Wicked Pilot

The very first edition of Wicked, presented by Michelle Hull and Brian Duffy, includes items on the London Deaf Drama Group; on how bullying impacts on the mental health of young deaf people; on the experience of the deaf community in Northern Ireland during the “troubles”; a look at the work of Gamelab, a company making educational software for young deaf children; plus interviews with award winning deaf role model, Sabina Iqbal, and BSLBT Chief Executive, Terry Riley.

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British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust (BSLBT)

BSLBT Chief Executive, Terry Riley tells us how and why the trust was set up and about the audience research it carried out to ensure that its programmes reflected the interests, needs and aspirations of the sign language community. Terry also explains about the funding of BSLBT and outlines its plans for the next two years.

You can find more information about BSLBT at www.bslbt.co.uk

The London Deaf Drama Group (LDDG)

There has always been a huge interest in drama and acting within the deaf community and well-established amateur drama continue to thrive in Liverpool and Derby. However, the best known deaf theatre group is probably the London Deaf Drama Group (LDDG) that was set up in 1986 and is still going strong.

Brian Duffy joined group members as they prepared for a production of “Snow White and the Seven Deafies” and spoke to panto director, Fifi Garfield and founder member of the LDDG. Terry Edwards.

For more information on the LDDG contact:- lddg86@yahoo.co.uk

National Deaf Service

The National Deaf Service, based in the South West of London at St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, provides a range of mental health services for deaf people, including services for adults, a child and family service, psychotherapy and counselling and an established community home network.

As part of their work the NDS commissioned a short drama called “Communication Breakdown” which examined the impact of bullying on the mental health of young deaf people. While the drama is primarily aimed at mental health professionals, many of whom have limited deaf awareness, the DVD will interest anyone interested in developing and/or accessing services aimed at the deaf community.

You can find out more about the work of the National Deaf Service and the “Communication Breakdown” DVD at www.swlstg-tr.nhs.uk/nds

Gamelab London

If you’re the parent of a Deaf child you will know just how few educational resources are accessible on the web, on DVD or Television. However things now seem to be changing. Gamelab London is a company creating educational software aimed at 5 to 11 year olds and has recently been developing resources aimed specifically at deaf children – and their parents – who use sign language.

Using deaf actors, avatars and technology, Gamelab London has created some fantastic and fun educational and literacy product. For more details see the Gamelab London website at www.gamelablondon.co.uk

Signs of Our Times

In 2008, the Deaf Association of Northern Ireland, (DANI) received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and commissioned a DVD called ‘Signs of Our Times’ which sought to record the memories and experiences of members of the Northern Ireland Deaf community. Some were humorous, others moving and some tragic, but together they create a fascinating mosaic of Deaf life and deaf experience in Northern Ireland over the past half century.

In the programme we featured the terrifying experiences of two men caught up in the sectarian violence during the troubles and see how it still affects their lives.

If you would like more information on “Signs of Our Times” or on DANI you can contact them on 028 90 43 74 80 or email northernireland@bda.org.uk

Sabina Iqbal

Sabina Iqbal set up Deaf Parenting UK seven years ago to provide support services for deaf parents, and in November 2008 was a joint winner of the BT/Real Business “Woman of the Future” Voluntary Award. The judges said, “Sabina is someone who spotted a gap in service provision and had the motivation to plug it – overcoming numerous barriers to do so. She has transformed the provision of services to this group in the UK.”

In the studio Sabina tells us how she feels receiving the award, – how she is delighted and proud to be a deaf role model – and about her work with Deaf Parenting UK and her plans for the future.

More for more information on the “Women of the Future” Awards see www.realbusiness.co.uk and for more details on the services and support offered by Deaf Parents UK see www.deafparent.org.uk

Who’s Who?

This pilot episode of Wicked was made by Mutt and Jeff Pictures.

Founded in February 2007 by Louis Neethling and Joel Kellhofer as a way of raising the profile of deaf professionals in the industry – a foot-in-the-door if you will – Mutt & Jeff Pictures is tenacious, focused and passionate about film and TV.

Mutt & Jeff Pictures is perhaps best known for developing award-winning drama productions and indeed it is the only deaf-led (BSL as a first language) television drama making production company in the UK. In its first year, Mutt & Jeff Pictures produced two short film dramas – Horatio and Coming Out – both of which won awards at various deaf film festivals including ‘Best Foreign Film’ ‘Best Scriptwriter’ and ‘Best Short Film’ – and both received critical acclaim from film critics, Jason Solomons (Guardian) and Robert Hanks (Independent).

However, the company is also committed to producing factual programmes – in magazine or documentary formats – and Wicked will, hopefully, be just the first of many such commissions.

Wicked was a collaboration between Louis Neethling and David Horbury, who first worked together in 2001 on the ground breaking “Switch” drama for BBC 2 daytime.

The presenters of Wicked – Michelle Hull and Brian Duffy – brought huge amounts of enthusiasm and commitment to this project. Michelle is a well know face in the Northern Ireland deaf community and was the presenter of the “Signs of Our Times” DVD.

Brian Duffy is from Scotland and has worked as an occasional reporter for BBC See Hear; as an actor in the short film “The Guest” and as a stand up comedian in “The World Today“. Both films were shown at Deaffest and can now be seen on YouTube!