Blind (Australian TV series)

2019 Australian TV series or program

Blind

Genre| Dramedy
Created by| James Cripps
Written by| James Cripps
Directed by| Andre Muller
Starring|

* Ryan Light
* Crystal Moran
* Kurt Winter
* Ellie Gall
* Matt Castley

Country of origin| Australia
Original language| English
No. of seasons| 1
No. of episodes| 7
Production
Producer| Jessica Giacco
Cinematography| Sidat de Silva
Original release
Network|

* OzFlix
* Twisted Mirror TV
* Seeka TV

Release| 31 March 2019 (2019-03-31)

Blind is a seven-part Australian web television dramedy series, created and written by James Cripps and directed by Andre Muller. Set in one room over the course of a summer, the series follows five young friends as they try to navigate the world and each other.

## Synopsis

[edit]

Blind is a youth-based comedy-drama web series where the forces of love, music, drugs, friendship and spirituality collide in the heightened environment of the Sweaty Bender Room, a place where the party never stops.

Through the minefield of a summer's worth of partying, idealistic space cadet Ali pursues his dream girl: the hypnotic and insightful Chelsea. For Ali friendship is eternal, music is emotion, drugs are life-enhancers, and love is pure and poetic. However he soon finds out how finite and fickle these conceptions are. Between his cynical best friend Jake, the off-his-lips party-animal Yogi and the heart-on-her-sleeve wild child Stacey, Ali tries to make sense of life, believing the answer is Chelsea. But like the high they are all so wrapped up in, these naïve ideas will eventually come crashing down.[1]

## Production

[edit]

Originally titled Kick On Kids, the series was first conceptualised while Cripps and Muller were students at Macquarie University in late 2012. The production team began casting in late 2014, casting mostly unknown local actors and actresses in the lead roles, as well as Puberty Blues actress, Ellie Gall. To fund the project, the team ran a fundraising campaign through the crowdfunding site, Indiegogo, with a target of $15,000.[2][3]

In addition to telling youth-oriented stories that they felt had been neglected by Australia's free-to-air television networks,[4] Cripps and Muller said they wanted to highlight emerging young artists, booking local musicians and designers to score the series and dress the actors early in the pre-production phase.[5][6]

## Distribution

[edit]

Retitled as Blind, the series was announced as the first OzFlix Original[7] for the Australian-only content streaming service. The series was later picked up Twisted Mirror TV in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and SeekaTV in North America.[8]

## Cast

[edit]

* Ryan Light as Ali Wylde
* Crystal Moran as Chelsea
* Kurt Winter as Jake
* Ellie Gall as Stacey
* Matt Castley as Yogi

## Awards

[edit]

Award  | Year  | Category  | Recipients  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

New York City Web Fest  | 2018  | Best International Web Series  | James Cripps and Jessica Giacco  | Nominated  | [9]
Best Director  | Andre Muller  | Nominated
Seoul Webfest  | 2018  | Best Actress  | Crystal Moran  | Won  | [10]
Best Cinematography  | Sidat de Silva  | Won
Best Webseries of All Genres  | James Cripps and Jessica Giacco  | Nominated
Best Drama  | James Cripps and Jessica Giacco  | Nominated
Best Actor  | Kurt Winter  | Nominated
Best Supporting Actor  | Matt Castley  | Nominated
Best Supporting Actress  | Ellie Gall | Nominated
Rio Webfest  | 2018  | Best Writing (Drama)  | James Cripps  | Nominated  | [11]
Best Actor (Drama)  | Ryan Light  | Nominated
Best Ensemble Cast (Drama)  | Ryan Light, Crystal Moran, Kurt Winter, Ellie Gall, Matt Castley  | Nominated
New York Film Awards  | 2018  | Best Web Series  | Andre Muller and James Cripps  | Won  |
Tuscany Web Fest  | 2018  | Best Soundtrack  | Michael Yezerski and John Hresc  | Won  | [8]

## See also

[edit]

* List of Australian television series

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Blind Season 1". OzFlix. 20 February 2019. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
2. ^ Cripps, James (1 July 2015). "Kick On Kids". Indiegogo. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
3. ^ The Typewriter (2 August 2015). Kick On Kids (YouTube). Retrieved 21 August 2019.
4. ^ "Lack of content driving youth away from network television". Inside Film Magazine. Sydney. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
5. ^ "A Couple Of Dudes Are Making A Web Series About Kick-Ons And Need Your Help". Pile Rats. Perth. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
6. ^ Kick On Kids (28 June 2015). Kick On Kids Crowdfunding Campaign (YouTube). Retrieved 21 August 2019.
7. ^ "BLIND web series trailer". Facebook. OzFlix. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
8. ^ a b "Join the party and stream multi-award-winning webseries 'Blind'". Film Ink. Sydney. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
9. ^ Davis, Judith (11 November 2018). "2018 NYC Web Fest Announces The Award Nominations For Its Fifth Edition". Medium. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
10. ^ "Local filmmakers clean up webseries awards in Korea". Film Ink. Sydney. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
11. ^ "Rio Web Fest 2018 Official Selection". Rio Web Fest. n.d. Retrieved 21 August 2019.

*[No.]: Number
*[Ref.]: References