How a young girl navigates her way through life with her father by her side, when he can’t be there. It’s about growing up. It’s about resilience.
Nominated for Best Australian Drama at this year’s webfest, Amazing Grace is a heartfelt, true story created by Julie Money. Julie’s daughter Grace, plays the lead role in this coming-of-age series that celebrates the memories of Julie’s husband. Amazing Grace is charming, heartfelt and a beautiful celebration of life and growing up.
What did you want to achieve in creating this series?
Grace is my daughter. This is our real life story. Her father, my husband died very suddenly from a massive bleed to his brain stem. We wanted to celebrate his wit, warmth and wisdom. He was a funny, smart, generous man. Grace was starting to lose memories of him and that horrified me so I created this series to keep them memories of him alive for Grace – giving her the advice he would if he could be here.
How did you fund your series?
The series was crowdfunded, then loads of favours to make it happen.
Does the series incorporate real life events that have occurred in Grace’s life or are they written for the series?
The events of the series we have created but much of the dialogue are her Dad’s words, or anecdotes.
Do you have any future plans for this series?
I want the audience to feel something – to laugh and cry. The series is about growing up and resilience.
What do you want your audience to take away from this series?
We are shooting 2 more episodes just before Melbourne Web Fest and would love to shoot many more, funding dependent. I would like to make it like Grace’s version of “Boyhood” as we watch Grace grow up and deal with all sorts of problems.
What is unique about your series?
Our series is unique because it is our own real story shared, as a comedy. It also deals with death and grieving as it effects a child, usually taboo topics.
What is your background as a web series creator?
This is my first web series as a creator. My background is as a film and television director and producer – including a feature film “envy” and 250 episodes of Play School, as well as TV drama for kids and adults, TVCs and content work.
What was your target audience and how did you build a relationship with them?
Our target audience is families. We have a strong base from our Crowdfunding and social media. We have had screenings in Sydney and Melbourne and we are building our audience through media interviews as well.
How long did it take to produce and shoot the series?
The series has been about a year in planning and development, then another year in funding, shooting and post production. We shot the 5 episodes in 3 days.
AMAZING GRACE ON SOCIAL