Movie Extra Webfest’s Event Zero web-series goes live
The first episode of a new web series funded by an Australian TV network and the national screen agency premiered on YouTube yesterday.
Originating from the film trailer competition Movie Extra Webfest, Event Zero is produced by the creative team behind 2011 horror film The Tunnel.
Movie Extra Webfest, an initiative of Movie Network Channels, now in its second year, has also seen Screen Australia put $50,000 behind the project, doubling the production budget to $100,000.
Producer Enzo Tedeschi said: “For an Australian web-series, the $100,000 was a fair whack of cash.”
Despite the investment Tedeschi said that web-series as a platform isn’t far off from being recognised as a competitive screen platform to film and TV: “I don’t know if web-series are being treated seriously just yet but there is something happening around the industry with well-timed, well-placed series, like the Bondi Hipsters, which actually they already proved with Beached Az.”
“Movie Extra and Screen Australia having cotton on to the fact that it’s a good place to test an idea and see if there is a reaction. It wouldn’t surprise me too see the Bondi Hipsters with their own show or film very soon.”
Event Zero’s first of seven by 5minute episodes begins as a train derails near Sydney’s Circular Quay station, a result of a much bigger more mysterious event.
Each episode follows a different, but interconnected victim’s story.
Producing partners Enzo Tedeshi and Julian Harvey created Event Zero with directors Carlo Ledesma of The Tunnel, Andrew Traucki of The Reef and Shane Abbess of Gabriel helming and Marc Furmie.
Tedeschi said the directors were selected for being the new generation of genre film-makers. “They’re all bound for bigger and better things. The next thing Shane makes is going to be bigger than Ben Hur.”
Last year’s winners of the Movie Extra Webfest, Henry Inglis and Aaron McCann created the series Henry and Aaron’s Seven Steps to Superstardom and went on to create the online commercial It’s A Snap for a tertiary education centre that went viral with 2.2m viewers to date. On a side, it led to the comedic duo being signed by Hollywood talent agency, Creative Artists Agency.
The following six episodes will be uploaded to Movie Network Channel’s YouTube account on June 11.
Awesome job by Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey.
Love this first episode. Way too short, can’t wait for the rest….
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