Victoria Cocks and Marcus McKenzie’s Wastelander Panda is a post-apocalyptic series about the last mutant panda of the Wasteland, in a journey of revenge and redemption.
Caught and Sold to the Winchester Vault Pit, the mutant panda, Arcayus is forced to fight for the entertainment of patrons. There, he meets Akira, a 6 foot Bison who has lived his life within the fight-pit walls. Confronted by his fate, Arcayus knows he must battle to survive.
Wastelander Panda allows viewers to experience the violent brutality of a post-apocalyptic Wasteland but also discover the compassion that lies beneath. We are also pretty sure we’re the only live-action series featuring an anthropomorphic cage-fighting Panda, which should be reason enough.
Why make a web series?
An anthropomorphic Panda is a tough sell, especially to the risk-adverse world of traditional broadcast television. We knew that there was an audience out there for high concept genre content and with our limited budget, the best way to reach them was via the internet.
What do you want people to take away from your series?
We’d like people to believe that it is possible to make risky, challenging and engaging genre content in Australia.
How do you finance your series?
Crowdfunding via Pozible and a contribution from the South Australian Film Corporation.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in production?
It’s not comfortable being in a panda suit in the desert for extended periods of time, so we can never shoot for too long without giving our actors a break.
How do you reach your audience?
Our PMD, Ella spends a lot of time on the internet looking for communities of people who might be keen on a walking, talking, fighting Panda and interacting with them.
We’re also active on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and our blog. From the beginning of the series we have made an effort to communicate with our fans as much as possible. We feel this is especially important for building our audience so we might have the chance of making more episodes, but also keeping them up to date on everything we’re up to on the often-unpredictable road of indie filmmaking. We also love being able to receive messages directly from our fans. There is no better motivator than hearing from someone who has just discovered the series and loves it.
Is it an ongoing project? If so, can you give us some clues about what comes next?
It sure is! We just finished shooting six more short episodes that will premiere on ABC iView later this year.
Trivia: please tell us a quirky and/or interesting fact about yourself or team that’s unrelated to your web series.
The Wastelander Panda team all met while studying at university together.
The Wastelander Panda on the web:
Website: www.wastelanderpanda.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wastelanderpanda
Tumblr: www.wastelanderpanda.tumblr.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wastelandrpanda – (note the missing ‘e’)
Instagram: wastelanderpanda