Online Talk: Making Creamerie with Ally Xue and Bronwynn Bakker
You can now watch this STS TALK online about developing and making TVNZ’s dark comedy series Creamerie. Co-created by Roseanne Liang, Ally Xue, JJ Fong and Perlina Lau from Flat3 Productions and co-produced with Kevin & Co, Creameriewas released in 2021creating a big buzz locally. It went on to be picked up by US platform Hulu and won the prestigious Best Drama Series gong at the 2022 New Zealand Television Awards.
Creamerie is a six-part series set in a post-pandemic world where a contagious virus has decimated 99% of men, presciently conceived pre-COVID-19. Funded by NZ On Air in 2019, Creamerie was shot during the early phase of the pandemic when most of the global industry was locked down.
Co-creator and one of the lead actors in the series, Ally Xue (Flat3 Productions), and producer Bronywnn Bakker (Kevin & Co) talk about how the concept came to life, the writer’s room, and interesting hurdles on its pathway to release, with moderator Marc Laureano
This was a live on Zoom Webinar on Wed 16 March 5:30pm – 6:30pm NZDT
ABOUT THE PANEL
ALLY XUE
Ally is an actor, writer, producer (and optometrist). In 2012, Ally teamed up with actors JJ Fong, Perlina Lau and writer/director Roseanne Liang to form Flat3 Productions to create their own work. The women pooled their funds – $1000 – and with the help of friends filmed Flat3 over several weekends. Since then, the team has accumulated a wealth of experience in writing, directing, and producing scripted comedy/drama made for both Kiwi and international audiences. Their award-winning content has garnered several New Zealand TV award nominations, and in 2021, their latest effort Creamerie won Best Drama Series.
BRONYWNN BAKKER
Bronwynn was the producer of the long-running award-winning comedy show Jono & Ben – overseeing the show from its inception to its seventh and final season. Similarly, Bronwynn is the producer of Funny Girls, a female-led comedy sketch show which was critically acclaimed and progressive in the sketches they produced. It was working on these shows that led to the New Zealand Herald crowning her “The Queen of Comedy”. Years of working on these shows and more have allowed her to put together a production team of people who are experts in capturing content that is going to entertain and keep the audiences laughing. Bronwynn is recently responsible for producing a range of scripted and non-scripted comedy series such as Creamerie, Raised by Refugees, The Citizen’s Handbook, Golden Boy, Taskmaster, New Zealand Today and Frickin’ Dangerous Bro on the Road.
MARC LAUREANO
From a young age was professionally active as a voice talent for advertising, radio and television. At 17, he was then the youngest accredited member of the Philippine Broadcasting Society (KBP) for his work in FM Radio.Following the completion of his Master’s degree in screen production, majoring in directing and screenwriting, he served on occasion as a guest lecturer for screenwriting. He recently completed a Screenplay Coverage course from UCLA, initiated by Script to Screen.
As a writer and director, his short films have been screened locally and internationally. He has worked in television production and post-production with Touchdown Television and Greenstone Pictures.
Following two years of serving as General Manager for Pan-Asian Screen Collective, he returns to the classroom as a Secondary School educator, where he teaches film texts, writing craft, and encourages the creation of compelling and authentic narratives.
