Featuring teenage singing sensations Vanessa Hudgens from the High School Musical series and Alyson Michalka of up-and-coming pop duo Aly & Aj, Bandslam might look like an HSM copycat, but it offers so much more. It's a coming-of-age story full of teenage struggles and heartbreaks. And no, they don't burst into song in dramatic scenes.
When Charlotte (Michalka) signed up for Bandslam, a massive battle of the bands, she has only one goal in mind: to challenge her big-headed musician ex-boyfriend Ben. But the problem is she doesn't even have a band. That is until she practically forces the new geek in town Will (Garlan Connell) and quirky, moody Sa5m (Hudgens) - the '5' is silent - to form I Can't Go On, I'll Go On.
Will turns out to be an unlikely music savant, a walking encyclopaedia of rock music, and Sa5m has a voice to die for. The underdogs, now a nine-piece, look like they have a real chance to win, but arguments put them on the verge of disbanding.
After gaining major recognition for playing the bright, brainy it-girl in HSM, Hudgens was thrilled to have the opportunity to stretch her acting muscles and play the standoffish Sa5m.
'I've been playing the sweet, nice girl for a while. Don't get me wrong, it's a great character to play, it's a lot like me. I really wanted to play a different character. Going out of my comfort zone to play the opposite of me was really exciting to me as an actor. I got to have a lot of fun with it.'
And so did her fellow actors. The young, musically talented cast quickly bonded off-screen, making their performances even more convincing.