By Luke Voogt
A new Geelong online comedy has more in store for fans after its creators began filming six new episodes this week.
Writer-director Ryan Chamley said Rostered On’s audience could expand soon with television networks showing interest.
“For me, Netflix would be the main goal,” he told the Geelong Indy.
Chamley filmed a pilot for the show in April hoping it would reach 10,000 views. But it smashed the target on its first night, reaching 170,000 views last week.
“I always suspected people would relate to it,” he said
“But I had no idea we would get the following we have in such a short amount of time.”
Chamley based the show’s main character Shaun, played by Geelong’s Paul Moore, on his eight years’ experience in retail.
He remembered “coexisting 40 hours a week” with the usual retail stereotypes – womanisers, backstabbers and “the guy who’s not a manager but pretends to be”.
“I hated the hierarchy of it and the corporate headquarters mentality.
“They expect your job to be priority but you’re just there to grab your cheque and get out the door.”
Chamley left retail to work in film, hoping to inspire young local film-makers.
“I’m just hoping people see what we’ve done with a very low budget and a lot of hard work.
“You don’t have to go to Melbourne to be part of the film industry.”
Paul Moore, who also appears in Winners and Losers, said Chamley’s improvisation brought out the best in his actors.
The veteran Geelong actor said Chamley would let his cast experiment after a successful take.
“There’s so much freedom and trust from Ryan. It really makes the actors feel they’re on same level. Everyone just brings out their quirky mannerisms which is heaps more fun.”
The show was a great opportunity for the “huge amount of talented actors in Geelong”, Moore said.
“I think working on the set of this compared to a huge budget set is as good, if not better.”
Hamlyn Heights’ Tara Vagg was thrilled to have her first web series opportunity with Rostered On.
“A lot of the time these creative opportunities for people in Geelong only happen in Melbourne,” she said
Vagg plays Tess, whose romances with workmates leave her in deep water.
“It’s so much fun. The writing’s so funny that everybody is bursting into laughter every few minutes.”
Robot Army Productions plans to finish filming at Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre in September.
Shoppers can watch through a window to the set.
