Beware… zombies stalking ABC Ultimo!

Grabbing a coffee at ABC’s Ultimo cafe could have been a surreal experience for any unassuming staff member several months ago, when zombies were stalking the building.

Zombies were, as it happens, also staff members from ABC Children’s department, moonlighting as undead extras in the new ABC ME series Soundtrack to our Teenage Zombie Apocalypse.

The 10 part series is understood to be the first narrative drama to be internally produced by ABC in at least a decade.

It centres around a group of teenagers locked in ABC’s own Ultimo building when they seek to enter a Triple J Unearthed High competiton for rising music stars. But it’s also a time of “Undies” -the undead- stalking the building and Sydney at large.

A mix of music, horror and drama, the series is directed by Imogen McCluskey.

“We were in a situation where we couldn’t film with kids anymore”

Supervising Producer Lyndal Mebberson tells TV Tonight, the project was developed as a response to how kids were feeling post-COVID.

“COVID had been around for about a year, we were in a situation where we couldn’t film with kids anymore. That’s what we used to do at ABC Factual …shows like Prank Patrol, Prank You Very Much and we couldn’t go into schools anymore. So we started to explore music and Triple J Unearthed High Earth’s back catalogue of incredible songs. The kids who were making them were aged 13 to 18.

“It developed into a zombie show when our commissioning editor, Mary-Ellen Mullane, was in here over Christmas, and it was completely deserted. She was heating up the food in the microwave in the dark, and thought, ‘There’s got to be zombies.’ It was just at that time where all the playgrounds were being shut down. Everyone’s kids were at home and parents couldn’t take their kids anywhere. We just thought it was really important to address how kids were dealing with COVID. They just weren’t allowed to play as normal children.”

“The show became this concept about conflicting emotions of dealing with COVID”

Yet whilst lockdowns and isolation were intense experiences, producers also found that teens used the time to get creative.

“They all learned new instruments, they kept in touch with their friends over Discord and social media. The show became this concept about conflicting emotions of dealing with COVID, how the highs feel high, you miss people so much when you see them again, it’s like that airport terminal feeling where everything feels more extreme.”

The 4 teen stars of the series dabble in music, and most are undertaking their first screen role, including Mina-Siale as music-mad, Ella.

“I’ve done nothing before. This is my first ever audition. I gave it a go,” says Mina-Siale.

“There was an open casting call on social media … it basically was asking for teens who can also play music.

“We sent in self-tapes and then we had an in-person call-back. About a week later, we found out if we got the role. It was the longest week!”

Ruby Archer, 16, plays Veronica, who she describes as being opposite to herself.

“She’s very sophisticated. I even put on a little voice when I do her, because I talk like a man and she talks like a girl. So she’s a little bit stuck up at the start, and sort of stiff, I guess. As the series progresses, I think I’ve brought in more elements of me as a person as she sort of starts to drop the facade.”

“It’s led to one of the biggest things in my life.”

Teen musician Isaiah Galloway, who began in music at the age of 6, also answered an open casting ad and landed the role of Locksley.

“I’ve been singing for my whole life but this is my first big acting gig. An ad got forwarded to mum and then to me. I just thought it was a small thing and it’s led to one of the biggest things in my life.

“Locksley’s very cool, very chilled. He’s not as super stressed or anything … a very eased-back kinda guy.”

Nick Annas is the most experienced of the 4 teens, having appeared in The Tourist as a young Alex Dimitriades. In Zombie Apocalypse, he also plays a teenager named Nick.

“Nick’s obsessed with winning Triple J Unearthed High. He’s a music producer for Ella. He’s is a bit of a perfectionist and he’s really obsessed with the celebrity who won Unearthed High in the past called Locksley,” he reveals.

“We were just absolutely gobsmacked”

As Mebberson explains, the zombies represent lockdown while the music celebrates the talent of teens, all in the bowels of ABC Ultimo.

“Mina had written a song that she wrote, and so had Ruby, during lockdown. They played it down there in rehearsal rooms and it was like the air was sucked out of the room. We were just absolutely gobsmacked,” she says.

“Ordinary Australian kids like Kid Laroi, within two years of just writing their own songs and playing around, became an international superstar.

“So we also wanted to weave in that thread of Aussie kids really being empowered through creativity in a significant way.”

Soundtrack to our Teenage Zombie Apocalypse screens 6:30pm weekdays on ABC ME.