24 06 2015 - Industry news
Foot in the door: Fresh Blood’s rising stars
With the last episode of Best of Fresh Blood airing tonight on the ABC, we thought we’d chat to the five teams involved in the ABC–Screen Australia initiative who were invited to turn their sketches into pilots for Fresh Blood round two.
In round one last year, 25 teams were awarded funding to develop a series of short sketches – more than 70 were created. Some of these have been featured in the Best of Fresh Blood.
Now in round two, five of those teams have been invited to develop half-hour pilots, which will all air on ABC iview later this year.
In the third and final round of Fresh Blood, one of the five pilots will get picked up for a full series.
Over on The Screen Blog, we chat to the five teams developing pilots about what we can expect to see from them, and the challenges they faced creating a pilot vs. shorter, online content.
Find our interviews with key creatives at the links below:
Pilot 1 - Checkpoint Media’s Fancy Boy
Mark Conway and Mike Nayna are developing a sketch comedy pilot with a narrative arc that Mark says includes a “whole bunch of our comedian mates”.
Pilot 2 - BedHead
Friends straight out of film school developed the web series BedHead, about an awkward romantic encounter, and expanded on it for Fresh Blood round one. Now in round two, they’ve got the opportunity to turn it into a pilot.
Pilot 3 - Skit Box's Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am
All-woman comedy troupe Skit Box have developed a following online for their “unique, and sometimes twisted, all-female perspective”. “Asking the question, would a world run by women be any better? And we answer with a resounding and ironic, ‘not really’.” Skit Box expands on this for the half-hour pilot they’re developing.
Pilot 4 - Veronica Milsom and Steen Rasko’s The Record
Comedians Veronica Milsom and Steen Rasko developed a series of sketches in Fresh Blood round one that centred on the theme: world records. A series of different characters hold obscure world records. They’re developing this concept further in their half-hour pilot for round two.
Pilot 5 - Aunty Donna
Sketch comedy crew Aunty Donna are turning their unique brand of musical comedy into a semi-autobiographical pilot that will focus on the band dealing with the loss of their fourth member.
Best of Fresh Blood is a three-part series showcasing some of the top sketches developed last year in round one. Hosted by Wil Anderson, you can catch it tonight at 10pm on ABC TV or catch up on ABC iview.