Hi.

I thought you might like to know, from the Australian creator, what dirtgirlworld is about, where its heart is and why it looks the way it does ... so here goes.

We live in the middle of nowhere, Australia and this is our first TV show ... so you can imagine how excited we are!

When dreaming about dirtgirlworld, we always envisaged something truly beautiful. A photomontage world that blended the real with the unreal, a world inhabited by characters that celebrated life outside and connected with children in a profound way. We wanted simple, sustainable stories; to create a show about the things we know and have really come to love. We wanted to share our love and thoughts about the future of our planet, from a hopeful and positive place, and we wanted it to be fun ... and weird ... and with heaps of music. Not ‘worthy’ and wholesome, but layered with humour and fantasy.

We wanted characters with heart, who were real and genuine, who spoke directly to and engaged the children who tuned in ... we wanted live action with a twist. This is why we chose to go down an untrodden path in preschool animation. The technique is somewhat ground breaking ... and experimental ... taking risks and boldness are required to attempt something new. The incorporation of real mouths and eyes allows our characters to tell a heartfelt story, encapsulating all that is great about the human range of expression and the quirkiness and fantasy that animation brings to a story world. The bodies are real bodies. Combined, it brings a connectedness and physical fluidity to the performance ... creating ‘gorgeous’ ... with an edge. And we like big heads!

It’s pure silliness. A bizarre art form. It blows away convention and hopefully introduces our audience to a rich visual palette
to excite imaginations and inspire action. We want dirtgirlworld kids to take what they experience on TV and step outside into their own equally-fantastic, rich worlds and get amongst it. It's definitely for the older preschool set ... 4-7yrs ... it isn’t really baby TV, although we know the colours and music are also engaging for younger ones.

What we have created is a contemporary look with a music video feel and is stylish, innovative and engaging ... and more beautiful than we ever imagined; the result of many hearts and talents coming together with a single focus ... across many platforms.

We are creatively driven, positive dreamers who are committed to the planet and daring enough to believe we can change the world ... just a little bit. dirtgirlworld is an opportunity for us to be our best.

dirtgirlworld is based on the idea that from little things, big things can happen. We want to encourage and inspire the next generation of compassionate (and passionate!) earth dwellers. We would like dirtgirlworld to help create an environment for social change and to move children and those who care for them from simply 'viewing' to really 'doing'.

We protect what we love. We hope that we inspire children to love going outside and by instilling a love of the environment and a sense of empowerment, that this new generation become active carers of the planet; creating a world where nature first is second nature. With dirtgirlworld we have an opportunity to do all this through a family of beautiful characters, a collection of memorable stories and great music that will touch hearts and rock planet earth.

Cate McQuillen
Co-Creator/writer

dirtgirlworld is an extremely important show to Cate and Hewey and they have put their heart and soul into it. Their ability to oversee and delegate has grown and they are across every part of production from feeding the crew to working closely with the director on the edits. They raised the majority of the interest in the show and have been able to inspire everyone on board to embrace the shows ethos of sustainability and creativity. Throughout every part of the production they have touched everyone with their love and ability to nurture those around them. The production blog below is to showcase and entertain you with how they set about achieving their dream.
 

The live action shooting sadly had to come to an end. We had shot all the dialogue, songs and dancing and really hanging out together any longer would have raised some awkward questions from the bean counters. Time to wrap...or rather dance. The dirtgirlworld wrap party in Sydney was fantastic. The extraordinary team gathered to be thanked and loved....and dance. Special thanks to Gary and Tony for spinning discs into the wee hours and providing us all with wireless headsets after midnight so that the neighbours had nothing to complain about.

One of the first teams brought together was the core production team –Cate’s theory is to always surround yourself with people smarter than you and then love them for it. Jenny Lalor, Melbourne based entertainment Lawyer and Jenni Tosi, at that time a Melbourne based producer, joined forces to create a budget and finance plan that would sustain dirtgirlworld through the many months ahead. Aliison Kelly came on board as the producer’s assistant which was a natural step after her work with Fiona Eagger on East of Everything and earlier work with Cate on Hewey on their other concept – Hit it!. Tamsin Smyth and Matt Mooney also started work not long afterwards. Tamsin and Matt were an integral part of bringing to life the first dirtgirlworld album seven years before, often working alongside Cate and Hewey late into the night in their pyjamas – they brought their love for the project as well as Matt’s sound editing and Tamsin’s design skills.

Music Supervisor – Hewey Eustace
Composer – Hewey Eustace
Vocalist – Cate McQuillen
Sound Editor – Matt Mooney
Post-Production Sound – Labsonics, Sydney, Alchemy Post, Melbourne
Music Studio – This Heaven Studios
Final Mix- Cameron McKenzie
Master Mix - Masterdisk
 

Hewey quickly got to work composing the songs for the series. Having created 16 of them six years before, one of Hewey’s first jobs was to remaster these for the screen. Ten new songs were then needed to be written. Soon the creative juices flowed and the songs poured out. Working closely with Paul Agar from ‘This Heaven Studios’ on Chatsworth Island and Cameron McKenzie from Melbourne the songs were engineered and rough edits were sent off to the broadcasters for approval.  They unanimously loved them! The songs were then recorded, mixed and finally mastered in NY by ‘Masterdisk’. Cate during a break in filming and on her four days off over Christmas 2008, recorded all the vocals for the songs. The music is a vital component of dirtgirlworld and these 26 songs will become an integral part of the audience’s daily lives when they are released with the show later this year!

While Hewey was in the studio composing, Cate was in the office pulling together the team, writing 26 of the 52 scripts and producing the show. The writing process was intensified by having Hugh Duffy (one of the Canadian writers) who came across to the farm for a month. Hugh’s stay was a high point at the beginning of production and was an important part in taking the heart of the show back to Canada. Kathy Sandford also joined the Canadian writing team bringing a truly ‘scraptastic’ voice to the series.

The show is a combination of real and unreal so real props were needed to fit into gigantic hands. Urunga artists, Mark Merritt and Suzie Peake were instrumental in props construction together with local handymen Kevin Reid and Chris Johnson-Walker. Tamsin brought her artistic craftiness to the fore and Felicity Blake managed the crew over the 7 week period. mememe productions became a hive of activity with people staying over most nights. Utilising ebay, the second hand shops and recycle depots around the district ensured the props department was as sustainable as possible and just like scrapboy would have made in his workshop.

Cate set up a house in inner Sydney where she lived and worked for the 16 weeks of filming with 4 other fellow northern rivers residents. Cate still travels regularly to and from Sydney to work with the animation company, Hackett Films and the website programmers, SNEPO. As some of the work has to be face to face, she has also been to NY, Toronto and LA and Hewey and her are about to head off to London for the European licensing show and Cannes to Mipcom for the launch.

The blend of real actors and animation meant that a greenscreen shoot was needed to bring the two together. This saw Cate working with some of Sydney’s top technicians. With the team from Hackett films, our fabulous DOP, green screen guru, David Wakeley and the incredible editing team of Mick Jones and Linda Ung, a system was born to take the unreal to the real. No rules, no book; the team were treading new ground and enjoying every moment.

The delicious Justine Flynn joined the family, directing performance, along with Jean and Cate , sharing her love and wisdom of directing.

 

Performance Directors – Jean Camden, Justine Flynn, Cate McQuillen
Director of Photography – David Wakeley ACS
Additional Cinematogaphy – Tony Gardiner
Camera Assistant/Clapper Loader – Toula Strathopoulos
Sound Recordist – Gary Lacroix
Costume Supervisor – Rolando Cano
Wardrobe Assistant – Tamsin Smyth
1st AD (1st Block) – Kate North Ash
1st AD (2nd Block) – Deb Ryan
1st AD (3rd Block) – Gwyn Sannia
2nd AD – Kala Ellis
Production Manager – Aliison Kelly
Production Assistant – Aimee Atkins
Production Assistant – Zoe Coombs-Marr
Lighting – Steve Schofield
Props Standby – Greg Refeld
Makeup Design – Katherine Brown
Make-up – Katherine Brown and Megan Chassay
Stills Photography – Toni Fuller
Data/Clapper Loader – Jo Sudol
Catering (Block One) – Marina Cafe
Catering (Block Two and Three) – Movie Meals
Art Department – Suzie Peake, Mark Merritt, Kevin Reid, Chris Johnson-Walker, Hewey Eustace, Tamsin Smyth, Matt Mooney
 

The actors were nothing short of extraordinary. ...Maree Lowes, Michael Balk, Krew Boylan, Gibson Nolte and Jason Davis. What they were asked to do and the level of craft needed to inhabit these characters, the style of acting and the technical requirement they needed to understand them was a challenge that they wholeheartedly embraced. They exceeded all expectations. This shines through in the show. Five glorious hearts performing their socks off.
 

Maree Lowes
Michael Balk 
Krew Boylan 
Gibson Nolte
Jason Davis
 

Jean Camden leads the team at Hackett Films, our Australian design studio and music video creative extraordinaires. Jean is a gift from the design gods; her vision, direction and heart are a priceless combination. Working to extend the look of the original pilot Jean, the ground breaking James Hackett, as Hackett Films EP and Cate, worked on creating a visual style for dirtgirlworld that is breathtaking. Mary Benn then took her team of designers and worked with Jean to make the visual concept a reality. HF Producer, Jonathan Davis, wrangled the story boarders, design artists, 3D designers, data managers and pipeline to complete the backgrounds and framework of 52 episodes, and along with Kala Ellis successfully delivered them all to our Canadian team in July.

Click here for a link to Hackett Films

Series Director - Jean Camden
Visual Concept – James Hackett
Producer for Hackett Films – Jonathan Davis
Assistant Producer – Kala Ellis
Senior Art Director – Mary Benn
Senior Designer – Matt Brunner
Designer – Kylie Boxall
Designer - Sebastian Danta
3D Modelling – Chong Fu
3D Modelling – Ben Wright
Story Board Artist – Thomas Tatko
Story Board Artist – Matt Walsh
Series Editor – Mick Jones
Editor – Linda Ung
Data Management – Jo Sudol
Music Video Design – Chris Tan
Music Video Artist – Anna Fraser
Music Video Artist – Samantha Hoh
Music Video Artist – Anne Numont
Freelance Storyboard Artist – Jeff Lang
Freelance Storyboard Artist – Jesse Broadhurst
Freelance Storyboard Artist – Jeremy Gordon
Freelance Storyboard Artist – Simon Williams
Freelance Storyboard Artist – Gillian O’Connor
Bookkeeping – Cathy Skow, Moneypenny Services
Legals – Digby Law
 

Another major element of the show is the Green thumbs where real children build upon the show by moving the viewing to doing out into the real world. After reading about the Wooli Public School’s vegetable garden and meeting with the Principal, Heather Wright and her staff, Cate and Hewey knew this was the perfect location and team to work with. Shooting also took place at the Kanga Chemical Free Fruit and Vegetable Farm on the road to Wooli and the Butterfly House at Coffs Harbour. A northern rivers crew was brought together for the shoot headed by Catherine Marciniak as director with Annie Benzie as the DOP and David Tindale as editor. The team worked with the school to shoot and edit the 52 green thumbs that sit inside each episode of dirtgirlworld.

Director – Catherine Marciniak
Director of Photography – Annie Benzie
Camera Assistant – Owen
Editor – David Tindale
Production Manager – Aliison Kelly
Production Assistant – Maree Lowes
Cast – Wooli Public School and friends
 

A number of the 52 episodes are now in the can but post-production work continues. The majority of this has been undertaken via the internet using an editing programme called Cinesync and regular meetings take place via SKYPE with the directors and other producers. This technology has been invaluable and has saved the environment enormously.

Sound Editing has also been crossing the planet electronically. Each edited episode is sent via a secured FTP site where Hewey, Matt Mooney, Cameron McKenzie, Labsonics and Alchemy Post add the multiple layers of sound and music to create each episode’s unique soundtrack.

With two websites funded by the Bell media fund and Screen Australia, Cate and Hewey keep the ethos of ‘moving viewing to doing’ firmly alive. From its inception, dirtgirlworld was always about ‘experience’. Charged with their interactive dream, Jan Mallis creatively drives the international team of web geeks. Anthony Eden and Ben Moir and their team from Snepo, Michaela Ledgewick from  The Quality and Yulia Danilova and the whole interactive crew at Decode in Toronto, jam the ether with their musings, codes and secrets unbeknownst to only them, sculpting the websites that the dirtgirlworld kids can visit anytime online and take into their daily lives.

Interactive Senior Creative Producer – Jan Mallis
Interactive Producer – Michela Ledwidge
Website Build – Anthony Eden and Ben Moir
 

Last but definitely not least, is our brand guardian, Geof Webb. It’s a ‘big call’ job to make sure that all things dirtgirlworld are ethical, sustainable or carbon neutral. He spends his days fending off  the unscrupulous and detrimental; pouring his time and energy into all the sensational people and ideas that are working for both the good of the planet and the joy of the child...lovely!

 

The Australian team is one part of the story. Across the skies and sea the Canadian team toil equally as hard to take the design to the final stage. With our co-production partner, Decode Entertainment, led by Steven DeNure and Beth Stevenson, the vision continues, bursting into life. dirtgirlworld is innovative, to say the least.

Janice Walker, the series producer and Hana Kukal, the Canadian series director work with Neishaw Ali and her team at Canadian Animation studio, Spin FX. Morghan Fortier wrangles this team, with lead technician and tri-athlete Tie Gambacurta, Colin Davis (how many Davis, can one show have?), Richard Owen, and Brett Jubinville, who together make magic happen every day.

Click here for a link to who is who at SPIN FX, dirtgirlworld team!