by Dov Kornits
We speak with Aussie Steven Caldwell about the hilarious, taboo-breaking, no-holds-barred animated web series.
How did you and your co-creator Nathan Baldassero meet and decide to collaborate?
“Nathan and I met when he and his girlfriend decided to live in Australia for 4 years (2016-2019). Nathan was looking for work, reached out and joined my production company, Caldwell Entertainment. During the 4 years they were here, we just clicked and wanted to work on something together, so after he returned to Canada and COVID hit, with everything going quieter we decided to make the show.”
You’re a finalist at SF3, can you discuss how your series qualifies, in terms of it needing to be shot on a mobile, right? Or is that the iPad Pro aspect that you mention below? Either way, it’d be great if you could expand on that, in terms of accessibility, etc?
“SF3 is one of the world’s leading film festivals for showcasing content made with mobile devices, so we are very proud to be one of the finalists. We are eligible as the show was created entirely on an iPad Pro with just the LumaFusion and ProCreate apps – so it perfectly encapsulates the spirit of SF3 promoting mobile filmmaking! Smartphones, Tablets and our Online World have really opened the gates for Filmmakers to go out and make something regardless of budget (apart from the device) and get it out there – all on one device!”
Did you ever try to pitch the show through the traditional pathways, eg. streamers, SBS?
“We’d love to expand the show to be perfect for a streamer but in its current format it became pretty clear when we reached out to a few people that online was the way to go for now.”
What are your influences, in terms of the storytelling?
“The storytelling was hugely influenced by shows like South Park and Family Guy. In addition to those, Steve also grew up on Aussie Comedies like The Chaser and Chris Lilly shows and older friends introduced him to material like Fast Forward. We really value Comedy that is character-centric and has a good balance of charm & crazy.”
Where’s Clackerville?
“The town is in a fictional world. Some of the locations in Clackerville are based loosely on areas in Queensland like Brisbane and the Gold Coast.”
Are any/all of the characters based on people you know, and can you reveal who that might be and why?
“The characters were people Nathan and I invented in car rides to shoots just to keep us entertained as sometimes we could be travelling for an hour or more. The longer we drove the more outrageous they got!”
You must work as an animator on other paid projects, was Clackerville particularly satisfying as you were working for yourself?
“Nathan says he has ‘loved working on something so close to us and the creative freedom that Clackerville has enabled’.”
On your website you say that you have Season 2 in mind, but Season 1 is a proof of concept… are you trying to get the show commissioned/financed?
“We would love to find a champion (actor, producer, exec, manager or agent) for the show that really believes in the world and the characters and, along with us, has the desire to building the show into the fully realised series we believe it can be.”
Head over to the official website to watch the series and to find out more.
