound that would soon take the world by storm: house music.
I worked as a researcher and scriptwriter on the project, helping map out the narrative arc by sourcing info, plugging gaps and recommending interview subjects. Unfortunately, the full series didn’t get commissioned, but the pilot episode was a dream to be a part of.
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)