Archie Stewart (Alex Cooper), a failed music reporter, returns home after an unsuccessful interstate job hunt to find that his housemate Bishop has driven the other tenants out of their share house with a cruel, insensitive prank. Whilst Bishop George McNab) is just an asshole, Archie’s excessive worrying over the most trivial of issues sticks their friendship in a rut of constant back-and-forth argument, with the constant threat of eviction lingering over their heads as they don’t have enough tenants to pay the lease.
To add another spanner in the works, Bishop’s wayward father Virgil make the boys an offer they can’t refuse – he’ll pay their rent if they let Bishop’s Asian half-brother Glenn (Liam Nguyen) live with them.
Background.
Paradise started in the mid-year break of 2013. All year we’d been writing scripts and making short films for our respective uni courses, and we just thought to ourselves, “yeah, let’s film a simple sketch-comedy show next weekend”.
After we figured out we just wanted two guys, provisionally named A & B (later Archie & Bishop) we started workshopping scripts to drawing out rough storyboards and shot lists, all within a few hours of one another. After a few days, we’d already cast and had a table ready with our principal actors.
From the original idea through to writing, storyboarding, casting and shooting – it only took us two weeks, with a three-day intensive shooting schedule for all six episodes.
From the Creators.
“Paradise was a huge learning curve, and such a fun one thanks to Cooper and George. These two were legends for simply agreeing to give up three days of their holiday on such short notice, but absolutely brilliant for what they brought to the set. Not to mention having a super chilled chemistry from the get-go, these two took direction like pros and improvised like there was no tomorrow. Great experience. Oh, and Alex McDiarmid is alright too.”
Max Walter
“I think what makes Paradise such a special project for me is the way that everyone jumped on board at the idea of collaborating on this web series with very little idea of what it was or where it would go. Kind of like a leap of faith.
It was just this big creative tortilla and we were all just wrapped up in it together for that two- week process. Everyone worked so well together and to this day, six months down the track, it’s still a privilege to look back and say “I made this show with those guys”.
Alex McDiarmid
A Second Season.
Paradise is the sort of thing that we’d love to continue with more time to plan and refine scripts in workshops with the actors. After we wrapped shooting, a question that came up almost immediately was “so… who’s up for a second season?”
The answer was basically a resounding “yes”.
And now, after the overwhelmingly positive response we got for the first six episodes, we know that it’s not a matter of “if” we want to proceed with Paradise, but “how”.
For more on Paradise.