The Legend of Gavin and the New Best Mate cast.
Mandy McElhinney and Adam Zwar have joined the cast of Perth Production company Mad Kids' new ABC half-hour pilot The Legend of Gavin Tanner.
Originally a 5-part web series, The Legend of Gavin Tanner is set to make the leap from YouTube to TV having been commissioned for ABC Comedy Showroom, the network’s primetime comedy pilot season, which kicks off this Wednesday April 27 and runs across six Wednesdays.
ABC Comedy Showroom has collected Australia’s top comic talent for six half hour pilots, each the first episode of a brand new sitcom.
ABC audiences will be given the opportunity to vote on which they would like to return as full series. The pilot season is a joint initiative with Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria, Screen NSW and ScreenWest.
The pilot, entitled: The Legend of Gavin and the New Best Mate is written and directed by Matt Lovkis and Henry Inglis and produced by Lauren Elliott.
The series follows the misadventures of Gavin Tanner (Matt Lovkis), a West Coast Eagles-loving, weed-dealing big mouth who is utterly convinced he’s the biggest legend in Balladeen.
The problem is, no-one else agrees. Gavin’s dodgy plans, schemes and boasts are invariably exposed and brought crashing down, causing mayhem for everyone around him.
The pilot will also star returning cast Emily Rose Brennan as Gavin’s girlfriend, Trish and Liam Graham as Gavin’s apprentice, Damo as
well as new cast members Eddie Baroo (Stan’s Wolf Creek) and Perth-born, London-based actress, Tahlia Norrish.
Rick Kalowski, ABC Head of Comedy said WA’s Mad Kids was one of the most exciting comedy outfits in the country.
The 2014 web series was made possible by $70,000 production funding from ScreenWest and the Film & Television Institute (FTI), via Hyperlink, an initiative designed to assist Western Australian filmmaking teams to develop their production, storytelling, financial and project management skills to professional industry standards.
"I loved their Legend of Gavin Tanner web series and I can’t wait to see what they do with it as a half hour pilot.”
ScreenWest chief executive, Ian Booth, said ScreenWest was pleased to have been involved in the development of Mad Kids and Gavin Tanner.
"It’sfantastic that the ABC are now supporting this very funny, original content.” he said.
FTI chief executive, Paul Bodlovich, said: “Having The Legend of Gavin Tanner web series directly result in an ABC TV network deal, is a fantastic outcome of the Hyperlink initiative and we’re so pleased for the Mad Kids team.”
If the pilot proves a success and returns as a full series, The Legend of Gavin Tanner will join the likes of Comedy Central hits Broad City, Drunk History and Workaholics; HBO’s High Maintenance and Adult Swim’s Children’s Hospital, as well as ABC series, Soul Mates – all TV series that started out as web series.
The Mad Kids team say creating a web series has become a really viable way to break into TV.
"We’ve been developing and producing web series and digital shorts over the last five years and are so thrilled to be producing our first ever half hour of television for the ABC.”
Since the web series release in April 2014, Gavin’s YouTube channel has had over 1.3 million views and the character of Gavin Tanner has gained over 4,500 Facebook friends from all over the world.
Mad Kids have a slate of projects in development and have produced multiple web series and digital shorts to date including The Legend of Gavin Tanner [2014], Matt & Henry Working Together [2015],
The Shapes [2016] and DAFUQ? [2016], as well as Henry & Aaron’s 7 Steps to Superstardom [2011] and viral sensations It’s A Snap! and Set Yourself Free.
Mad Kids were the only West Australian team commissioned for Fresh Blood, the ABC and Screen Australia initiative designed to discover the next generation of Australian comedy performers and producers.
Elliott was the winner of the inaugural ScreenWest Emerging Producer’s Initiative in 2015, winning $100,000 to put towards project and professional development over the next 12 months.
The Legend of Gavin and the New Best Mate will debut on ABC at 9pm on 11 May 2016 and is also available on ABC iview from this April 27.