Whelmed: (verb, past tense) engulfed, submerged, buried.
Gen’s just broken up with her first boyfriend, after twelve years. She hasn’t been single since she got her first flip phone. Her single friends are light years ahead of her, her couple friends are settling down, and she just wants to know how the fuck you’re supposed to fold a fitted sheet by yourself.
Co-Creator, Director, Producer and Editor David Zwolenski, as well as Writer and Lead Actress Gillian Cosgriff, spoke to MWF about the making of Whelmed.
What inspired your web series?
David Zwolenski (DZ): We wanted to make something that would make us laugh and Gill and I loved the idea of a story about a girl who had been in a relationship for so long she’d forgotten how to function in the real world – when you start to become so co-dependant on someone that just trying to fold a sheet or babysit becomes a struggle. It was also something we hadn’t seen a lot of on Australian TV – a girl just trying to figure her life out and stumbling through it over and over again.
What are the challenges you came across when making your series and how did you overcome them?
DZ: Our main issue was time constraints. In January 2017 we set ourselves the goal of making two episodes of the show (which didn’t have a name or even really a concept at that point) by the submission date for Melbourne WebFest which only gave us 3 months to create, develop, write, cast, film, edit, compose music, sound mix and colour grade the show. Because of this we were very stringent with our timelines. Gill and I would meet at least once a week to keep us on track and I’d constantly be hounding her for scripts. For the post production period, I would basically work my day job then come home and just lock myself away in my edit suite (sic: lounge room) for two weeks to edit until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. I’d send cuts to the core team and get feedback and thoughts then the next night go at it again until we all felt it was tight. The incredible thing about collaborating with brilliant people who all want the same result is you get things done very well and very quickly because everyone has each other’s backs and you don’t feel you’re making all the big decisions on your own. Solid foundations create sturdy structures, or something equally t-shirt worthy.
How did you fund your series?
DZ: The old bank of the back-pocket. I paid for all of it out of my own money, but it didn’t cost us too much to be honest, mainly because all of us had multiple roles and worked for free. The main costs were catering and colour grading (but even that we got at a discount). I co-created, produced, directed and edited for example (skills I’ve learnt by necessity over the years working in film, digital and radio). Gill wrote, starred in and did the music, my girlfriend Imogen cooked all the food herself (the night before I might add, swoon), Tim Brade the DOP had all his own camera gear and lighting and is faster at changing lenses than an optometrist. So dual roles obviously brings more stress on everyone, and we certainly felt that on the day (oh did I mention we filmed both episodes in one day?) but it also keeps your costs down. It helped that the crew genuinely loved the idea too and wanted to make it as good as they could, so they worked their asses off round the clock to get whatever needed doing, done. Hashtag Proud Dad.
Do you have any future plans for this series?
DZ: Oh yeah big time. First step is to finish the entire series, which we haven’t shot yet but planning on completing it all later in 2017. It will be a 5 episode series and one of of the eps is going to be a full musical number featuring one of Gill’s songs she performs in her stand-up comedy show. Then the long term goal is to turn ‘Whelmed’ into a half hour series so we’ll be pitching it to the networks once the online version is complete. There’s plenty of great issues Gill can face as a newly single woman thrust into the slipstream of Melbourne, and we’ve yet to develop the sister’s character too which will definitely start to emerge in later episodes (and there’s many more surprises in store).
What do you want your audience to take away from this series?
DZ: It’s probably different for me than for Gill, but for me it comes down to a few things. The first one is for the audience to see how incredibly talented and funny Gill is. Someone with that much talent needs to be noticed. The other thing that I hope people take from the show is a sense of relatability and empathy, not just to Gill’s character (Gen) but to people in Gen’s situation. I think women have had to endure a lot to try and prove themselves as strong and resilient while also being subjected to the (mostly) male interpretation of what it means to be feminine and that’s an unfair burden they have to carry. And it’s also confusing I would imagine. What I love about Gen is that she’s gutsy, honest, a little bit broken but unapologetic about who she is and what she stands for, even if she doesn’t quite know what that is yet. To me she’s both a role model and a deeply flawed character, which in my opinion is the best type of character.
What is unique about your series?
DZ: A relatable, strong-headed (though arguably misguided) female lead character, played by a woman who has also created and written the show and composed and performed all the music. Bang.
What is your background as a web series creator
DZ: In 2015 my co-producer, Matt Saraceni, and I came up with an idea for an improv comedy series. The show was centred around improv comedians having to deliver bad news to each other but the catch was they wouldn’t know what it was until the cameras started rolling. It was called “Written it Down” and we made two seasons off our own back ( little plug there). Thanks to Reddit and the general public sharing and supporting the show, the first few episodes garnered over 50 000 views online within a week and gained the attention of Will Ferrell’s ‘Funny or Die’ where it was a featured series. After that the ABC picked up the third season as part of the Freshblood Young Producers program and it was screened on ABC iView. So that’s really where we cut our teeth and we felt it made sense for the next production to be a scripted comedy casting some of the actors from ‘Written it Down’, and now here we are with ‘Whelmed’.
What advice would you give to emerging creators?
DZ: The old model used to be come up with a great idea, write it, pitch it, spend years in development to maybe get something made (but quite probably not), then maybe, one day, when you’re old and grey, finally see something you’ve put together on a screen. That model has changed. My advice is this: go learn everything you can about filmmaking. Don’t just become a writer or a cinematographer or a director, dabble with all of it. Offer to carry tripods, hold cameras, watch someone edit, sit in on a script writing session, get coffee and hold umbrellas on set, become proficient in as much as you can and then, once you’ve got sufficient skills, find people who are highly versed in the areas you’re lacking, build your team and go and make something you love. After that, put it online and submit to Web Festivals, then wash, rinse, repeat. Nobody is sitting at home waiting for you to come along to pitch the next great idea, they’re too busy trying to come up with it themselves. Go find your squad and make your art then see where the chips fall, ’cause you might be surprised. And don’t question any of it it. That’s just a-wastin’ time. Go and do it.
Oh, also, put tough deadlines in place, even if they’re arbitrary ones, and stick to them.
The series portrays what many single women encounter. Was it drawn from real life experiences?
Gillian Cosgriff (GC): Yes and no. I’ve definitely tried and failed to fold a fitted sheet alone – that much is true! I wanted to reflect the experience of living in a world that frequently doesn’t make sense to me – where rules are unspoken and confusing, and boundaries are vague. Our central character, Gen, has only been with one guy since she was sixteen and she’s just getting out of a twelve-year relationship. She doesn’t quite understand how a lot of things work now and so many of her friendships have fallen away in that time, she’s navigating these murky waters mostly alone. I’ve certainly drawn from some of my real life experiences and the experiences of my single friends as well.
The main character is so relatable in so many different ways, how much of the characters characteristics stem from your own?
(GC): I’d say there are a lot of similarities. Gen is easily frustrated with things, she doesn’t have too much of a problem lying to get what she wants (so long as no one gets hurt), and she really is trying to be a good person even though she doesn’t know anymore what that means. Gen and I would both pretend to be on the phone if we saw someone we didn’t want to talk to on the train, but we would both also drive you to the airport at 6am. Swings and roundabouts.