Nickelodeon Teams with HSM Writer for New Pilot

LOS ANGELES: Nickelodeon has ordered a half-hour comedy pilot about a group of kids at summer camp from Peter Barsocchini, writer of the High School Musical movies.

Reveille and E1 Entertainment are co-producing the pilot, which follows a group of boys and girls who go to a sleep-away camp and chronicles their adventures. It will be directed by Lev L. Spiro, who has directed episodes of Jonas, Everybody Hates Chris and the Wizards of Waverley Place TV movie. E1 Entertainment will handled the worldwide distribution for the project.

"It’s very exciting when such a high energy, creative team comes together on a perfect concept like Summer Camp, commented Frank Saperstein, the senior VP of kids and animation for E1. "We are delighted to be working with a great talent such as Peter Barsocchini as well as the wonderful teams at Reveille, Laurence Mark and Nickelodeon. The opportunity to partner with this highly successful group is the next step of evolution for E1 Kids.”

“Summer Camp is an American tradition, and Peter has captured this rite of passage in a fun, family comedy that’s perfect for Nickelodeon,” said Carolyn Bernstein, the executive VP of scripted programs at Reveille. “We hope this will be the Summer Camp that every kid wants to go to and every parent remembers.”

“Summer camp, in reality, is an iconic experience for kids,” added Barsocchini, “and the show is an opportunity to present the comedy and emotion kids experience when they are away from home for the first time. Our slogan is ‘camp is why kids invented summer’.”