by Abhi Parasher
Lilydale Films, the Australian production company behind hit teen online series Flunk, has released its latest feature Lockdown Lovers.
Lockdown Lovers follows Canadian Kristal (Kate Mayhew) who meets Lisette (newcomer Stevie McKeon) on the last night of her trip to Australia, and the pair share a one-night stand. But when Melbourne suddenly goes into COVID lockdown, Kristal finds herself trapped and unable to return home. With nowhere to go, Kristal accepts Lisette’s invitation to stay with her, until the pandemic is over. Will these two strangers drive each other crazy during lockdown, or find themselves falling in love?
The romantic drama also stars Lin Yin (The Portable Door, Love in Bloom). Written by Brit Danny Spring (Hunter Street, World’s End) and directed by Ric Forster (Flunk, Neighbours), the two-hour film was shot in-studio and on location in Victoria’s Yarra Valley.
Lilydale Films has amassed a global audience through their hit web-series Flunk, which garnered 150 million views across YouTube and sparked two spin-off feature films.
The strategy of building a strong fan-base, interacting with them online and building a tribe, and then capitalising through spin-off series, uncut and extended editions and/or films has proven successful for previous hit LGBT content, such as Canada’s Carmilla and Australian web-series Starting From…Now, which was picked up by SBS after three successful seasons online.
Lilydale Films has proven their own track record and fan base loyalty through previous feature films, Afterschool and The Sleepover. With Lockdown Lovers, the established fan base and hopefully newcomers, will get a new story that speaks to the type of content that they want to see, which is not found on traditional media.
Producer Melanie Rowland comments: “I think audiences will really connect with this beautiful and heartwarming film. It tells the story what we all here in Melbourne went through during the COVID lockdowns, back in the early days of the pandemic.”
Lilydale Films is currently in pre-production for the fifth season of its Young Adult Romance drama series Flunk, with development and production support from Screen Australia and VicScreen.
Lockdown Lovers is available to watch on Vimeo OnDemand and will be launching on streaming service Tubi later in the year.
