AN independently produced sitcom about young people trying to make it in Scotland’s biggest city has been picked up by Amazon Prime.
Weegies, the culmination of seven years of work for its creators, premiered on August 16 and the response has been “really humbling”, according to co-writer and star Stephen Arthur.
Arthur, who plays “Steve” in the show (below), told The National it was “surreal” to see their hard work on such a huge platform.
“To actually have it out there and for people to react positively it’s just, just surreal is the one word I would probably say.
“But also extremely, just extremely proud and the reaction we’ve got has been really humbling.
“It’s amazing to finally have it out there because we’ve had a lot of support from friends and family over the course of these years so to actually have it in a place where they can just go and search it and have the thrill of seeing on their downstairs telly, it’s something else.”
Set in Glasgow, its creators say the show is focused on characters, relationships, and patter.
“The show celebrates what it is to be a young person living in Scotland and does not revolve around any stereotypes but proudly represents the multicultural, friendly and inclusive nature of a wonderful city,” they said in a release.
The concept first saw the light of day in 2014, when Arthur and childhood friend George Charles Stewart approached independent filmmaker Graeme Watt of 8 Acre Films.
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Together they scripted and filmed Weegies: The Pilot Episode, which premiered in June of that year to a sold out audience in Glasgow's O2 ABC venue.
However, that pilot is now “locked away never to see the light of day”, Arthur says, with the new series representing a “complete reimagining of the concept”.
Weegies, which is available to view on Amazon Prime, was co-written with Matthew Joseph-Campbell. It has already been getting a fair amount of attention.
Arthur told The National: “The past week [since the series’ release] has been one of the most exhilarating but scary weeks of my life. I was getting notifications constantly. I’m only used to getting about six every two weeks but I was getting new notifications every five seconds. It’s just been crazy.”
Asked how they’d managed to get it onto the Amazon platform, Arthur said: “We literally just chanced it, pretty much the same way we have for the past seven years. We chanced it and hoped to God that they would take it.
“There was no guarantees, there was no nothing, just a massive amount of work behind the scenes that was spread across our crew. Our director Graeme [Watt]’s got a lot to do with it as well.”
Despite a demand from viewers though, a second series might not be on the way unless financial aid is also forthcoming.
Arthur said: “The scripts are there, the characters are there, but we did this independently with a lot of money from our own pockets so I would hope [to make a second series] but we’ll definitely need help this time around. But the story’s definitely there, we’ve got it in mind.”
Weegies is available to watch on Amazon Prime here, and the trailer for the first series can be viewed above.
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