WEBVTT - Dan Edwards - YEAR OF - Executive Producer 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:01.760 It's in the news today, but it was actually on 0:00:01.840 --> 0:00:04.960 TV Reload, the podcast Past week Life. Welcome back TV 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:07.880 Reload listeners. My name is Benjamin Norris and this is 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:10.560 your podcast to get all the inside goss on the 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:14.840 popular TV shows you may be watching from around the world. Undeniably, 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.600 our TV sets are a major part of our home entertainment, 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.200 and yet very little is known about how our favorite 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.360 shows get made. So each episode I've been finding guests 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:25.239 they want to dive just that little bit deeper into 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.520 the shows they're currently making, so that you can hear 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:30.280 all their exclusive stories and gain access to the biggest 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:33.040 names in Australian television. I want to thank you for 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:36.639 downloading or subscribing to this podcast. I love hearing your feedback, 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:38.760 so make sure you leave a reviewer or a comment 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:42.519 on your chosen podcast platform. On today's pod, I have 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:46.159 executive producer Dan Edwards and here's the co founder of 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.760 the production company Rough Diamond with his father John Edwards. 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:53.000 Today we'll be talking about their latest project, Year of 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.920 which is now available to stream on STAN Australia. They 0:00:56.960 --> 0:01:00.360 have produced some amazing content together, which shows like the 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:03.960 TV series Romper Stomper and Bump and This project is 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:06.760 an actual brainchild of Dan's which has been a long 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:09.840 time in the making. If you think John Edwards's name 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.360 sounds familiar, you would be right, as he has also 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.640 had some amazing success previously over the years with Secret 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:18.560 Life of Us and Love My Way, just to name 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:22.000 a few. There is very similar style that they both share. 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.440 In my eyes, I think Dan is a little edgier 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:26.800 with his latest work, and I think that he has 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:30.399 completed some really interesting work on this series, especially giving 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.360 voice to young people. Year Off takes place in the 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:36.280 same universe as the Stan original series Bump, and is 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:38.880 set around the senior year of that same high school, 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:42.560 exploring that limital time between childhood and adulthood and the 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:46.360 renegotiations with adults that it brings coming up. We will 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:49.400 find out what influences Dan has recognized from his father, 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.960 John Edwards. We will also hear about how they created 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:55.920 this series and how they managed to create authentic voices 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.080 for young people. In the writer's room, we will talk 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:02.200 about why streaming services has allowed more space for shows 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.680 like Year Of and how the success of Bumped helped 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.200 get this project made, and how the success of Bump 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.320 helped this project get made. Plus we will get plenty 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:12.919 of exclusives from behind the scenes, a year of which 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.880 starts this week on the streaming service STAN Australia, which 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:18.280 you can subscribe to on your smartphone or on your 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.359 smart tv. Anyway, let's bring Dan Edwards into the podcast. 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:23.720 And guys, I really hope you enjoyed this very interesting 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:26.920 episode of TV reload. Hey Dan, how are you? 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:29.079 I'm good and you I'm so excited to. 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.440 Talk to you, Like this show is so fantastic and 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:34.480 I have to just say before we get started, full disclosure, 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:36.720 I'm a big fan of the Edwards family. 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:40.200 Oh okay, that's so very nice. How much of you saying? 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:43.600 Well, the thing was, I watched episode one, but I 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:46.440 can't move forward because my partner wants to watch it 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:48.799 with me, and that's very unusual. I can never get 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:51.640 into watch shows that I like. But I was explaining 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:53.560 to him what happens in episode one. He was like, 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:56.600 you can't watch any more of that until I'm there 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:57.320 to watch it with you. 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:02.000 Oh okay, because it really evolves into something like very 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:04.720 different to how it starts. So it'll be interesting once 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:07.840 you do. Because obviously it feels that. Yeah, it gets 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.600 into its swing probably by episode three, but that's because 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:13.799 obviously we pull the rug in at once. So I'll 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.760 be interested to hear how you feel again once you're 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:17.919 a bit further in. 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.040 Well, great, it'll be a part two of the podcast. 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:20.960 I'll hit you up again. 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:23.040 Okay, all right, I. 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.720 Wanted to ask you what if you borrowed from your dad? 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.240 I mean, what are the similarities in your storytelling that 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:29.520 you've been able to recognize. 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:33.079 Funny, actually we're speaking about today, you know, industry kids, 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:36.120 because there's now a lot of them in Australia and 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.760 actually across the industry globally. But there is you know, 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:43.520 in all kinds of facets of television and drama's designers 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.400 and dops and directors and writers. And it's interesting. But 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:50.120 I'm probably in a slightly different situation that I spent 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:53.640 most of my career in the corporate side of television 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:57.400 for a long time, almost twenty years and more recently 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.200 we started the business rough time and six years go, 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:03.520 and so it's probably that point here, end of being 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:05.680 a NEPO baby in that way that I actually have 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.640 a business with him. But like with a lot of 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:13.760 kind of family situations, you sometimes become quite engrossed in 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.200 the lives of all the professional lives of your parents, 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:21.440 and in the case of John Dad, we would discuss, 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.800 you know, drama and all the kind of moving parts 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.880 that you know, not just producing, but I guess the 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:34.039 creative side of fostering an idea from an embryo through 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:37.680 to a fully formed show. So that was something that 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:40.320 was just part of our discourse for as long as 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.159 I can remember, and it probably became heavier as I 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:45.440 became a teenager, and you know, around the time I 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:49.560 finished school. The Secret Life of Us launched two years later, 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:53.040 So there's probably lots and lots that I borrowed from 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:55.160 him in terms of the way in which try and 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:59.680 produce approach, as I said, developing an idea. There's a 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:01.960 lot of the people who would have influenced my career too, 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:05.320 and particularly that even goes back into the distribution days. 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:09.880 So while he's probably been the most influential person, he's 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:10.520 certainly not the. 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.000 Only one I think with year of You know what's 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:16.080 interesting though, is like Secret Life of Us was twenties, 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:18.599 and Love my Way was like the thirties, and Tangle 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.200 was like the forties and you've kind of jumped back, 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.719 you know, with your own this is your story. Is 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:26.159 it fitting that you've jumped back and started telling stories 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:27.080 about the teens? 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:30.080 Then it's more about what you can get made. And 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:31.960 just to give you a little bit of history, because 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.279 that all you know that the first thing that I 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.640 made as a producer was Robber Stomper because we could 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:40.760 get it made and it was Trump wasn't empower yet, 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:43.599 but you know, the world, it just was palpable. You 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:48.440 could feel the tensions and it felt like that particular 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:53.159 film being remade as television would have been it would 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.960 have always been compelling. And so we took a really 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:58.680 unique take with how we fuelled that writer's room and 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:01.520 off away we went and we made it. But I 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:03.920 guess we could get that made. At the point that 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:06.120 point of starting the business, we didn't have much of 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:09.800 a development slate. We were still going sorry, we're very 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.920 new to it. You know. John kind of wasn't making 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:15.599 anything to Channel ten, where he made I guess the 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.600 lion's share of your shows. So it was very hard 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:20.760 to figure out if business was going to be viable 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:23.920 at all. But we grabbed that opportunity and we made 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.000 the best thing we could with it. It's similar to 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:29.880 Year Off where Year of started. When I was on 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:32.080 the corporate side of the business, I think it must 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.479 have been seven or so years ago, there was a 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:37.440 real lack of young adult shows. And when I say 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.720 young adult I do mean back to what Heartbreak High 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:43.000 may have been at the beginning, which was was actually 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:46.159 a show for adult that was watched by a young 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.680 adult audience and sat it at school. But you know, 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.680 seven years ago and then for the probably almost a 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:55.599 decade of preceding that, there were very few young adult 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:59.080 shows because on old free toware television that audience just 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.920 was not watching. They were very expensive to get up. 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:04.120 But it felt like there was a real opportunity as 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.159 a real lack. Since then with the streamers, and I 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:11.800 guess a lot of rejuvenation of old brands like Heartbreak 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.320 or there's been others as well. Coming out of the States. 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:17.560 There's now a lot there's a lot of teen and 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:21.160 young adult shows, and you know, even HBO dipping into 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:25.280 the euphoria and Skins obviously, which was which was much earlier. 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.400 There's a lot more in the market. But I had 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:32.280 pitched this show a little bit illegally. I guess you 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:36.560 could say to somebody at a network in Australia at 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.680 one of the markets, the big kind of corporate formats 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:43.840 and finished shows markets, and they said, listen, if you 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:45.840 wanted to leave this job and go and make that 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.040 show with your old man, I'd commission it, okay. And 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:51.080 so that was That was the kind of the birth 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:53.200 of Rough diamond It was there was a juncture in 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.200 John's career and in mine where I would either stay 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.200 on and continue down that road which I'd been doing, 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:01.320 you know, for a long long time, and for him 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.160 it was, you know something else. It was I wouldn't 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.800 say winding down, but it was. It certainly wouldn't have 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:08.880 I don't think he would have been launching a business 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:12.320 in his own right. So we launched Rough Diamonds. We 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:15.880 developed here of funnily enough, and the network that it 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.840 was going to be at all the senior heads left 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:21.320 within about three months of each other, like there was 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:23.280 nobody in this network and no one could make a 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.520 decision for roughly a year. When they did, they came 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:28.480 in that the new hed of drama said, oh, you know, 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:32.079 I don't really like these kids, okay, fair enough, and 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:34.880 we put the show and turn around. But so we 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:36.760 and then we just got busy. We went and made 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:39.520 other things. We did, you know, Australian gangster Lesnard and 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:43.000 obviously Rompa Stomper. Then when Bump came around, Kelsey had 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:46.640 been working with us in various writers' rooms, as I 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:50.080 had read a specscript of hers, and she came in 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:52.720 and pitched a whole bunch of ideas one day and 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.800 Bump just stood out as this really fantastic, clear, concise 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:02.080 concept and we went away commissioned and one point on 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:04.240 where do we set, Like, you know, one of the 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.599 main characters in every show is it setting. And so 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:12.080 we decided to lift the Jubilee High School setting which 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:14.640 was in year of which had been developed before Bump, 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.600 and have that great melting pot which is Glebe which 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:21.480 has got plenty of social housing but also twelve million 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:25.160 dollar terrace houses and the melting pot that that created 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:27.319 with their local high school, and that was in year 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.080 of So we lifted it up and put it onto Bump. 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:32.760 Bump blew Up was the right show at the right time, 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:37.560 incredibly good spirited, warm show that was made in COVID, 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:41.480 so there was very little else. It sold incredibly well overseas, 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:44.360 it did very very well for stand and a few 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:48.199 series in we were moving those our core casting Bump 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:50.880 out of school while we're in their twenties now, and 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.080 it felt like it would be great to keep a 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:56.679 high school show going if we could, and that there 0:09:56.720 --> 0:10:00.560 was the opportunity for Year Of. So we lived back 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:03.200 in and redeveloped with a very different team that we 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:06.960 started four years prior, and now we have the show 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:09.760 that we do. So for me, it's been a real journey. 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:12.360 It's been a real journey back and forward. 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:14.040 I mean that's television, though, is that it? You know, 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:16.199 you get an idea, you think, oh god, this is it, 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:18.280 and then you have to park it and then move 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:20.360 on to something else, and you kind of have to 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:22.480 move with it, right, you know, and find where the 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:25.439 work is and find where you can put your creative energy. 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:29.040 But fascinating to know that Year Of really came before Bump, 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:32.240 because I look at Year Of now like Bump after dark. 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:35.120 That's the way I kind of look at it, because 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:39.200 it's it's grittier and it's darker, I would say, and 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:40.800 I know you said at the start of our chat 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.920 that you know, it goes on a journey and it'll evolve, 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:46.680 But I do feel like this is sort of, you know, 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:48.600 the more adults version of Bump in a weird way. 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:51.760 Well, I think you're right, and I hope it's received 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.680 by that from by the audience. But we also looked 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.520 at it like Cheers was this big hit back in 0:10:57.600 --> 0:10:59.240 the I think it was the nineties, maybe it was 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:01.920 the eighties, but the network show Cheers, and I think 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.640 they spun off three different series which were all completely unique. 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:10.040 You know, Fraser, when you say to people acknowledge it, Oh, yeah, 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:11.880 it was a spin off of Cheers, but it was 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.000 its own show. And so that's the ambition with Year Of. 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:18.200 It's not there to be bump marked too. There's Bump 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:20.720 for that, you know, there's bump. Stump serves that audience 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:23.960 and Year Of as a completely different and quite tonally 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:24.960 distinct thing. 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:28.120 The performances are incredible. What was it like in the 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.240 writer's room? Did you worry that it would be hard 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:33.199 to get young actors to give it the authenticity that 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:35.280 these characters needed to contain. 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:39.400 Yeah, you're always worry about that, and you hope that 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:41.920 it's less of a gamble by the time you finish casting. 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:44.720 I think on rough Diamond shows we do like to 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.959 gamble with there's a you know, a strong desire to 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:50.680 do that in the writer's room and to also do 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:52.880 that in front of the camera. It's got to be 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.840 measured and you need to have kind of some scaffolding. 0:11:57.000 --> 0:12:00.280 People call it around some of that new talent, but 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:02.520 I think we got lucky with year of and also 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:06.920 we had really fantastic nurturing directors. PARTI are board setting 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:10.160 up and she is just such an actors director. And 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.400 then we had a couple of other directors who had 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.600 done short films and this will be their first real 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:19.120 screen credits. And I think that that type of exuberance 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:23.360 and kind of youth really helped propel everybody to give 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:23.880 it their best. 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:26.440 You know, the themes are very now, and I think 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:28.560 that you're creating voices that are very authentic for that 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:30.920 age bracket. Did you in the writer's room have then 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.240 young people working with you to make sure that those 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.760 voices sounded accurate to what kids are talking about. 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:41.160 The writer's room was young. Jess and I were definitely 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:44.320 the old farts, but by far the oldest people in 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:44.719 that row. 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:45.720 She's in the classroom. 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:49.880 I'd like to say, yeah, yeah, and it started big 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:53.000 and unruly and then you've got to reduce that team 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:55.520 down to get more and more focused. But no, it 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:59.480 was a very young room and sometimes I didn't know 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:01.320 what they were talking talking about. And that's good. 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:03.440 It means that you know, they're letting you know what 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:06.160 younger people are talking about. I mean, you can't necessarily 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.559 understand that unless you're talking to young people who are living. 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:11.800 It, you know, and I guess the themes that the 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:15.199 themes that inspired by stuff that's happened in all our lives. 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:19.040 And it weirdly, in my age now, it doesn't feel 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.440 like a similar experience that happened with me in my 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.360 final year. It doesn't feel that long ago. 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:27.400 So it's not that don't make yourself sound older than 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:28.000 you really are. 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.720 Yeah, but it is. It's it's you know, it's it's 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:35.360 without completely using your own stories. I think everybody within 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:39.760 that writer's room really did dig into personal experience. And 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:43.120 obviously it's just a stepping off point for inspiration, but 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.880 that's what we encourage people to do, to really dig 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.600 into what it was like for them in those formative years. 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:54.960 And sometimes it works out and people are honest and 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:58.600 they give, they come with their truth, and sometimes it doesn't. 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.680 But I think on this so it really did. People 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:03.480 were very open and very giving. 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.080 What did you think of Heartbreak High the reboot? Because 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:08.240 I mean they did a really good job of I mean, 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.120 the very first incarnation of Heartbreak High was I think 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:12.719 we talked about that a little bit before. It was 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.120 very raw and it was very wow you know for 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.120 that particular time, made for adults, but young adults were 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:22.360 watching it. Then brought back and they added another level 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.360 to it. Is that an understanding in some way of 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.080 how far we've come when it comes to what we're 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:30.560 allowed to tell on television in scripted drama format for 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:31.160 young people? 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.120 Yeah? First party question is I think they did a 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:37.400 great job because I was the Heartbreak High generation and 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.120 where I grew up. They shot it close by, and 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:45.960 it felt very much of my generation. And to see 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.880 the way that they executed that show, not just you know, 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:51.040 with the storytelling, which I thought Hadna did a really 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.400 really good job, it felt very Netflix. Number one, which 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.440 is this interesting thing to go How does a show 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:02.200 definably feel right from a certain commissioner, But that show 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:06.760 certainly did and it felt very of the Now, you know, 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.520 it's very commercial and probably a little shinier than certainly 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.880 a year of is. But I think that they nailed it, 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:17.840 and I'm hoping that having a couple of Australian shows 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:21.400 that are of quality for that audience might be one 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:24.320 of the first times that some of that audience is 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:27.080 watching an Australian thing really enjoying it, which means that 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:30.040 they're going to be more open to watching other Australian 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:34.760 shows because that we have had times when certain demographics 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:38.320 are very biased against Australian shows. So I hope it's 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:39.120 all complimentary. 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:41.040 I think when you're making shows like this as well, 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.280 are you making shows thinking this is for a global 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:46.920 audience because of streaming services? Now you know our shows 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:50.280 are being put on global streaming platforms side by side, 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.640 you know, HBO and other bigger and bigger shows. Are 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:57.440 you looking to tell stories that are accessible globally or 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:00.360 are you trying to make something quintessentially Australian. What's the 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:01.720 conversations with that. 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:03.880 I came from that part of the business, which was 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.400 selling things globally and bit in concept or be it 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:11.600 down to abbey and finished tape. And I think that 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.520 and also coming from you know, I guess a producing 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:18.240 family or a creative producing family, what you want to 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:20.600 do is that and try and do something good. Good 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:25.040 will always trump any efforts to do anything else in 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:27.920 terms of to globalize or to put a game of 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:31.440 Throne star into a murder mystery, which is often what 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:35.120 a lot of producers are kind of strong armed into 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:38.600 doing to get the extraordinary amount of international money that 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:40.840 we need to make these shows. So even on a 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:44.880 show like Year of which isn't huge in scale, it 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:48.920 still has a significant amount of international money. The best way, 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:53.040 I believe, the best shot it has to make money 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:57.320 and to work overseas is that it's genuinely good. And 0:16:57.360 --> 0:16:59.560 I think that that comes down to a show having 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.400 a particular point of view. And in this case, you know, 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:04.520 we're making these shows in Australia, it's got to be 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:10.280 very particularly Australian, and I think that international audiences, you know, 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:13.760 they don't they don't want to look in a mirror necessarily, 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:15.440 they want to you know, you're looking through a window, 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:17.520 You're looking into a world the world's got to got 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.720 to grip you. I think that that's fundamentally what we're 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:24.359 striving for all the time. And when it comes down 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:26.919 to how they'll actually performance, what else is in the 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:29.560 market at that time? What else is you know, is 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:32.840 there a glood of these shows, there's a there's a 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:37.119 little bit of chance, luck and chance, I guess with 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.920 how things will go internationally, But we on a year 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:43.960 of we're partnered with one of the bigger distribution studios 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:47.640 I TV, and so hopefully you know it's seen far 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:48.720 and wide. 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:50.280 Of course, of course, and you know you've got some 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:52.879 recognizable names in there. Danniel McCormack. You know, after watching 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:54.959 the first episode, I didn't even recognize it was her 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:57.919 straight away because she's such a brilliant actress. You know, 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:00.720 the way she carries her face can different, you know, 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.800 from role to role. But so fantastic to have Denniel 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:07.120 McCormick there and Samuel Johnson and other people who haven't 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:10.480 seen only watch episode one. But is it important to 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.160 when you're telling these stories to have a few recognizable 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:16.200 faces in the show to sort of bring the audience in. 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.720 You do, But also with that, you know, the with 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:24.920 the parents, you're dealing with great career actors, so naturally 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.120 you're going to if you want the best performance, you're 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:30.040 going to have more than likely you're going to have 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.919 somebody who's got a profile that We were very, very 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:36.119 lucky with the adult characters that we have, And I 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:38.879 guess that's you're saying that you know you like some 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.080 the history of Rough Diamond shows and before that, what 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.920 they all have in common is intergenerational rub we always do. 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:49.800 I think everything that we do has that dynamic between 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:54.479 multiple generations. In year of those parents could have their 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:58.200 own show. Like in episode one, you start very naturally 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.320 just with the teenagers who with that, I guess it's 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.040 their plot that's going to be affecting everybody else. But 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.760 as you get on, those adult characters have more and 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:13.399 more distinct stories, and we've got such a great adult cast. 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:16.199 Dan, this is such a big tease, Like I just 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:18.800 can't wait to keep watching more episodes, and I'm annoyed 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:20.760 that it's you know, I have had to wait for 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:23.679 my partner to keep watching them. But I, like a 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:25.600 lot of people, I think are going to digest this 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.560 very quickly. I think it's brilliant from what I've seen, 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:30.399 and I can't wait to sink my teeth into it 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:32.760 some more. What I was going to say was the 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.159 last question I ask everybody who joins the podcast, is 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:37.560 what's something from behind the scenes, something that we might 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:39.960 not see on screen, kind of like a behind the 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:42.159 scenes secret of you know, what it was like to 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:42.720 make this show. 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:46.000 Gastro was making a comeback, roughing this show, Rain was 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:50.159 making a comeback. Everything was coming out of these severe lockdowns. 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:52.919 But what makes you of quite different is, as you 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:55.960 can see, it's an ensemble cast and we're in train tunnels, 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:58.160