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MWF 2014 Official Selection: The Justice Lease

The Justice Lease is a superhero comedy featuring the real life versions of Superman, Batman, Aquaman, and The Hulk as they struggle to live together in an Australian share house.

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

They are defeated not by supervillains and natural disasters but by endless bickering over popularity and the weight of their domestic obligations. With Superman long forgotten by the public and Batman enjoying fame and fortune, Supers seems doomed to a lifetime of domestic servitude and babysitting Aquaman. But Superman is determined to see if the release of ‘Man of Steel’ will change all that.

The idea for The Justice Lease was sparked by 10 days of meditation, a song by Bachelor Girl and Kurt Cobain playing his guitar to a webcam.

Recently, creators Jeremy Brull (who has one kidney) and Paul Michael Ayre (who has a degree in Artificial Intelligence) had two short films screened at TEDxSydney2014 in the Opera House. You can check them out below and they are working on a second series complete with Lois Lane and a racist Captain America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLm8IpImOro

 

Why should people watch your series?

Anyone interested in a hybrid ‘BritishAustralian” style of comedy – where characters take absurd premises way too seriously. There are also plenty of references to comic culture for fans to enjoy.

 

What do you want people to take away from your series?

How did something so funny come from people so handsome?

 

How do you finance your series?

We self funded it to get things going. Then, as things progressed, we used Pozible to cover as much of the costs as we could.

 

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

We budgeted to get four episodes shot in a weekend – that’s 1214 minutes of footage a day – with only one camera. The actors got two takes on each shot, with only a few exceptions.

 

How do you reach your audience?

Largely through Facebook networking and our comedy page SevereComedy. The next series will be distributed through our online partner Totem Network.

 

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

The second season is in development now. We have individual plot lines for each character, and things are about to amp up – including the introduction of many more comic book characters like Lois Lane and a racist Captain America!

 

Why make a web series?

Back in the day, if you wanted to get something created, you needed to find contacts at a TV network, prove yourself writing for other projects, and practice your skills in a vacuum. Nowadays, you can create your own ideas from scratch, and skill yourself up ahead of any meetings with networks and have a proof of concept that your series works. It makes it much less risky for a network to take a risk on an unknown entity. Plus, it’s rare that you’ll have complete creative control – so your entire vision can come to fruition.

 

Find them on Facebook

www.facebook.com/SevereComedy

www.facebook.com/PaulMichaelAyre

www.facebook.com/JeremyBrull

TEDxSydney2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02DdDi64O9k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6DKAXLfVQ

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/australiansuperheroparodyjusticelease692923

 

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

La Trobe University is a festival sponsor of Melbourne WebFest. 

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