A GROUP of Oxford filmmakers and cinema students have had their budget sitcom pilot aired across the globe on Amazon's streaming service.

Lecturers and students from Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University and Littlemore’s SAE Institute helped create the first episode of Superclaims.

Available to watch on Amazon Prime, the show follows the absurd antics of an insurance firm which specialises in covering superheroes.

Viewers have left rave reviews including ‘Classic awkward comedy, real scope and potential’, ‘That brilliant humour you only get from British writers’ and, simply, ‘More please!’

The year-long Amazon Video Direct pilot production was run by central group of 12 directors, sound and lighting technicians and actors from across the city, but more than 400 others responded to a call-out for help to make the dream a reality.

It was filmed at Oxford locations including South Park and the SAE offices in Littlemore.

Production manager Patrick Watremez, an Oxford Brookes graduate who now teaches filmmaking at SAE said it was an ‘incredibly surreal moment’ to see the workplace comedy premiere on Amazon Prime.

He added: “It was especially surreal because sometimes you’ll log on to Amazon and you’ll see The Grand Tour and you’ll see what we’ve done next to it.

“Then the next day, it might be something different.”

Co-writer-directors Govind Chandran and Tom Walker are both alumni of Oxford Brookes, and Mr Chandran teaches there while making films in his spare time.

He said they had wanted to create a show which mixed ‘the most fun thing you could be – a superhero – with the most boring job in the world – insurance agents’ .

He went on: “Sorry to any insurance agents out there, but we thought it would be a nice juxtaposition between the two.

“It’s really about the people who have to deal with the fallout of what superheroes actually do.”

Mr Chandran said the show’s deadpan humour had been inspired by American sitcoms such as The Office and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

He explained: “Part of the premise was to keep it low budget, and it was very much inspired by It’s Always Sunny.

“We were incredibly lucky to have access to a RED Dragon camera which was used on huge blockbusters such as Transformers and was versatile enough to give us that documentary fly-on-the-wall look.”

Other Oxford talents involved include many of the cast themselves: Jon Xue Zhang, who is student experience officer at SAE and a professional martial arts choreographer, played a superhero in the style of Bane from Batman.

Oxford University student Sophie Portway and freelance actor Paul Barrand also appear in the pilot.

Sound recording and mixing was done by SAE graduate Mark Levien, cameramen Jamie Laxton and Robert Fox are both Oxford-based – even catering was taken care of by an SAE graduate, Bruno de Oliveira.

The team are hoping Superclaims will take off and galvanise public interest.

Mr Chandran said: “If there is enough viewership and enough good feedback, then we’ll be able to approach investors to fund more episodes.”