Mad Kids commissioned by the ABC
Western Australian Writer/Producer/Director team Henry Inglis, Lauren Elliott and Matt Lovkis, founders of WA production company, Mad Kids, have been commissioned by the ABC to produce a series of comedy shorts for Fresh Blood – an ABC Entertainment TV and Screen Australia initiative designed to discover the next generation of Australian comedy performers and producers.
The announcement:
Western Australian Writer/Producer/Director team Henry Inglis, Lauren Elliott and Matt Lovkis, founders of WA production company, Mad Kids, have been commissioned by the ABC to produce a series of comedy shorts for Fresh Blood – an ABC Entertainment TV and Screen Australia initiative designed to discover the next generation of Australian comedy performers and producers.
Comedy icons including Shaun Micallef and The Chasers starred in a Game of Thrones parody video calling out for Fresh Blood entries in October 2013 and ABC TV and Screen Australia received an unprecedented 492 applications from across Australia. Due to the high calibre of creative entries, 25 projects have been commissioned; one more than the 24 projects originally sought. All teams will receive a $10,000 production budget to produce three, 2-5 minute short form comedy sketches.
Mad Kids are the only team in Western Australia to have been selected.
Mad Kids’ Fresh Blood project is called ‘The Write Stuff with Noel and Carl Pennyman’ and will be written, directed by and starring Inglis and Lovkis and produced by Elliott. ‘The Write Stuff’ is a series of woefully misguided educational videos created by two ‘hack’ Hollywood script doctors, Noel and Carl Pennyman. The brothers are both taking time off from their gruelling divorce proceedings and putting their energy into turning Hollywood ‘wannabes’ into ‘HAS-beens!’
“We cannot wait to bring two of our most ridiculous characters to life! Matt, Henry and I are passionate about producing fresh, original, comedy content in WA and we love working in the digital space, so we’re thrilled to be given the opportunity to debut our latest project on ABC iview.” said Producer, Lauren Elliott.
With a record 20 million program plays in December, ABC iview is Australia’s most popular catch-up service and Fresh Blood will be its first digital commission.
The formation of Mad Kids with Lovkis follows several years of collaboration between Elliott and Inglis, together with Aaron McCann, on comedy projects including Henry & Aaron’s 7 teps to Superstardom (2011), It’s A Snap! (2012), Henry & Aaron’s ABC2 Christmas Special (2013) and viral sensation Set Yourself Free, which achieved international press and over 16 million YouTube hits in one week in February 2014.
Mad Kids are developing and producing an impressive slate of comedy projects in 2014, including The Legend of Gavin Tanner, a 5-part web series which is set to debut on YouTube in March 2014 as well as several digital shorts and branded content for WA brands including Lotterywest and Brownes.
The Write Stuff with Noel and Carl Pennyman will debut on ABC iview this year.
Source: Muse Bureau media release
