The Multiverse At 13 Hill Ave (SGP) is a collection of unrelated stories of Dave, Sarah and Ryan across different universes until a doorway appears and connects their disparate lives to one another.
The Multiverse At 13 Hill Ave writer-director Daniel Yam spoke to Melbourne Webfest to discuss the intricacies involved in making a series that is based in infinite alternate realities.
What inspired your series?
I always give myself limitations when it comes to productions. For this project, I set myself to write a series with a single location and 3 talents. How can I tell multiply stories with the same locations and same talents? That’s where the idea of a multiverse comes in.
What if, there’s a multiverse – where there’s a similar house, with similar characters – but they lived very different tragic lives. And then one day, a portal opens up and their lives are intertwined in ways that will redeem them.
What came first, the characters or the multiverse setting?
Multiverse first. Then, characters shaped the multiverse plots.
The Multiverse At 13 Hill Ave – Episode 1
What was your greatest challenge creating the series?
Story-wise, it is figuring out how the causes and effects when characters from different multiverses cross over.
Production-wise, it is the special effects of shooting the characters and their doubles with a lock off camera. Choreographing specials effects for lighting and wind when the characters cross over – but that was fun!
There are 3 characters playing over 17 roles. It’s no fun to track their motivations and makeup and wardrobe.
What was the release strategy for your web series?
The series was created for Viddsee under their Viddsee Originals programme slate. We have teasers on Facebook and Instagram. Behind-The-Scenes footages and interviews are also timed release to attract more audience to the series.
What were the benefits of using a web series format to tell the story of The Multiverse at 13 Hill Ave?
The Multiverse at 13 Hill Ave is an anthology – We can watch the series in any order. Some set-ups and pay-off are even designed to be backwards. The audience watching it out of sequence may experience different emotions when they link the plots together.
The Multiverse at 13 Hill Ave has a focus on family and the time spent with loved ones, how important is the message/theme in your series? What would you like the audience to take away from the series?
The easy message is relationships are the most important. All is lost, if we lose our family.
I have a larger theme – that all lives are connected. What we do to others is what we do to ourselves. We all live each other’s lives.
Do you believe in alternate realities or a parallel universe?
I wish to visit myself in an alternative world and ask him – did he give up on his childhood dream?
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