A 30-minute pilot episode was broadcasted on ABC TV on Tuesday, 4 December 2018 at 9:30pm. If you missed the broadcast, it is available to stream anytime on ABC ivew.
The show follows the wild adventures of Angus (Angus Thompson), an aspiring sports journalist with cerebral palsy, and his hopeless carer Nina (Nina Oyama) in the rural town of Bathurst. Angus and Nina spoke with Access2Arts’ Alyssa Bell.
Angus, who stars as the shows lead role, is an actor with cerebral palsy. The Angus Project is loosely based on his own life. The Angus Project offers a very refreshing, unique take on disability, Angus and Nina party, get very drunk, take drugs and get involved in some crazy situations.
Of this, Nina said: “We wanted to dispel the myth that people with disabilities have to live this very inspirational life and have these very sanitized experiences. We just want to normalise it in that way”.
“I’ve noticed that people with disabilities are placed in this little bubble”, Angus said. “I want the whole community to see what we set out to do in our lives”.
Additionally, the show is a platform for conversation about disability representation in TV. Angus feels The Angus Project is “a way to tell my story and show others my situation to perform”. He hopes it will pave the way to have “disabled people as characters in their own TV shows”.
“I think it doesn’t have to be a big deal for there to be a character with a disability” Nina said.
Nina advises disabled artists who want to get more involved in the arts reach out to organisations that support people with disabilities getting into art, such as Access2Arts, as well as applying for grants.
“That’s how we got The Angus Project and that’s how we hope to get more money in the future, it’s definitely by applying for funding through Screen Australia”.
“I’d say if you have an idea, go and use it as best as you can, in any way that you can. We started with an idea and we ran with it.” Angus said.
Those who tune into The Angus Project Pilot will see performances from a range of Australian comedians such as Sammy J, Rob Sitch and Veronica Milson. There’s also a hilarious situation between Angus and a horse. Intrigued? You’ll need to watch to find out more!
The Angus Project is rated MA15+ and can be found on ABC ivew.
On the Artist Interview page Access2Arts asks an interviewer to talk to an artist.
An interview is a conversation where the interviewer asks questions and the person answering is called the interviewee.
The interviewer’s job is to find out about the artist called the interviewee.
To do this, the interviewer asks lots of questions.
The interviewer gives Access2Arts a great story about the artist and we put it on our website.
The interviews can be written for you to read.
Recorded so you can listen to the interview.
On video so you can watch the interview.
Sometimes the interviewer gets very creative. The interview is like art!