It takes nine months, or there abouts, for a fetus to become a fully fledged human being and a welcome addition to the family. We all know the biology behind having children, though creating a TV show from start to finish in nine months is a little less familiar.
“Matilda [Brown] and her wonderful team shot it in a week, and it was awesome to go through an entire series journey in a week,” actor Richard ‘Rick’ Davies says of his involvement with Let’s Talk About.
“I think the shorter turn around is so exciting and gratifying to be able to jump into something and see it pretty soon after.”
The short time frame was made possible in part thanks to Matilda Brown’s remarkable creative vision, and secondly due to the shows short-form format, meaning that each episode runs for several minutes and the 10-episode season tallies up to just over half an hour.
“I think you kind of just find your way,” Matilda says of the pressure fitting the stories into the timeframe.
“You get into the characters and you get into the story and the story just sort of writes itself. Even if it’s difficult at times the characters start to have personalities and leads to a direction that you don’t really have control of. I guess that’s the subconscious creative mind at work.”
Maybe there was something equally subconscious in that Let’s Talk About was created in the same amount of time as what the characters created in the show.
Over 10 episodes, Let’s Talk About follows the, at times awkward but consistently real, tale of Claire (played by Matilda) and her boyfriend Ben (played by Rick) who two months into their relationship find themselves expecting a baby.
“Oh look all my friends are dropping and they’re all having kids, it’s like some sort of epidemic!” Rick says laughing, before Matilda quickly chimes in: “It is! It’s all over Facebook! Everyone’s getting engaged and having babies.”
As the two bond at the idea of not having children, and engage in a crossfire conversation of wit and charm, it begs the question, what would they do if they were put in their characters’ situation?
“I’m sitting here in the sunshine having just finished work, so I can answer it with a clear uncomplicated mind that if the moment hit me, I’d have no idea how I’d react,” Rick says.
“I think the older you get the more open and excited you’d be, but until that moment comes along who knows. You can sit in the sunshine and answer it in a really intellectual way but it could all turn to shit when the moment comes along.”
Rick has a particular sense of humour in person and in the show he makes a very convincing clown (Ben’s profession in the show) it’s clear why Matilda chose Rick to act in her new series alongside her.
“There’s no question, from the moment Rick and I met years ago, we did have a great connection and it’s one of those things where you know that person is going to be in your life hopefully forever. And it’s never a dull moment with Rick on set – it was so fun,” Matilda says.
“It was an absolute hoot,” Rick adds, “I think that’s the best way to do it is working with someone you get along with and hopefully that translates onto the screen.”
The series also features Matilda’s own father Bryan Brown as her on-screen father Barry, who plays every boyfriend’s worst nightmare. And it’s the second clever short-form series the two have worked on together (the first was Lessons From the Grave).
Growing up Bryan nurtured her writing talent, and her skills that Rick describes as “so good” were clearly reciprocated from the team behind Presto, as they took Let’s Talk About on within a few days of her showing them her work.
The streaming service has enabled watchers Australia wide to have access to such a remarkable series right at their fingertips, and at five minutes an episode, it’s the ultimate in convenience.
“It’s super convenient and I think we live in a really convenient age where people are so used to getting what they want that it just works,” Matilda says.
“It just means there’s more avenues for creativity and for actors, writers and directors, without that, it’s hard to make a film and get distributed.”
Let’s Talk About is on Presto now. Log onto www.presto.com.au to do a free trial and watch the show.
Written by Amanda Sherring