An aspiring Jersey screenwriter has secured funding to help create a six-part TV series based on his experience working in Jersey’s Income Support unit.

Location manager Jake Day, who has worked in film and television for seven years, is one of seven artists to have recently received a development grant from ArtHouse Jersey.

The quarterly funding initiative offers financial assistance to support the creation of new work or to support the development of an artist’s creative process.

Mr Day told Express he was hoping to use the funding to develop the first episode of his series “The Claimants”, which tells the story of an alcoholic who relapses while trying to claim benefits.

The funding will also help him to develop a “pitch deck” – a short presentation about the project – which he hopes to show to producers in the future.

Express caught up with him to learn more about The Claimants…

What was the inspiration behind ‘The Claimants’?

“The idea came from not knowing what happened when the claimant left the building. I always wondered how much of an impact my decision had on that person’s life.

“I would deal with so many people a day that you became immune to thinking about the overall consequence. Often the decision was one the claimant didn’t like, and I was bound by the guidelines, so the decision was often beyond my control and sometimes you felt bad, but you had to move on.”

How does this project fit into your overall artistic journey?

“Whilst at film school, we studied social realism, and two films really stood out to me; one was Ken Loach’s ‘Cathy Come Home’, from 1966, and Cleo Dunbars ‘The Arbor’, from 2010.

“I watched them and thought, ‘I want to make these kinds of shows.’

“It was the most enjoyable unit of my degree, and I had experience of dealing with some of the aspects of those films in my working life, so it just made sense to write about the things I knew.”

What stage is your project at right now, and have there been any key moments or milestones so far?

While the The Claimants is still in development, Jake explained that he already had a pilot episode written and had begun working on the second episode.

“The key moment so far is receiving the grant. It shows you that the idea has value,” he reflected.

“I was working on another script, and when discussing ideas at a wrap party for another film, I mentioned the idea for The Claimants and the writer of that film said, ‘Oh that sounds like a good idea!’ so I wrote it down, and now I’ve received a grant, so I guess it must be good.”

What impact do you hope ‘The Claimants’ will have on audiences?

“I’d hope for a big one. If I was going to compare this show to another, I’d say it’s comparable to ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’, ‘I, Daniel Blake’, and, of course, ‘Cathy Come Home’.

“It’s about questioning the impact of process and decision-making. You only have to look at what the wrong decision caused for some postmasters – the impact was huge, yet the British Post Office felt they were absolutely right.”

How has this grant helped you in ways which may not have been otherwise possible?

“Without the grant I wouldn’t be able to approach people in the industry in the same way.

“The grant gives you leverage to say ‘someone else gave me money for this’ or ‘someone on the outside of the industry thinks this is a good idea’ – it means the idea has caught someone’s attention and because of that I can approach people in a way I couldn’t before.

“I can also use the money to pay professionals [involved in bringing The Claimants to life] and that’s something I really couldn’t do without the grant and the help of ArtHouse Jersey.”

Tomorrow, Express catches up with another grant recipient, hyperrealism artist Dullal Miah.