Ahead of Melbourne WebFest 2014 we are profiling all the series in the Official Selection as well as the “Second Look” series. 

Hunter n Hornet is a comedy series about two wannabe pick up artists called Cade and Sade, who later become Hunter n Hornet. They lead lives devoid of women, but are desperate to change that. Their plans constantly go awry, as they dedicate themselves to perfecting dating science…on each other.
Sonny Vrebac, creator of Hunter n Hornet, said the series was inspired by desperation… to be an actor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw_E_qa46PY

Why should people watch your series?
This is a universal topic about two lovable losers who never give up hope of one day finding their soul mates. I think Hunter n Hornet makes sense to anyone who has been romantically pursued or done the romantic pursuing.

What do you want people to take away from your series?
Laughter and the guilty pleasure of discovering a decent dating routine or two (executed terribly by the protagonists of course).

How do you finance your series?
Privately initially, then we secured a Screen Australia Multiplatform Production grant.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in production?
Yowsers! Where to start?! Well, we had to let go of our first AD day the day before the shoot. Then the fact that we were virtually shooting a feature film in 10 days as well as having the director being one of the lead actors, it meant loads of time-consuming playbacks. However, the saving grace was totally the pre-production preparation (namely the dramaturgy/rehearsal process with the invaluable input from funny man, Darren Gilshenan) as well as the script reworks with Steve Kaplan our script editor and not to mention having everything locked down prior (especially locations). Then it was just about executing the plan as opposed to planning while shooting. However, we were seriously blessed with a nimble and well prepared cast and crew, not to mention Aljin Abella who plays Cade. He was an absolute champion, had it been anyone else in that role the show would have severely suffered, that guy is the ultimate professional that steals the show! (And no, no-one else can have him!!)

How do you reach your audience?
Coercion, pressure, pleading and PR!

Is it an ongoing project? If so, can you give us some clues about what comes next?
We have just recently returned from a trip overseas from MIPTV and LA where there has been some strong interest in Hunter n Hornet the TV series. We used the short form series and the HnH app, what we’d call a “proto-pilot”, it turns out that having the short form version of the series was enough to generate offers from distributors and interest from production companies both overseas and at home. We are yet to finish our project scope and are in development for an exciting range of iOS apps around Hunter n Hunter. This includes apps on how to overcome approach anxiety as well as “Pick Up cubes” which are the Dares to your Truth or Dare revolving around different settings and many more…yeah, watch this space! But here is a flavour of the main app tour in the meantime.

Why make a web series?
It seemed like the most appropriate medium for Hunter n Hornet that was the most accessible to us with our means at the time

Trivia: 

Sonny Vrebac recently won the Australian Directors Guild award for Best Online Project for Hunter n Hornet for best direction at the 2014 ADG awards.

And, Aljin Abella was formerly one of the power rangers in Power Rangers!

Hunter n Hornet on the web:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/iFodderCC
Twitter: @HunternHornet
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hunternhornet
HnH app iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hunter-n-hornet-appisode-series/id551616253?ls=1

Keep up to date with Melbourne Web Fest on twitter: @MelbWebFest

La Trobe University is a festival sponsor of Melbourne WebFest.