Nickelodeon Goes to High School Musical's Peter Barsocchini's 'Summer Camp'

Th Hollywood Reporter confirmed last night that Nickelodeon will pull the trigger on a new half-hour pilot from Peter Barsocchini, writer of the "High School Musical" movies.

Say Barsocchini, "Summer camp, in reality, is an iconic experience for kids, 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.'"

Barsocchini will be executive producing the pilot alongside Carolyn Bernstein of Reveille. Frank Saperstein and John Morayniss of E1 Entertainment; Todd Cohen of Reveille; and Laurence Mark of Laurence Mark Productions; and David Blackman are also producing. Lev L. Spiro is set to direct.

Production will begin in Malibu later in November.

"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 Bernstein, executive producer of scripted programs for Reveille.

No stranger to children's television phenomena, in 2004, Barsocchini wrote the first draft of a script for the Disney Channel Original Movie, "High School Musical" for his preteen daughter Gabriella and many of her friends for whom he also named characters. He recalled knowing the film could be a success when the first draft was a given a green light from Disney. The television film became a phenomenon that spawned billions in revenue and two sequels. The series has made Barsocchini a multi-millionaire. The first sequel, High School Musical 2, shattered expectations and records becoming the highest rated cable broadcast in history with well over seventeen million viewers. High School Musical 3: Senior Year was released in theaters worldwide and had the biggest opening weekend gross for any movie musical in history.