News

Domain branded entertainment series pokes fun at residents of well-to-do Sydney suburb

Real estate website Domain.com.au will explore the possibility of commissioning another online mini series after claiming the popularity of its parody of life in an affluent Sydney suburb has exceeded expectations.

The seven-part series, Avalon Now, builds on a short film of the same name which took the top award at the Creative Creature Film Festival earlier this year.

The original film, produced by Avalon filmmakers Bruce Walters and Felix Williamson, is itself a parody of gritty drama Redfern Now and tackles the tough challenges faced by residents of the well-to-do beachside suburb, such as which wine to have with their barramundi. Everyone in the films wears a striped top.

After viewing the film, Domain commissioned Walters and Williamson to pen a branded series based on the fictitious lives of several Avalon families.

It stars Australian actors Richard Roxburgh, Jeremy Sims, Susan Prior and Aaron Jeffrey.

Domain has pushed the series out on its social channels with the fifth episode released last weekend. The first four have so far delivered more than 1.5 million views and thousands of shares.

Chief of editorial and marketing, Melina Cruickshank, said the series is part of Domain’s strategy to explore new ways of reaching audiences.

“Content and editorial is at the forefront of the way that we are connecting with people,” she said. “I had wanted to do an online video series that was different and would connect to people so much that they would pass it on.

“But it’s very hard to find that right kind of content so I was on the the hunt for quite a while.”

After the success of the original Avalon Now, Cruickshank said she approached Walters and Williamson to write a mini series based on their award winning film.

“We needed residential and property to be the theme but we gave them creative licence and wanted them to make people laugh,” she said. “We wanted the brand to connect with people in a different way beyond traditional messages.

“It has allowed the Domain brand to reach a whole new audience and has far exceeded our expectations in the number of people it has reached. Avalon Now has given us a subtle brand building platform.”

Cruickshank said the filmmakers and some of the actors who starred in the series live in the area and could relate to the lifestyle the series is ridiculing.

“There is a degree of self-deprecation in there,” she said. “It is about middle class angst and the passion you feel about where you live.”

Such has been the reaction that Cruickshank said a second series set in a different suburb will be considered.

“We will talk to Bruce and Felix and see what happens,” she said. “People have been so engaged that we would love to do more.”

Credits:

Produced, story and directed: Bruce Walters & Felix Williamson

Screenplay: Felix Williamson

Original concept: Bruce Walters

Edited by: Bruce Walters

Actors:

Felix Williamson

Richard Roxburgh

Jeremy Sims

Susan Prior

Aaron Jeffrey

Teo Gebert

Helen Thomson

Barton Lynch

 

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