Welcome to the future, where happiness is just another download – or is it?
 
In these unsettling times, protecting the mental wellbeing of young people has never been more important. But what if the power of podcasting, social media and storytelling could be combined and harnessed to improve the emotional health of pre-teens?
 
That was the starting point for The Rez an exciting sci-fi podcast adventure for 9–11 year-olds, also told through a comic book and a game-based website.
 
Born out of an idea that a podcast could help at-risk young people negotiate emotional trauma, The Rez is the brainchild of APA Gold award-winning drama producer Dr. Lance Dann, podcasting and youth media expert at the University of Sussex Dr. Martin Spinelli, and comic book guru Tim Pilcher.
 
The wild, silly, and exciting story of The Rez was developed by the current UK Comic Book laureate Hannah Berry, alongside some of the UK’s leading young adult (YA) dramatists, illustrators and psychologists -- including Prof. Robin Banerjee, Professor of Kindness (yes, there is such a thing), also from the University of Sussex.
 
Recorded during the lockdown of the spring of 2020, The Rez is set in a future where happiness is just another download. The story focuses on the characters Sav and Preen as they start to wonder what’s missing in their ‘perfect’ lives; this prompts them to reach back to today’s children for help building meaningful relationships and defeating an AI that wants to keep them under its control.
 
The project has also acquired an impressive cast list, with well known voices adding a sense of familiarity to the story. Our heros Preen and Sav are played by Karl Queensborough (Hamilton in the UK production of Hamilton) and Emily Burnett (last year’s Children’s BAFTA award winner). Juliet Aubrey (BAFTA winner for Best Actress) plays JEF the malevolent AI. The series also features the voices of real children offering advice to the characters recorded from workshops and interview sessions across the UK.
 
Dr Martin Spinelli, who teaches podcasting and media studies at the University of Sussex, said:
 
“Working with the best talent in the country on The Rez has been an absolute joy.  The people behind this project mean it will have massive positive impact.”
 
“The country is facing an epidemic of adolescent mental health issues made much worse by the pandemic--nearly everyone knows a young person who is struggling emotionally at the moment.  The Rez is based on the latest psychological research into kindness, resilience and well-being.  It's poised to help ease that crisis--it's also cracking good fun."
 
Co-creator Dr Lance Dann, who teaches audio and digital media at the University of Brighton, said:
 
“Podcasting for Children is right on the brink of breaking through and becoming an exciting medium in the coming years. The Rez is right at the forefront of that movement, there is no show of this scale or ambition in the UK at the moment, and we were quickly signed up to be American children's podcast network Gen Z Media."
 
The creative team is using research by the University of Sussex’s CRESS Lab (Children’s Relationships, Emotions and Social Skills), led by Professor Robin Banerjee, into children’s media diets and social media’s connection to emotional wellbeing to weave a subtle subtext into the drama. Additional research by Dr Mark Wright of the University of Brighton is contributing to messaging around psychological resiliency and emotional well-being.
 
The five, 30 minute episodes of The Rez series have been produced, accompanied by a 10,000-copy print run of the comic and the launch of a website. Here, children can "message" the characters and play games, with a built-in resilience and wellbeing message.