In a round of Screen Australia funding this week, $2.5 million was allocated to 9 new projects, including Nick Boshier’s—of Bondi Hipsters fame—“interactive comedy” airing on ABC2, #7 Days Later.
Pronouncing the new show will prove difficult (is the hashtag silent??), however its genre-bending premise is likely to set Australian screens abuzz. Reportedly featuring a cast of “YouTube celebrities” (couldn’t they get real celebrities…?) the show is set to involve its audience by calling on them to write their brief and connect through social media; the chosen brief will be shot in seven days, premiering a week later and featuring a guest “star”. Mmmm, #meta.
Along with #7 Days Later, funding has been brought to Airlock: a Sci Fi thriller from The Tunnel producers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey. Much in the same way that The Tunnel brazenly wrote on their poster campaigns, “Coming Soon On Torrents”, while uniquely using BitTorrent as their distributor, Airlock will have you cautiously turning to The Pirate Bay to download new episodes—with the middle class, (admittedly dull) thrill of illegally torrenting television all but diminished. You weren’t going to be arrested for it if you torrented illegally anyway; but now you really won’t be arrested. Nice.
Other projects also feature new media elements in an earnest attempt to define hip, including The Eventide, a multi-platform drama (for kids 8-12) that can be accessed on iOS and Android Platforms. Too bad if you just want to sit down and have TV mindlessly projected at you; this is the way of the future, apparently. Fiona Cameron, Screen Australia’s COO has excitedly announced the new programs as not the kind of progressive media Australia necessarily wants, but the kind of progressive media Australia deserves, saying that ther is potential for the innovative shows to “reach global audiences.”
The line-up for the recently funded shows are as follows:
AIRLOCK
Web series (sci-fi thriller)
Distracted Media
Producers: Enzo Tedeschi, Julian Harvey
Directors: Marc Furmie
Synopsis: Jonah is tasked with what should be a routine investigation of a death on-board a ship that is docking with his space station. Jonah soon learns that the ship is actually a people-smuggling vessel, and that a strategic attack is being mounted on the space station. Jonah must overcome generations-old intergalactic prejudices in order to save those he can and warn humanity of the impending threat.
THE EVENTIDE
Multi-platform drama for tablet devices and PC
Loud&Clear
Producer: Joel Beath
Director: Ben Beath
Writers: Matt Costello, Neil Richards
Synopsis: The Eventide is a multi-platform drama for PC, iOS and Android devices, aimed at children 8-12 years of age. With an original novel written by award-winning authors Matt Costello and Neil Richards as the centrepiece, The Eventide utilises cutting edge digital technology and artistic and storytelling techniques to create an immersive multi-platform drama that is played out in both real and online worlds.
#7 DAYS LATER
Multi-platform TV series
Ludo Studio
Producers: Dave Jansen, Nick Boshier, Daley Pearson, Charlie Aspinwall
Series Producer: Michelle Hardy
Writers: Daley Pearson, Nick Boshier
Director: Daley Pearson
Cast: Nick Boshier (Bondi Hipsters, Beached Az), Alex Williamson, John
Luc (Mychonny), Theodore Saidden, Nathan Saidden (SuperWog1)
Marketplace: ABC2
Synopsis: #7 Days Later is an interactive comedy series featuring an
ensemble cast of YouTube celebrities. Each week the audience writes the
brief via social media for an all-new episode featuring a well-known
guest-star. Seven days later that week’s episode premieres on TV and
across multiple platforms.
HOW TO TALK AUSTRALIANS
Web series (comedy)
Guilty
Producer: Jason Byrne
Director: Tony Rogers
Writer: Rob Hibbert
Synopsis: Presented in the format of an elaborate educational video, the series is set in a fictional ‘call centre training college’. From here, presenter Maharaji Srivistiva Davo and a coterie of Indian instructors deliver a satirical take on the Australian way of life. From the director of Wilfred and Rats and Cats.
HUNTER N HORNET
Web series/appisodes
iFodder
Content Creators: Pty Ltd
Producer/Writer/Director: Sonny Vrebac
Producer: Oliver Wenn
Cast: Aljin Abella, Sonny Vrebac
Synopsis: Two wannabe pick-up artists lead lives devoid of women, but they are desperate to change that. Their plans constantly go awry, as they dedicate themselves to perfecting dating science… on each other.
I LUV U BUT
Web series (comedy)
Suitcase Films
Producer: Megan McMurchy
Director: Fadia Abboud
Writer: Fadia Abboud, Peter Polites
Synopsis: I Luv U But is a web series set in the heart of western Sydney’s vibrant multicultural communities – with a difference. It follows Sam and Mouna, who are married for convenience. Both gay, and having never come out to their parents, they are living a lie but they are living it up! They are ‘out’ to one another, ‘out’ to their closest friends, but still in the closet when it comes to their family. How long can they keep this secret going under the watchful eyes and ears of the Lebanese community?
THE LOST TOOLS OF HENRY HOKE
Multi-platform TV series
JDR Screen
Producer: Julia de Roeper
Director: Robert Marchand
Writer: Mark Thomson
Marketplace: ABC
Synopsis: The story of an unsung Australian genius whose inventions, 50 years ahead of their time, could now revolutionise the modern world. Unaccountably, these brilliant tools had all but disappeared until a recent discovery brought some of them to light. Henry Hoke was an Australian inventor whose many astonishing achievements have never received acknowledgment, but as climate change forces us to reinvent our world, Henry’s time has finally arrived.
MAXIMUM CHOPPAGE (working title)
Multi-platform TV series
Matchbox Pictures
Producer: Sophie Miller, Julie Eckersley
Executive Producers: Debbie Lee, Tony Ayres
Writers: Lawrence Leung, Duncan Sarkies, Josh Mapleston
Marketplace ABC2, NBCU
Synopsis: Simon Chan has returned to his hometown after many years training in a faraway martial arts temple. He is a born hero, defender of the weak and champion of the honest people of Cabramatta… Well, not really. The truth is Simon was at art school but he’d rather risk his life than disappoint his mother. Welcome to Maximum Choppage, a painfully funny kung fu comedy where identity, family and love is a battlefield.
THE SUSPECT
Interactive thriller
The Project Factory
Executive Producer: Guy Gadney
Producer: Laura Moso
Writers: Tim Wilde, Glenys McLaughlin
Synopsis: A suspected serial killer has been arrested: two bodies have been found, but evidence points to more people in danger. A suspect is in custody and has specifically asked for you to interrogate him. You must find out what makes him tick, what he is hiding in his past and find the truth before anyone else is harmed.
