Fizzy & Suds

26 x 11 minute episodes
Formatted – 11 segments per episode
Nominated for Prixe Jeunesse’s award for Best Factual Entertainment Program For Up To 6 Years Non-Fiction
AND nominated for Prixe Jeunesse’s UNESCO Prize.

Role: Series Writer and Series Director

ABOUT

Fizzy and Suds is a pre-school factual and animation series inspired by young children’s ‘extreme intense interests’ (EIIs). The show features two animated bubbles Fizzy and Suds who love to explore the real world from a young child’s perspective. Each episode, Fizzy and Suds guide young viewers through 26 different topics of interest via a mix of 3D-animation and observational documentary techniques. Drawn from research about young children’s EIIs in specific subjects, the series is designed to cater to all children, including those who are neurodiverse.

  “Bubbling beluga!” definitely the crowning glory of my career thus far – penning a catch phrase where I can draw inspiration from my favourite animal!

In 2022 I was engaged by Tilt Media during development to play a key role in setting up the creative direction and vision of the show, I loved working alongside the very talented heads of department, sometimes helping to problem solve complex shooting logistics and post logistics.

I wrote and directed 26 episodes of the show, and I especially enjoyed collaborating with some very talented individuals such as additional writer, Adam Bigum. I very much enjoyed developing the tone and look of the series – a process which was creatively rewarding and adventurous! I am very passionate about representation and so it was wonderful to bring my social economy onto the project, and I connected the show to different communities of people, artists and children with disabilities.

One of my goals as the series director, was to ensure every episode would give representation to disability and diversity in front of and behind the camera. Diverse and inclusive representation in the film industry  has been something I’ve been passionate about since the start of my career and as the co-founder and former CEO of Bus Stop Films. It was wonderful to stand back with the team and take stock of accomplishing this this goal on Fizzy and Suds.

Tilt Media also commissioned my company, Taste Creative to produce 52 short films for the show called “Thought Bubbles” for which we engaged long-time collaborators and artists with disability to deliver stop motion, 2D, live action and motion graphic short films.

It was a joy to also bring Jerrah Patston – a neurodiverse musician and one of my regular collaborators, onto the team. He composed the theme song and worked with the amazing Club Weld a project created by Autism Spectrum Australia, to bring the song to life.

In conceptualising and overseeing the design and execution of the leading characters Fizzy and Suds, I wanted to create textural characters that children would be drawn to through contrasting textures, so I developed the idea of having 3D rendered bubble bodies with stop motion plasticine eyes and mouths. We worked with an incredible animation team of three to achieve this, with animation director, Ben Draisma at the helm.

The audition process was inclusive and welcoming to neurodiverse kids, with a view to eliciting authentic performances that celebrate the child mind.

The eight-week shoot captured 26 different subjects for the show. As director, I appreciated working with DOP Kent Marcus, a neurodiverse cinematographer to develop a cinematic style of shooting that was nimble enough to allow us to capture a dynamic range of coverage to expose diverse layers of the subject matter.

Equally important was ensuring our sound designer was briefed to create an accessible sound design so that the show could be enjoyed by neurodiverse children. This was heavily supported by the work of my director’s attachment and neurodiversity consultant Ramana Dienes-Browning.

The whole show was inclusively made and certified as ABC’s first Inclusively Made production under the Inclusively Made guidelines.

Read more about the achievements of Fizzy and Suds here:
IF Magazine
Illawarra Mercury