With over 30 million views from more than 230 countries, the multiple award winning series, Starting from Now explores the lives of four inner-Sydney lesbians as they experience all the love, drama and hurdles that come with life.
The series is now in its fifth and final season and is continuing to attract a huge loyal following.
Writer, director and producer Julie Kalceff spoke to MWF about her multi-platform drama and all that comes with it.
What inspired your web series?
A lack of diversity on screen and limited roles for women inspired the creation of Starting From Now. When Starting From Now was first conceived and the first season released (March, 2014) diversity of representation of women, particularly in regards to sexuality and ethnicity, was almost non-existent. I wanted to offer an alternative to mainstream representations of women. I knew there was an audience for it and I felt this audience could be reached through a web series.
What are the challenges you came across when making your series and how did you overcome them?
The main challenges, as with most filmmaking, related to a lack of time and a lack of money. The budget for the first few seasons was modest, to say the least. We weren’t able to pay cast and crew so we needed to schedule around their availability. This meant we didn’t have any full-time crew for the first season and resulted in about 5 different cinematographers and around 7 different location sound recordists for 6 episodes. We were also unable to pay a production designer, 1st AD, script supervisor … so I ended up doing most of that myself. It was a challenge.
How did you fund your series?
Seasons 1 and 2 were self-funded and Season 3 was the result of a small crowdfunding campaign. With Seasons 4 and 5 we were able to secure funding through Screen Australia and Screen NSW and to develop corporate and community partnerships with IVF Australia and ACON.
What do you want your audience to take away from this series?
I want them to feel a sense of empathy for the characters and an emotional connection with them. I want the audience to see them as people rather than lesbians.
What is unique about your series?
I think what was unique about Starting From Now when it was first released isn’t necessarily as unique now – that these women are complex characters who aren’t defined by their sexuality. I’m happy to say that there is now more web content that fits that description.
What is your background as a web series creator?
I was a writer/director on the web series comedy The Newtown Girls (created by Natalie Krikowa). This was my introduction to web series. I saw how well the audience responded to the show and realised the potential to reach audiences outside traditional channels.
What advice would you give to emerging creators?
Audiences are seeking diverse content. There is an audience out there for the story you want to tell but you have to know how to tell it effectively and you have to work hard to let the audience know your series exists. An incredible amount of content is uploaded to the web every minute of every day. You can’t assume people will just find your show. Also, study the craft, spend time on script development, engage trained actors, and don’t skimp on sound.
After 5 seasons of Starting From Now, has the public’s response to the series changed? If so, how?
It’s been interesting watching the audience’s engagement with the series over time. Our audience has grown and become more diverse. We now have a 22% male viewership with audience members ranging from their teens to late 70s. From the outset the audience has been invested in the relationships and the shifting love triangles/quadrangles. This, I believe, comes down to the quality of the acting. The show has been blessed with an incredible core cast (Bianca Bradey, Sarah de Possesse, Rosie Lourde, and Lauren Orrell) and also a stellar group of actors that have joined the series throughout. In Season 5 (the season screening at this year’s Melbourne WebFest) this includes Julia Billington (nominated for Best Supporting Actor), Harvey Zielinski, Linda Grasso, and Australian screen legend Heather Mitchell.
Starting From Now has an impressive following on Youtube and social media, how do you continue to find new audiences?
Through word of mouth and a great deal of hard work. I still receive emails today, over 3 years since the first episode was released, from people saying they’ve just discovered the series (and have binged all five seasons in one go).
Do you have any future plans for this series?
No, the fifth and final season was released in July, 2016. This was the culmination of 3 years of hard work – 5 seasons, 6 episodes per season – the equivalent of 30 short films conceived, written, shot, post-produced and released, in 36 months.
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