IT’S the web series that promises to puncture many of the perceptions about people with a physical disability.
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Long-term local Angus Thompson, who uses a wheelchair and has cerebral palsy, has combined with a fellow Charles Sturt University graduate to create The Angus Project.
And the series won’t be for the faint-hearted.
A series trailer released this week features a sexy (though not to be taken seriously), soapy wheelchair wash.
The Angus Project’s synopsis is that a 20-year-old with cerebral palsy fires his professional, older care worker and convinces his hopeless best friend (played by Nina Oyama) to work for him, so he can party.
Cerebral palsy affects his muscle co-ordination, but his brain is whip-smart, and together with his new carer, they get up to mischief around their town.
The show was created by Mr Thompson and Ms Oyama, a stand-up comedian who was recently seen in satirical series Utopia.
They met at CSU in Bathurst, when Ms Oyama was working as Mr Thompson’s carer.
“At its core, the series is about life as a student in Bathurst, and is kind of like Broad City if one of the characters happened to have cerebral palsy,” Ms Oyama said.
“We want to show that people with disabilities don't live in a sterile bubble and we think the concept is fun and original.”
They say the show’s conception came when they noticed there were no “realistic portrayals” of cerebral palsy on the Australian screen, so they decided to make a show loosely based on their own lives.
The three six-minute episodes, filmed over four weekends in Bathurst and featuring locals as extras, will all premiere on the ABC iView video-on-demand service this Monday, December 4.
As a finalist in the ABC and Screen Australia’s Fresh Blood program – which aims to kick-start the careers of comedy writers, directors and producers - The Angus Project is competing for funding to make a 30-minute pilot episode for ABC Comedy.
Guest stars include Alex Lee and Kirsten Drysdale from The Checkout and Jake Stone, the lead singer of Bluejuice and another CSU Bathurst graduate.
Mr Thompson, who has been in Bathurst since he was eight, completed high school at St Stanislaus’ College and studied public relations at CSU.