When I Grow Up

2016, 10 minutes

A coming of age drama

This is a coming-of- age comedy drama film. Pete and his friends Freddo, a boy who loves chocolate, and Charlie, a girl who fancies Pete, run their own illegal school shop, selling sweets and games to their classmates. Pete dreams of expanding this enterprise, so they can bring in more money than ever before. This plan starts to fall apart when Pete’s supplier, Gaz, decides not to sell to them anymore. Pete and Gaz have an argument outside Gaz’s caravan, which spurs Pete to get revenge. It doesn’t help that Pete’s seemingly successful family aren’t giving him much attention either. The next morning Pete is frustrated when he can’t sell. His friends are discouraging when he proposes revenge on Gaz, and are even more displeased when they discover he’s made his way to the caravan that evening. In a bid to get Pete to see the light, Freddo and Charlie go to the caravan to stop him. Gaz arrives while they’re there and conflict ensues. It’s only when Charlie is at risk of being harmed that Pete realises the effect of his behaviour, and his feelings for Charlie, so he attacks Gaz by firing a stone in his face with a slingshot and making a break for it. They realise their mistakes with a new outlook on life.

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Companies involved in this production

• University of Portsmouth