Brandon, a tradie, and Brenda, an ibis, meet up on a park bench in Chippo (Chippendale, Sydney) every day for smoko where they chew the fat about whatever pops up. It’s their 15 minute daily ritual where no topic is off limits… music, politics, smoking, the footy, sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, anything and everything… It's open slather. In true Aussie style these great mates aren’t afraid to hang shit on one another for a laugh, all delivered in dry whip crack drawl.
Coming from completely different walks of life… and species, with at least one generation between them, we explore the different ideas and opinions they have on whatever topic gets them riled... and whatever it is it's gonna be bloody passionate!
In the end it’s obvious they have more in common than what they thought and, from whichever standpoint they start on, they tend to meet on common ground before the end of SMOKO.
COMEDIC SHORT TV SERIES
12 x 2.5 minute episodes
Adult content
Social interest
SYNOPSIS
Brandon is a tradie in his mid 20s.
A fit and sporty bloke who’s always got something interesting for lunch. His world is the gym, his fully decked out ute, sport and Friday nights out on the town.
Not afraid to speak his mind on any subject but willing to listen when presented with a strong counterpoint. His perspective is millennial.
Best quoted include:
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“For fuck sake!”
“Oh here we go”.
“Better than shit breath!”
Brenda as a venerable bin chicken with questionable links to the seedy underbelly of Sydney’s past. Always on the lookout for a decent ciggie but, Brenda is a treasure trove of tales that would curl a sailor’s moustache delivered with her own brand of vulgarity and spice. Her perspective is boomer.
Best quoted include:
“Halliefuckenlooya!”
“Back in my day, men used to smell right,
like whaling, old spice and spunk”.
“You youngsters need to unclench
your arse holes! So uptight”.
SMOKO taps into the rich vein of quintessential Australian humour. It's crass and raw but at heart it's genuinely friendly, even if inspired by the intergenerational biffs (arguments) we are all privy too. This is what Steve wanted to capture and so he pitched his mini tv series pilot script to Director, Adam Gunn (Gunny) who embellished it with his own brand of humour before taking it to storyboard. Michael Pattison (Geordie), project Producer and Head of Production oversaw rewrites and the boarding process and then brought Andrew Collins (aka Andy) into the mix as the Lead Animator. It’s worth noting that every panel on SMOKO is digitally hand drawn and painted, a rare artform in animation these days due to the skill required, labour involved and time taken to produce such work. Poor Andy right? Luckily we had veteran Ian Harrowell and visual effects animator, Ben Grimshaw, thrown in the mix to help out.
In storyboard and animation we used what is known as scratch (stand in voice records) to help inform the performances and poses of the characters being drawn as the cast has not yet been locked in. Gunny supplied these scratch lines early on in the production process and Erin, the company’s Production Manager and this projects Coord, suggested they utilise this untapped talent of his and cast him as Brenda the bin chicken.
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There may have been a bit of strong arming involved but Adam agreed. For Brandon we went with the crew member with the clearest Aussie accent, Andy, our master animator. Kylebrench Rose Villarama was brought in to bring it all together in edit and tighten up timing and add the much needed atmos to really ground the film.
All in all it's been a fantastic gig. There is always something magical about working with people you know. Some of these friendships date back more than 30 years and the comradery it brings can be felt in the finished product. A Triple Meat Studio debut, we're excited to see how audiences respond.
