Will You Be My Friend?
The BBC is looking for local children aged 5-8 who love making friends. The casting call is for a brand new six-part series about friendship for BBC One and iPlayer from Five Mile Films, the award-winning producers of Channel 4’s The Dog House and one of the BAFTA-winning producers of First Dates.
We all know what it feels like to try and make a friend. Whether it’s an awkward ‘hello’, turning up to a party alone, or telling a joke that doesn’t quite land, the pursuit of friendship isn’t always easy. Now imagine navigating all of that as a little kid.
Will You Be My Friend? explores the world of friendship through children aged 5 to 8 who are struggling socially. Some are shy, some feel like they don’t fit in, others simply haven’t found their tribe yet. They want to make a friend – but don’t know where to start.
In our post-Covid digital world, 42% of young people say friendships and social life are a daily worry and 47% of parents say they have observed a decline in their child’s social and emotional skills. A survey by the English-Speaking Union found that over 50% of parents of 5 to 9 year-olds say their children now struggle to make friends due to low self-confidence.
Enter The Friendship Centre, where a team of psychologists help children build the confidence and social skills to form real, lasting connections with other kids. Each child is then sensitively matched on a play date with a potential new friend from their local area. Six weeks later, the team returns to see how the child’s new-found courage has helped at school, in the playground and beyond.
The series is a timely reminder that just one friend can completely change your life. And it all starts with one very simple question… “Will you be my friend?”
Filming takes place during July and August and the team is currently casting in Hastings with a final application date of 7 August. They are looking for children aged five to eight who enjoy meeting new people and who might like to take part.
If your child loves making new friends, you can apply now at makingfriends.tv or scan the qr-code
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