Sydney, Australia -- It is a sketch show unlike any other – where the format is used to unsettle and scare an audience, rather than simply make it laugh. The idea has been created, written and directed by The Glue Society, one of Australia’s most awarded creative collectives with production by Revolver, widely recognised as Australia’s leading commercial production company.
Watch With Mother is a deliberately dark piece of televisual entertainment which uses a series of regular sketches and characters to take the audience on a journey into various haunting yet comic scenarios. The result is a deliberately unnerving, black humored show which disorients the audience as they go from storyline to storyline. Innocent things become unsettling, uncomfortable things become humorous – and the audience find themselves part of an experiment testing their own sense of right and wrong.
Watch With Mother breaks new ground - not only in its content, but also in the way it is distributed. A new type of App has been developed where the audience can buy the show, and scan from sketch to sketch using the touch-screen. The App allows viewers to watch each episode in a ‘Shuffle’ mode – as well as including behind the scenes material, plus image galleries and character biographies. And the App naturally lets the audience engage and share certain material via social media. Updates including new unseen material, launch of the soundtrack and information about future episodes will also be released.
The six twenty-two minute episodes within the series are made up of ten regular segments/storylines. Each of them features characters or plot circumstances which over time we come to know and love, or perhaps fear. In each case, there is a consistency or thread, which means that the audience are involved in the stories to the extent that they may feel that they know what is going to happen next – though the characters are always capable of throwing a spanner in the works. Ultimately, across each episode – and the whole series - we are aiming to keep the viewer disoriented and surprised. The sketches include...
Monster In My Closet
This series of films introduces us to a young and innocent boy - who develops a relationship with Barry – a seemingly invisible monster who happens to live in his bedroom cupboard. But Barry has an agenda. He seems to be forcing the boy to work up from small snacks to what he really wants to feed on. Something altogether more vile. But we are left wondering if the boy is actually the one in control.
Symphony of Agony
This series of sketches is set in an underground, home-made sound studio. A composer driven to create a major new work forces obscure sounds from a victim by putting him through a series of intense acts of pain and distress.
Killer Roo
In this set of sketches, a kangaroo violently wreaks revenge on mankind at every opportunity. In a complete twist, we see roadkill becoming the killer.
Prison Dance
This series of sketches feature people under extreme duress being subjected to some form of torture by a unknown person behind the camera. In each sketch we witness a different person wearing not much other than headphones being forced to perform a dance.
Random Skewerings
This series of films sets out to show completely random moments where ordinary, unsuspecting people are suddenly skewered, stabbed or pierced by an unexpected object.
Restoring the Wife
This series of films focus on a couple in their retirement years. Childhood sweethearts years ago, they are now in their seventies. The husband’s pride and joy is his immaculately restored Holden. Upon hearing news that his wife is now dying, he takes it upon himself to restore her to her former glory. He travels around the surrounding towns to find young women whose body parts would help re-create the woman he first married.
The Cursed Dog
This series of films features a very small dog. Small in size, big in impact. For every owner who ever comes into contact with this little mutt, ends up coming a cropper. The question remains however - is it a twist of fate - or is the dog actually responsible for these dire outcomes?
It Was Nothing
This series of films features a number of events in the same holiday rental house. Different couples and families come to stay in the house, and each of them in their own way experiences something which goes bump in the night.
Expert Advice
This series of films features an ex- armed forces veteran who’s seen it all. Now he works in a hardware store. He’s got a reputation around the crime underworld for being able to bring his knowledge to help in various criminal scenarios. In a strictly discreet and unspoken way, he will make sure you get the right equipment for the job, no matter how macabre or dodgy.
The First Aider
In this series of sketches, we
reveal the shocking reality behind a supposed good Samaritan. When a life or death situation arises, this particular first aider finds himself compelled to make his challenges harder to test his own abilities, before more comprehensive help arrives.
Behind the scenes material introduces the audience to The Glue Society and the production team, plus the talent who have been brought together to create the show. Over recent years, the creative collective has applied its subversive and disorienting approach to a multitude of disciplines. However, for the last three years, the entire seven-person creative team has been working on the development of Watch With Mother – this new entertainment project. It has been written and directed by the various members of the team, with production by Revolver (widely regarded as one of the leading production companies in Australia).
The Glue Society members include: Jonathan Kneebone, Matt Devine, Paul Bruty, James Dive, Pete Baker, Luke Crethar and Gary Freedman. The project has been privately– funded and overseen by Executive Producers: Steve Rogers, Michael Ritchie, Jonathan Kneebone and Gary Freedman.
Other behind the scenes interviews include conversations with Academy Award winning cinematographer Russell Boyd and Jeremy Rouse, make up artist Jose Perez, soundtrack composer Jack Ladder, executive producers Michael Ritchie and Steve Rogers, editor Bernard Garry and the post production team at Fin.
Source: The Glue Society