Perth Racing has taken the shift towards content marketing and become involved in the production of entertainment. The result is a new web series based on the comedic adventures of a trio of Perth girls, Ashbeclee. The series has a uniquely Perth spin, using local locations, situations and music. We talk to actress Adriane Daff about her character Lee, and the series that teaches inspired uses for the eggplant emoticon (Spoiler: it involves sexting after a night out in Northbridge).
“Lee is a 20-something in Perth. She is cynical and sarcastic, that’s the way she is with herself and her friends. She is one of those people that has had a bunch of jobs and is not quiet sure what she wants to do with her life, but I don’t think she is too concerned about it. Living in Perth is a great place, with a great set of friends, she feels quite comfortable and confident she can waft through it before what she wants to do hits her in the face.”
Daff has worked on both screen and stage before (most recently with Falling Through Clouds), but this is a slightly new format, allowing some different opportunities . “I find web series as a form fascinating. Perth has had a few successful series in the past couple of years (Henry And Aaron, Gavin Tanner), and when I saw the team was very similar to the ones that had done those, I had to take part. This is very similar and from a female perspective as well.”
When she met up with Emily Rose Brennan at the screen test, they instantly hit it off. “When I read for Lee I discovered I have quiet a lot of Lee in me. We improvised heavily off each other and had this great rapport instantly. I think it was that, that got us the role in the end. We got along so instantly it was quiet believable we were old friends.”
It also carried over onto set, leading to a more naturalistic tone to the friends. “That improvisational style, with Sarah Danze playing Bec on board, just rolled over into how we work together. On set the director, Mike Matthews, was really encouraging of it. I hope that has encouraged the tone of the web series to be more casual and not overacted. It’s believable that these three people sit around and talk shit like this all the time. All the characters are a little bit like the actors that play them, so what you see is very true to what it was like when the cameras stopped rolling as well.”
The end result is a home town comedy that “…resonates with those local phenomena,” be it that friend leaving for Melbourne (eventually), or the “full bush” of King’s Park. Yet the web series also represents a new opportunity to get content out there. “ If you have a good idea, you don’t need a network and a gazillion dollars to get it off the ground. I love a DIY entrepreneurial spirit. Technology is much more open to us and if you have an idea, and it resonates you can get it off the ground.”
As for what eggplant and peach mean together, just watch the show.
DAVID O’CONNELL
Check out Ashbeclee on YouTube here.
