The journey from podcasting to scripted television has increased in frequency over the past few years as fresh IP searches have been enhanced.
Marty Smiley and Nat Damenna were the paths they had behind their minds when they launched their comedy podcast Housewife in early 2021, looking inside the reality of life with their housemates.
After more than four years and nearly 60 episodes, the pair will debut concept-based comedy-drama pilots as part of next week’s SXSW Sydney.
Housework leads Smiley and Damenana to star as two millennial housemates on sale on rent-controlled terraces, leading them to try the least profitable plan imaginable. Buy into the real estate market by starting a podcast. Alongside the pair are the lineup of well-known comedians such as Jenna Owen, Alex Lee, Mark Humphrey, Olivia Stanbuuria, Becky Lucas, Adam Dunn, Nat Caro, Christian Byers, Ruby O’Kelly and Jamie Kirk.
Boris Brkic is filming.
Smiley began her career as a music VJ for Channel V in 2012, and has since reported on Feed, Junkee.
Pedestrian.tv, Vice, and The Project told us whether both he and Damena knew early on that new house festival was suitable for on-screen adaptations, but were not very sure how to make it a reality.
“We’ve been involved in television like SBS, and it’s been the forefront of making short shapes, but we’re creating sketches on Instagram,” he said.
“Even pilots didn’t come next for us in that they had that understanding of writing and developing something for television.”
Join writer/director Ken Carpel. The experience includes overseeing commercials for global brands such as Adidas, Jeep, Corona, and Mazda, as well as creating short form content for various platforms.
Returning from a stint who lives in New York in 2022, Carpel caught up with Smiley, who he had previously collaborated with in the V Energy Drinks campaign.
“Everyone has a podcast so I wasn’t going to listen to it, but then I did, and their chemistry was so unique and so affectionate,” he said.
“If we could get this chemistry at the show, we thought it would be like lightning in a bottle.”
Karpel wrote sample scenes and sent them to pairs, providing the basis for a 45-page pilot script.
Realizing the style and tone of the new house festival, it was a difficult sale on paper (“it’s a show about two guys who love TV, so every reference they have is writing TV.”
Produced by Pivot. The film, this shot took place over five days at the end of 2022 in Sydney’s inner suburbs, including reinvestment income from the podcast and contributions from their own creative work by writer/director/EP Carpel and fellow EP Max Homaey. Sarah MacFarlane served as the EP along with writers/producers Damena and Smiley.
Marty Smiley and Nut Demana behind the scenes.
As for casting, Damenana said that existing friendships led the process.
“Everyone who’s on the show, we all have friendships,” he said.
“Marty worked with Mark Humphries in the past. Throughout my years of stand-up, I knew Becky Lucas and all the others, so it sent a message to your friends and said, “Do you want to be part of this?”
Post-production was a longer process, with Carpel leaning against his ad connections and sporading the final touches into the project over the course of 12 months.
The creative team approached several production companies to board towards the end of last year before being directed in the direction of Christopher Casanova head of Princess Pictures content. The production house then helped pitch the concept to the platform with feedback from “I won’t commission comedy anymore” to “waiting for management remodeling.”
Now we’re exploring other options, such as moving the first season of the series to feature scripts.
“When we came across that dead end on TV, Christopher came back to us and said, “Look, I talked to a friend who was struggling to climb the TV there, and he suggests that at this point the feature, especially the indie feature, is back a bit,” Carpel said.
“We walked away and thought about it, and I think we really split a great story.”
However, Smiley hoped that SXSW would help “play” the conversation with the first concept.
“These things change,” he said.
“We have new commissioners. There are probably new people in these positions that we haven’t pitched. This could be an opportunity for them to see it with the live audience and return to some of those same spots.”
Housewarming will premiere at the TV Pilot Showcase in SXSW Sydney on October 16th.
