Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Monday 05 October
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
Pay, free-to-air or free to everywhere?
Comedy on screen – like the rest of TV – has been split across a wide variety of creative and commercial contexts. The contemporary humorist can be found anywhere between webisodes and episodes, sitcoms and skitcoms, sketches and stand-up videos – or in writers’ rooms and editing suites. Couch potato comedy fans have never had it better.
With the door wide open to DIY filmmakers – and a now-familiar path from YouTube to network TV (or online video giants like Netflix) – we’ll investigate what distinguishes online comedy from its more mature ancestors. Is it necessarily edgier, more transgressive and more risqué … and are we disappointed when it isn’t? What are the rules, who’s in control and how are stars – and cash – made?
Explore the idioms of the idiot box with host Adam Zwar and guests including The Katering Show’s Kate McCartney and Two Refugees and a Blonde’s Osamah Sami.
Featuring
Adam Zwar
Adam Zwar is a multi award-winning actor, writer and producer. He is best known for co-creating and starring in the Australian comedy series Lowdown (ABC, BBC4) and Wilfred (SBS), which was formatted in Russia and the US. More recently, Adam created the popular Agony series (ABC) – which is currently in its 5th season. Selected acting credits include Party Tricks, Rake, Howzat, as well as feature films The Wedding Party and Rats and Cats.
Zwar is currently producing various titles for High Wire Films, alongside business partners Amanda Brotchie and Nicole Minchin.
Osamah Sami
Osamah Sami is a failed cricketer and a struggling Muslim. As a writer, he has completed two feature films (Ali’s Wedding – a Muslim romantic comedy based on his book Good Muslim Boy, and Be Less Beautiful, filming in 2016). He has also written a vague number of plays; co‐created a developed eight episode sitcom Baghdad to the Burbs; co‐created the web series 2 Refugees & a Blonde and keeps an unpopular blog, Halal Aussie Daily.
On stage he has performed for Belvoir St Theatre, Big West, La Mamma, Melbourne Theatre Company, Theatre@Risk and over two dozen other independent shows. Osamah also played the title role in Saddam the Musical, which got him deported from the US – having been mistaken for a terrorist. In fairness, he does barrack for the Essendon Bombers.
Born in war-torn Iran to Iraqi parents – and escaping to call Australia home – have moulded him into a confused soul.
His choice to forge a career as an artist (actor–writer–comedian) has caused his loved ones terrible anxiety. His mother would love nothing more than for him to get real employment at the local IGA (if it was good enough for Anh Do, it’s good enough for her son).
On screen, he played lead roles in films Saved (dir: Tony Ayres) opposite Claudia Karvan, and in Dee McLachlan’s award winning 10 Terrorists! Contrary to popular belief, he has played a terrorist only twice.
Osamah is listed as a ‘notable Australian Muslim’ by the Commonwealth of Australia. He is currently investigating how this could have occurred. He is also working on being a better father to his two beautiful daughters.
Kate McCartney
Kate McCartney is a writer/director, illustrator, animator and performer.
Her work as a comedy performer and writer has featured in Big Bite, Hamish and Andy and Time Of Our Lives. Kate was a senior writer for Sam Simmons’ Problems, and further writing credits include Adam Hills Tonight, Dirty Laundry Live, Spicks and Specks and ABC3’s Little Lunch and You’re Skitting Me. She has appeared in Offspring and ABC series Outland.
Kate’s writing has been published in Penguin’s Thanks For The Mammaries and Penguin/Random House’s Women of Letters: Between Us.
In 2006, Kate’s animated short The Astronomer was selected for screened nationally and internationally. It was nominated for an Australian Film Industry award in 2006, and won Best 2-D Animation at Animex, 2007.
In 2015, Kate McCartney and writing partner Kate McLennan’s original concept The Katering Show was released on YouTube, clocking up millions of views. In 2016, the Kates returned with a fresh new season of the hit series premiering on ABC iView. To date, it has attracted over 4 million views and 60,000 subscribers.
With Kate McLennan, Kate McCartney was the co-recipient of the 2011 Kit Denton Disfellowship for Bleak. Bleak originally launched in 2014 on YouTube before it was made into a TV pilot for ABC’s Comedy Showroom in 2016.
Kate was the director of ABC hit comedy The Edge Of The Bush — a series created by writer and performer Anne Edmonds. Most recently she directed the Mandy McElhinney, Wayne Blair & Jenna Owen storyline in ABC TV’s series Squinters.
In 2017, Kate teamed up with Kate McLennan again for their new full-length ABC series titled Get Krack!n, where they set their satirical sights on the world of breakfast television.
Julie Eckersley
Julie is a creative producer with over 20 years experience in the industry. She originally trained as an actress and has worked nationally and internationally on stage and screen, winning numerous awards.
Julie currently works as a producer at Matchbox Pictures. She has produced documentary series Anatomy 4, The Turning – Cockleshell, animation series ZuZu & the SuperNuffs, The Real Housewives of Melbourne (Associate Producer) and Maximum Choppage - Australia’s first kung fu comedy. She was the Associate Producer on the supernatural drama – Glitch and has just produced a new SBS comedy The Family Law, based on the memoir of Benjamin Law.
After completing her Grad Dip in Producing at AFTRS and her Masters in Communication (Swinburne) she undertook a producing internship at Matchbox Pictures and subsequently became their Multi-Platform Producer. Her initial role in the company was to develop and produce cross platform narratives for projects, engage new audiences through social media and to develop and produce online projects for the company. She initiated and oversaw the online campaigns for ABC drama’s The Slap and The Straits and developed the ambitious transmedia project for The Nowhere Boys, which has been sold internationally. It was nominated for numerous awards and recently won an international iKids Award.