THE GEMMA FACTOR

BBC Three comedy THE GEMMA FACTOR follows the story of the ambitious Gemma Collinge as she attempts to find fame before the age of 21. The Gemma Factor filmed in Hebden Bridge and Heptonstall in 2009, with Screen Yorkshire providing crew and locations support.


SYNOPSIS
Gemma Collinge has only one ambition - to be famous by the time she's 21 - and is determined not be let her search for stardom be hampered by the fact that she lives in a quiet Yorkshire village and miles from the bright lights. As she chases her dreams she is both helped and hindered by friends and family - clotheshorse Jeff, angst-ridden Nell and her no-nonsense Nanna.

Gemma is sweet, desperately naïve and will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. An agent who has a criminal record for allegedly selling a panto dancer into the white slave trade is no barrier, nor are a string of gigs barely touching the periphery of the entertainment business. Gemma remains undeterred, relentlessly optimistic and wholly endearing.

A breath of fresh optimism through the eyes of a determined starlet, The Gemma Factor stars newcomer Anna Gilthorpe as Gemma, Angus Barnett as her agent Kenny and Claire King as Jeff's Ab-Fab-style Mum.

The Gemma Factor is a 6 x 30-minute series produced by Freeform Productions for the BBC. The series was aired on BBC Three and BBC HD in March and April 2010.

Anna Lee, Location Manager on THE GEMMA FACTOR said:
"I found The Gemma Factor an incredibly enjoyable shoot to be part of and I know all the crew felt the same. The residents of the picturesque village of Heptonstall made filming in their neighbourhood an absolute pleasure, Northern Rail saw that our days filming at Hebden Bridge station ran perfectly - and everyone we contacted from Calderdale Council and the local police were extremely helpful. Having never filmed in the area before, I found the support and advice of Screen Yorkshire's Production Liaison Team through their local knowledge and contacts invaluable and very much look forward to filming again in Yorkshire in the future, confident that we will find all the support there that we need for our shoot to run smoothly."

THE GEMMA FACTOR is written by Tony Pitts (Night Class, No Friends in the North) and produced by Joanna Blake for Freeform Productions.