MOdern Virtue
7x20 Young Adult Drama (Ensemble Cast)
STAGE: Development (Completed script drafts ready for viewing)
SIMILAR PROJECTS: Euphoria, Heartbreak High, The OC, Skins
LOGLINE: Jay, and his friends try their best to navigate the trials of coming of age in 2023 Australia. Troubled by social media and drug addictions, dealing with racist family members and toxic friends, Jay and his Gen Z friends try their best to be good people in a broken world.
THE PROJECT: 19-year-old Australian/Chinese artist Jay as he wrestles with dreams of life elsewhere clashing with obligations to stay as his Australian mother begs him to help her look after his dying racist grandfather.
After eating a spiked lemon square at a party, Jay meets Katherine, an Instagram model who gained a following after posting a confessional about her Xanax addiction and waning mental health. Their friendship blooms as they support each other through relationship dramas, trying to find meaningful life goals and figuring out where they fit in their complicated family situations.
The show primarily follows Jay and Katherine but their stories intertwine with their friends Taku and Harriet as well as Jay’s girlfriend Gabby and his new friend Amy.
Through the lens of these characters is explored the many dimensions of Gen Z from addictions to online shopping to the dysphoria of second generation immigrants in a western country to connecting with new friends online and being able to share your sadness with others in a supportive and open way.
THE AUDIENCE: YOUNG ADULTS (16-30)
With the huge success of Euphoria and Heart-Break High, we now know that this demographic is craving diverse content, about their experiences coming of age in this current world. Modern Virtue aims to do this.
The success of series and films like Heart-Break High, Atlanta, The Family Law, Blackish, Crazy Rich Asians and The Farewell, there is shown to be a profitable market for video content exploring ethnic identity in western culture.
Crazy Rich Asians made over $17.3 million in the Australian box office alone: accounting for over a tenth of its international figure. According to the Australian Census (2016) however, 16.3% of Australians report Asian heritage, so their achievement might not be seen as far too surprising after all. What this altogether shows is that the Asian-Australian population is a huge market: and that they are desperate to see themselves represented in Australian media.
Modern Virtue will feature a primarily ethnic cast, and the lead character will be cast as Asian-Australian. A central component of his arc will be him learning how and whether to forgive his dying racist grandfather, whose brother was killed in the Vietnam War. Many of the other characters will also come from diverse backgrounds. Through this lens, Modern Virtue, will depict what it means to grow up here today in Australia; what it means to integrate into a society that is yours but never truly yours; and how some slight cultural differences may indeed exist - but that ultimately beneath it all, we are each searching for mostly the same things.
As an Asian-Australian myself - I would like to tell these stories.
Naughty Secrets
12x20 Young Adult Crime / Procedural Drama (Ensemble Cast)
SIMILAR PROJECTS: Gossip Girl, Veronica Mars, The Devil Wears Prada
LOGLINE: Rose, desperate to do anything to save her magazine, hires a popular anonymous gossip writer, only to find out it’s her ex-best friend, Lali, who’s only returned to town to attend the funeral of her father who died in a mysterious fire. Sex, drugs, musicians and journalism fuel this dramatic mystery as it unravels, one column at a time.
THE PROJECT: Rose has been running the popular underground music and fashion magazine, The Valley, into the ground. The Valley has been rapidly declining in popularity and her advertisers that fund the magazine are ready to pull out, until a series of salacious anonymous tips about the popular musicians in town, lead to several arrests and turn it into the most sort after source of news for the scene.
Rose hates that the success of her magazine is because of smut and not because of the integrity of her other journalists, however she can’t deny that this gossip column keeps her magazine alive. She invites the anonymous columnist to meet in an attempt to start a partnership only to find out that it’s her ex-bestfriend, Lali.
Lali left town under mysterious circumstances and has only returned to help look after her teenage brother and attend the funeral of their father who died in a mysterious fire. Lali agrees to help Rose, not only because she needs the money, but also so she can become closer with the people in the scene and investigate her father’s possible murder.
Rose gives Lali two rules to maintain the integrity and allure of the column which are; never reveal your identity and don’t sleep with the musicians. Lali tries her best but can only ever abide by one of the two rules.
STLYE: Each episode will often follow Lali writing one of her articles, resolving with her completing the article and giving hints to the greater story at hand.
TWIST: Also following the success of this method in early 2000s shows, this show will feature heaps of musical guests and cameos from the Australian music scene which is recognized and held in high praise internationally.
THE AUDIENCE: YOUNG ADULTS (16-30)
Who doesn’t love a young adult drama with a sexy and crime fueled twist? Come for the sordid tales of love, romance and the classic enemies to friends character development and stay for the musings about our current broken system of journalism and way we consume media, fake news and gossip.