by Dov Kornits
“I went to Vidcon a few years ago, and it was such an eye-opening experience,” says Melbourne-based Producer Melanie Rowland. “You hear about all the teens being online, but then when you get there, and you see these YouTube stars getting absolutely mobbed by fans – Beatles-esque screaming. You realise this is the space for these kinds of shows.”
Working in various production capacities across TV and feature film, Rowland’s first foray into producing her own show was the British made teen series LOL in 2016. Intent on producing in Australia, Rowland’s next production was Flunk, which delivers on the promise shown with LOL.
“I grew up watching shows like Heartbreak High and I’ve always really been drawn to the teen genre and looking around the Australian media there’s not a lot of Australian teen shows and especially the ones that are telling those gritty, more natural stories. Especially in the LGBT space as well. We saw an opportunity for an underserved audience.”
Flunk is created, written, directed and shot by Ric Forster and follows the lives of 6 high school students played by Akasha Collins, Beaudene Prussich, Jessica Li, Caylen Forbes, Olivia Wright and Uisce Goriss-Dazeley, with guest appearances by Katherine Halliday (Heartbreak High), Sean McIntyre (The Legend of Ben Hall, Tarnation, Sheborg, formerly Sheborg Massacre) and Ben Nicholas (Neighbours). Flunk proudly explores sexuality, substance abuse and identity, issues facing teens daily, but rarely explored in mainstream media in the way that it is here.
Reflecting the target audience’s viewing habits, episodes are launched daily on Instagram and Facebook, with a longer weekly episode premiering on Youtube. Flunk is now also available to view on Amazon Prime and Here TV, an LGBT streaming platform.
Some of Flunk’s episodes have exceeded 500k views on YouTube alone, the kind of numbers that would satisfy most broadcast programs these days; and made for a fraction of the price.
“This is our first foray into independent television,” says Rowland. “It was a bit of an experiment to see whether we could make something that an audience could connect with. If we weren’t able to just grab the gear and go out and make it, we would never have. If we were waiting for the money to make it a much bigger show, we wouldn’t have made it and it wouldn’t have had the sort of reaction that we we’ve enjoyed.”
Rowland and Forster’s gear of choice was Blackmagic Design for multiple reasons. “He really loves the look,” Rowland says of Forster. “We shot several series together and we shot on Alexa, we shot on Red. He thinks that the Black Magic eclipses them.
“We have been shooting the series on the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro, as well as the Pocket Cinema Camera, and it’s allowed us to be a lot more flexible in the way that we make the show. It’s a small team and when you’ve got your own equipment it gives you the flexibility to shoot whenever you want as opposed to the traditional production models where you shoot for five or six weeks. We do it in smaller increments, which actually has been a real benefit for us. We’ve been able to make the show, put it out there, get the feedback from our audience, what they like and what they don’t like and adjust as we make it. They’re getting a product that they enjoy a lot more and that wouldn’t be possible if we were having to rent equipment every time we shot.
“What I think is so fantastic about the URSA, especially, is the huge dynamic range that we get where we shoot things that wouldn’t be possible just a few years ago. We use very minimal lighting so we can go from shooting night and then out right in the middle of the day without having all of that grip gear and gaffer gear. We can basically have a camera and very minimal lighting kit and we’re able to go out and shoot.”
And even though the crew is small, and the shoots are fast, Rowland is still able to get the production qualities that audiences have become accustomed to. “It’s really democratising the filmmaking space and you can achieve really high production values with much less crew and much less expense,” she says. “Audiences expect that. They want the show to look good and we get a lot of comments from our audience about how much they like the look of the show. It’s got grain and aesthetic, and it’s not what you expect. Usually it’s about the characters and about the storyline and we definitely get a lot of those comments, but you do get people digging the look and feel of the show which I think speaks to an audience wanting those high production values.”
And if she had the option, would Melanie Rowland and her team do it any other way? “We would certainly grow the show a little bit, but we really like the more guerrilla style,” she says. “We’ve worked on shoots where you’ve got huge crews and there’s pluses and minuses. It makes some things easier, but then it can also slow you down. If we had more funding for the show, we would certainly try and make some more ambitious stories. We’ve certainly got more ambitious stories in mind. However, I don’t think the crew size would grow.”
For more on Flunk, head to the website – https://www.flunk.com.au/
