Ahead of Melbourne WebFest 2014 we are profiling all the series in the Official Selection as well as the “Second Look” series. 

In its third season, The Horizon sees themes of love, trust and friendship thoroughly explored through the events of  open relationships, helping friends get on their feet and disputes between drag queens.

Stark and Jones say what prompted them to create this web series as they found it to be an original and liberating new medium, which has helped them fulfil their desire to tell stories about Sydney’s gay and alternative community.

At times funny, confronting or scary, The Horizon offers an honest glimpse into vulnerable characters and taboo subjects, within this exotic subculture.

What the creators wish for audiences to take away from the series is a greater understanding of gay and Queer & Alternative people, whom are often misrepresented and misunderstood. They also wish for viewers to take away the subtle messages about safe sex.

How do you finance your series? 

Mainly corporate sponsorship but with some Arts funding too from Marrickville Council. 

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in production?

The usual issues associated with low-budget productions.

How do you reach your audience?

Mainly word-of-mouth and file sharing via YouTube and support in the gay press.  We have had some press in the mainstream media as well, given the series now has over 20,000,000 views.

Is it an ongoing project? If so, can you give us some clues about what comes next? 

We will continue to follow our regular characters as they ride the rollercoaster of living in Sydney’s modern gay culture.

Trivia: please tell us a quirky and/or interesting fact about yourself or team that’s unrelated to your web series.

 Writer/Director Boaz Stark was obsessed with puppets from when he was a toddler and performed sell-out shows at Christian kindergartens on Jewish holidays until he burnt out at 12.  Ten years later he reinvented as a scriptwriter and realised it’s just a more sophisticated form of puppetry.  In short – he was born to do this!

The Horizon on the web:

Website: www.thehorizon.tv

Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/TheHorizonSeries/videos

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thehorizonseries

Twitter: @HorizonSeries

Keep up to date with Melbourne Web Fest on twitter: @MelbWebFest

La Trobe University is a festival sponsor of Melbourne WebFest.