C4 commissions rig documentary on chicken shops

Channel 4 has commissioned Mentorn Media to make a documentary on the UK's love of fried chicken shops for its flagship documentary strand, Cutting Edge, it has been announced. Exploring the phenomenal rise in public affection for everything fried chicken through a single shop in South London, Cutting Edge: The Fried Chicken Shop (w/t) will offer an intriguing insight into contemporary London life through the window of a busy chicken shop. The 1 x 60 is due to transmit in February on Channel 4.

Using a mini-rig of fixed cameras, retrospective interviews with customers and staff and user-generated content, this 60 minute film will be a playful, surprising and celebratory look at the space fried chicken occupies in the cultural and economic urban landscape of modern Britain.

Alongside the programme, Mentorn Media ran a multi-platform viral campaign with the Channel 4 online team which captured the spirit of popular and funny chicken-related videos like Red Hot's Junior Spesh, Ed Sheeran and Example's Nandos Skank and Chipmunk's Chicken Shop Challenge.

Channel 4's Commissioning Editor Emma Cooper said, ‘The Fried Chicken Shop (w/t) will explore the scale of the nation's obsession and increasing love of fried chicken. Filmed in one of the UK's popular fried chicken shops and serving the diverse community of London, it has produced a surprising yet exciting and genuinely illuminating film and tells us the story of Britain today through our voracious appetite for chicken wings.'

Executive Producer, Hannah Wyatt, said: "We've seen rigs used in large spaces before so it's really exciting to take it to a new, smaller environment."

Yonni Usiskin is Producer/Director, Max Gogarty is Assistant Producer and the Editor is Jonathan Braman