MOVEMENT is a six-part comedy web series about dance therapy. The series follows Sophia, a self-confessed try-hard, as she battles her demons with the help of her dance therapy sessions. Each week (each episode) in class, Sophia uses a ‘healing mantra’ to deal with her struggles of tangled love, aimless career goals and lack of identity. Sophia’s commitment to her mantras takes her on journeys to the extreme as she tries her hardest to ‘foff’ her way into womanhood.
Are you aiming to inspire someone? If so who?
Sophia’s Journey through MOVEMENT is a celebration of awkwardness and failures. I believe that you’ve got to fail in order to succeed and sometimes it feels like you try really hard to do so! With that in mind we hope Movement inspires anyone who has ever tried to succeed at something, the outcome being secondary. It’s about the act of committing and trying thetas the point. We want to inspire anyone who has wanted to be a better person, or tried to develop something in themselves or maybe even tried to get to know themselves better too! Anyone who has and tried and maybe even tried hard, over and over again. We want to inspire all the try hards! And perhaps even the ones out tree that have not yet tried too!
What makes this series different to others about dance?
The dancing in MOVEMENT is not constructed or choreographed, it’s not stylised, it’s personal. The dancing is Sophia- Our Protagonist’s own inner monologue. The show isn’t so much about dancing itself, but about the desire for self-development and how hard we can try to do so. I like to think the dancing is simply an interesting way to explore that. Dancing’s such an immediate, universal and unfiltered way of communicating and we hope that we’ve succeeded in using it as almost another language for the show.
What (and/or who) inspired your series?
Personally, I’ve always loved to dance – free dancing in particular like “no lights no lycra” or “5 rhythms” and I’m a big enthusiast for self development and I’m a self confessed try hard too, so it made sense to write about all those things. There’s something equally hilarious and beautifully vulnerable that happens when someone dances on his or her own accord and I’ve always wanted to incorporate that into something. My dear friend and creative colleague Rhys Mitchell encouraged me to write the series itself. Being an actress for years, I’d read a bunch of scripts but never written one! He said I couldn’t use his family’s swimming pool until I wrote, so I did… It was a hot one that summer! I was so glad I did because once I started, I couldn’t stop, I loved it. Sophia is definitely a part of me so there’s essence of my own life that’s inspired the series but there’s a lot in there that’s fictional too. I took a grain of real moments, mix it with an idea and ran with it.
Is there a magic formula for a successful web series?
Hmmm I wish… In my humble opinion, to start with the thing that strikes me is a unique voice. One of the most wonderful things about web series is that anyone with any voice can share with the world and nothing is more fascinating than people themselves. Online content is something I feel we’re still navigating, so maybe we’ll have to wait a little longer to have a solid formula for ” success” But I really believe if you are true to your own voice or story, listen to that, then work your ass off, be nice to people, don’t stop until it’s finished and what you’ll have to share will be Magic and worth clicking on!
What’s special or different about your series?
There’s a few things… Firstly, it’s narrative driven – Yes each episode can be self-contained but it’s a little more linear and long form which is not as common with web series. The tone is unique too, there’s often a dose of heart with every ‘Lol’, a cocktail of hilarity, ridiculousness and realness. There’s also a style and aesthetic that is unique to Movement that we’re very proud of, each episode having it’s own subtle colour theme. Lastly our sound and music design is all originally composed for the show! Oh and one more thing! We are proudly a female strong team with most of our key creative being female! Woo!
What do you want audiences to take away from your series?
We hope that they see themselves in Sophia – in the funny little moments in life where I wish we could all just break out into an expressive dance move to alleviate the pressures we put upon ourselves. In world where expectations are so high, it’s important to be reminded that we can laugh at our failed attempts of perfection and enjoy the dance of life itself. Through the series we hope to connect to audiences, especially young women, by making them laugh and giving them comfort in knowing that we are not alone in being insecure big silly try hards!
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