The ABC has commissioned two new live-action children’s series, Aquarius Films’ Parent Up and Fremantle Australia’s The PM’s Daughter.
Both supported by Screen Australia, the series will go into production this year, joining MaveriX, Itch season 2 and Hardball season 2 on ABC ME’s narrative drama slate.
A comedy action series for 8-13 year olds, Parent Up is created and executive produced by Justine Flynn (The Unlisted). It follows Yu Na and Min Park, who want more excitement in their lives. However, they don’t realise just how crazy their lives will become when they discover their once unremarkable parents are actually international spies and have disappeared in suspicious circumstances.
Writing with Flynn are Michelle Lim Davidson, Andrew Lee, Tiffany Zehnal, Melissa Lee Speyer, Tristram Baumber, Sophia Chung, Hyun Lee, Alice McCredie-Dando and David Park.
Directors will include Nick Verso, Chase Lee, Hyun Lee, Darlene Johnson, Neil Sharma and Flynn. Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford produce with series producer Naomi Just. Screen NSW, Cutting Edge and international distributor ABC Commercial have also supported the production.
Tristram Baumber and Matthew Allred are the creators behind The PM’s Daughter, a political comedy-drama series that follows Catalina Parkes Pérez (Cat to her friends), who is like any other teenager who wants to fight the powers that be. There’s just one complication: her mother is the Prime Minister of Australia.
Alice Willison produces with co-producer Kieran Hoyle, and directors include Julietta Boscolo, Erin White and Alana Hicks. Scribes include Baumber, Lou Sanz, Hannah Samuel, Angela McDonald, Craig Irvin, Gemma Bird Matheson and Magda Wozniak.
Baumber is also an EP together with Fremantle Asia-Pacific CEO Chris Oliver-Taylor. The series has been backed by Screen NSW, Fremantle International and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF).
Mary-Ellen Mullane will executive produce both series for the ABC.
ABC head of children’s production Libbie Doherty said: “Strap in for a very exciting ride on ABC ME. We are turning up the heat with big E for Entertainment – new and returning series purpose fit for iview and the streaming landscape. Audiences will be thrilled with the return of much-loved favourites Hardball S2 and Itch S2 and wonderful new comedy series Parent Up and The PM’s Daughter (both working titles).”
Screen Australia head of content Sally Caplan said: “We were incredibly impressed by these live-action childrens’ dramas, with clever scripts and distinctly Australian stories that reflect our multicultural society on screen. Whether it’s delving into the world of leading a country in PM’s Daughter or exploring a mysterious spy underworld in Sydney in Parent Up, these are two fun, high stakes series that I’m sure will entertain and inspire young viewers.”