Features

On location: The Jesters

The JestersThat’s what Kevin Brumpton an Angus Fitzsimons have created in this new TV series. Peter Galvin joined them and the rest of The Jesters at the Olympic Park in Sydney.

A behind the scenes look at the making of a fictional show, its makers see The Jesters in the tradition of Larry Sanders and Dick Van Dyke.

“Our spin is that no one has done anything on the new vogue for what is now the coolest form of comedy, satire comedy, or prank comedy,” says Brumpton (BackBerner).

Any suggestion that The Jesters’ “naughty” Gen Y comedians are an attempt to skewer another Gen Y group of real comics known for their naughtiness is a little misguided. “Its clearly based on a Chaser-style group,” says Mick Molloy, who plays the manager of the Jesters, a one-time famous comic called Dave Davies who wants to be part of a younger, newer wave of comics. “The Chaser would be silly to feel singled out. When I read it, I always thought it was about a shit-house version of the Chaser,” he says.

The cast also includes Deborah Kennedy (Bastard Boys), Susie Porter (RAN), Ben Geurens (Neighbours), and newcomers Christian Barratt-Hill, Andrew Ryan and Travis Cotton.

Molloy says his reaction to the scripts was strong and immediate: “I know every single character represented here, and every single conversation in the script makes me laugh because I’ve either been in it, or had it, or done it.” Molloy says the true satirical target of the show is the culture of comedy; a dog-eat-dog world where, to paraphrase Wody Allen, there is never enough dog to go around.

“I do stand up. Get a bunch of stand up comedians backstage and I will give you the nastiest room in town. The culture of comedy is that we all have massive egos.”

Brumpton and Fitzsimons (Good News Week), who are producing the eight episodes of The Jesters through their company Rapid Fire for the Movie Network for the Movie Extra channel, with Ted Robinson as executive producer, spent the last 12 months developing the series. Pitched in April 2008, the producer/writers turned in several scripts and shot a 10-minute pilot before MNC green lit it.

“It all comes down to script,” says the MNC’s supervising producer Emma Moroney. “We have to have three or four scripts before getting around to commissioning a series. You have to have that gut feeling when you read a good script. Some things come to you with a lot of elements attached and then you read it and it’s not quite delivering on all those exciting promises you heard in a pitch. There are incredible concepts out there and great ideas, but in the end it’s about the script, and The Jesters was there.”

SETTING THE PACE

Shooting commenced in the second week in March, with cinematographer Hugh Miller (Prime Mover) shooting on the CineAlta on locations including de-commissioned wards of the old Rozelle hospital in Sydney.

“At Rozelle, we had the production offices at a network, Dave Davies’ office, the Jesters’ office and a meeting room,” explains Brumpton. Adds Fitzsimons: “It’s the network labyrinth.” Modelled on the style of old TV stations like the Seven Network HQ at Epping, the creators wanted the setting to be antiseptic with a lot of harsh light.

Helming the series is Kimble Rendall, who has spent the last few years directing second unit action on blockbusters like The Matrix and I, Robot after a long career in music videos and commercials. “We always have had strong ideas about comedy,” says Fitzsimons, who with Brumpton was on set throughout the shoot. “Kimble may not have vast comedy experience but we admired his work and he certainly is a very funny man. He had smart and clever things to say about comedy.” Adds Brumpton: “Hugh Miller, aside from being a very good DOP, understands comedy and he too is a very funny guy.”

Rendall explains the style of the show as ‘observational’ with the crew shooting 10 minutes a day, but nevertheless achieving a rich and strong result. “What we are trying to do is give it a film look. We are trying to get away from that very flat classic TV approach. A lot of the shoot is sitting on Hugh’s shoulder.”

Rendall says that much of the action is being captured on the 100mm. “Traditionally you are supposed to be using wider lenses in comedy.” He and Miller decided to bypass the zoom and used primes with fixed focal lengths, a style more familiar to thrillers than comedy.

“It works here, because the pace is so fast and there’s so much dialogue.” The producer/writers were getting “notes” that the scripts were timing too long, with estimates as high as 42 minutes (for a half hour show!). “I’ve never done anything with this much dialogue,” says Molloy. “Once the cast started doing reads they got it, they got the pace,” says Brumpton. There was a week of rehearsal before production commenced, which was where, says Rendall, the ensemble really started to work.

When Encore visited the set in late March, The Jesters crew were using locations at the ACER Arena complex for an episode about the Logies. “Angus and I had done some writing for the Arias,” says Brumpton, “As a writer, you end up spending a lot of time in green rooms,” explains Fitzsimons, “because with any big live show they send in the writers to pacify the guests and you are in there all day. They are weird places because they are full of people who are tense and nervous because they are about to go on TV, and they will say strange things they wouldn’t normally say.”

The schedule is typically tight for a local TV production; the same week the crew was shooting the Logies episode, they used a small car park at the ACER to cover an exterior for another unrelated episode.

“We haven’t shot in order and one reason is the availability of cast and location. Already we’ve shot scenes from the final episode,” says Brumpton

During a break in shooting at the ACER much of the creator’s conversation is taken up with a dialogue about comedy style. For The Jesters the writer/producers say they wanted a classic US style, Friends-like sitcom with an A plot, B plot, C plot structure: “But we also wanted the dialogue heaviness of something like Yes, Minister,” says Fitzsimons. “And we got that because in TV people are always pitching once they get the ear of say, a producer, and then end talking faster and faster.” The style then is the structure, the structure is the style, he says.

Moroney says that the MNC is very pleased with the results and have already launched the viral site www.thejesters.tv, a signature part of the now standard 360degree media experience for TV and film product.

“This project lends itself to go beyond cable,” explains Moroney. “We’re a premium service. You’re never going to see the whole thing online, but you will be able to get part of an experience that’s unique.”

The MNC is dedicated to commissioning more original series says Moroney. “In the end it would be great to commission 13 episodes, but the reality is we can do eight. Our view is to commission more series and thereby discover more talent and develop it.”

The Jesters will premiere on September 8. ■

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