A Hobart filmmaker has turned a painfully awkward first date between a 45-year-old woman and an 18-year-old man into a vertical comedy series made for Instagram and TikTok.
Ali Stanton-Cook’s Just Jump follows Sophie and Clint as they stumble through an uncomfortable evening at a Hobart bar.
The series launched this month, with new episodes dropping three times a week.
“I wanted to set myself a challenge of two people having a conversation and how I could make that an interesting story,” she told Pulse.
The idea began as a short film script, but after growing frustrated with the limited reach of the traditional festival circuit, Stanton-Cook decided to take it online.
“Once they’ve kind of had a private screening and then you put them in film festivals, there’s not really much you can do with them beyond that,” she said.
Discovering the rise of vertical series on TikTok and Instagram, she reworked the story into 10 bite-sized episodes with help from development producer Alyce Adams.
The project came together in just four months. Stanton-Cook wrote the initial outline late last year but didn’t start turning it into episodes until late May.
“I wanted to keep that momentum going,” she said. “It’s quite a short turnaround time to go from concept to execution, but that’s kind of what made it exciting.”
She cast the three main roles – Hamish Chilcott, Fiona Loakman and Joe Mione – from her Screen Acting Crew classes.
“I got to kind of bring in the scripts and get their feedback and hear them say it,” she said.
Filming was fast-paced too. The team shot eight episodes in a single night at Billy’s Burgers and Bar on Hobart’s waterfront, from 5pm to 2am.
Owner Leo Miller, whose daughter attends Stanton-Cook’s acting classes, let the crew use the venue for free. Both he and his daughter appear in episode two.
“He just said yes straight away and supported the project,” Stanton-Cook said. “He even let us lock up because we ended up shooting till about 2am in the morning.”
The final two episodes were filmed the following night on a nearby street.
Early reaction has exceeded expectations. By episode four, viewers were already picking favourite characters and asking for more.
“People are finding it really cringy, but then they love it because it’s quite sweet,” Stanton-Cook said.
One unexpected fan favourite has been the waiter, played by Joe Mione, who keeps appearing “at all the right/wrong times”.
For the three main actors, all regulars in Hobart’s theatre scene, the project was their first step into this format.
“It gives them the experience, but it also, probably more importantly, it gives them the validation,” Stanton-Cook said.
She said opportunities like this are vital for emerging creatives and their confidence.
“If you want to do something with your whole heart, but there’s no opportunities for you, that’s going to affect your mental health,” she said.
Stanton-Cook plans to keep creating direct-to-audience content in the vertical format.
“I love the vertical format because it frames humans really, really nicely,” she said.
She’s already in talks about another comedy series and has ideas brewing for a second season of ‘Just Jump’.
The series was shot on Sony A7S III cameras with a crew of 12, independently funded through Stanton-Cook’s own investment and crowdfunding.
‘Just Jump’ drops new episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook.
