Category Archives: News

Half-way there!

Thanks to 170 amazing backers so far, the Kickstarter campaign for Night Terrace has already exceeded its base goal and is now at over $11,000! That means we have the base budget required to fund production of the first series –  but we’re only half-way through the campaign, with two weeks left to go. You can still back the series and watch our pitch video by clicking here.

So where do we go from here? And if you’re not a backer, why would you jump on board at this stage? Well, there are lots of reasons – here are eight of them!

  1. You get a discount! The final retail version of Night Terrace will be $30 for the eight-episode first series. Pre-ordering through the Kickstarter saves you $5 – even if you only pitch in $10 for the first two episodes. (You’ll get a discount code or link to buy the whole series for $15 later.)
  2. Most of our rewards are exclusive! USB keys, signed CDs, scripts, the vinyl…are all exclusive bits of Night Terrace stuff you won’t be able to get once the Kickstarter is over. Not to mention the chance to be mentioned in an episode, perform a line of dialogue or become an associate producer!
  3. Pledging now helps us reach our stretch goals. These are targets above the campaign goal, and if we reach them, we’ll make extra bits of Night Terrace content!
    • At $12,000, we’ll produce The Making of Night Terrace, an audio documentary with discussion, interviews and outtakes. It’ll be available to anyone who backs the campaign or (even after the Kickstarter) buys the full first series.
    • At $15,000,  we’ll make a prequel series of mini-episodes, The Adventures of Eddie, about our hapless sidekick before he meets Anastasia. This one is exclusively for backers of the campaign (of $25 and up).
    • …we might have another one planned. But we don’t want to be presumptuous.
  4. To maximise our chances of making Night Terrace happen, our base goal represents the minimum amount with which we can reasonably make the show – which means paying everyone involved (and there will be more than twenty cast and crew) only a minimal fee. This isn’t the sexy side of crowdfunding, but everyone is going to work hard and the more money we raise, the better we can pay everyone for that hard work – and the more we can afford to ask of artists, designers and actors.
  5. Being involved in a crowdfunding campaign makes you part of the project. We’ll be celebrating that on Night Terrace with the launch party for backers of $50 or more, but also, once the campaign ends, by keeping you all up to date with pictures and news from the production of the show. It’s not a reward in the campaign sense, but it feels good to be part of something like this!
  6. If you’re anything like me, you’ll forget about the project after a while in between when the campaign ends and when the show is finished – so you’ll get a nice surprise when that email arrives with your download code! And you’ll get actual non-electronic mail (yes, the e stands for something!) if you pledged for one of our physical rewards. EVEN MORE EXCITING!
  7. The whole team gets excited every time we receive a pledge! This happens almost in real time as John, Petra, David and Lee check the site every five minutes. (I get instant notifications via my phone so it’s in real real time for me.) Wouldn’t you like to make us happy? Wouldn’t you? What are you, a monster?
  8. Think about the future! The more listeners and backers we get for series one, the more likely it is we’ll be popular enough to make a second series…

We hope that’s convinced you! But if not, in any case you’ll be able to buy the series when it’s down – though after all our Kickstarter backers get to listen first. Which I suppose is a ninth reason!

Our latest guest star: Alan Brough!

We’re pleased to announce another addition to the Night Terrace guest cast: Alan Brough!

Alan Brough
Alan Brough (image supplied)

Alan has worked in film, television and theatre as a writer, director, actor and stand-up comedian. But he’s probably best known for his seven year stint as a team captain on ABC1’s Spicks and Specks. His final episode, which aired on November 23, 2011, was watched by an audience of one-and-a-half million people, an audience figure the ABC is unlikely to ever see again.

He has appeared in feature films including The Craic, Siam Sunset, The Nugget, Bad Eggs and Any Questions for Ben?. His television roles include Something In The Air, MDA, Blue Heelers and he famously got to pash Sharon Strzelecki in Kath and Kim, appearing in series 2 and 3.

On the stage, Alan has appeared in The Production Company’s Sugar Baby, 42nd Street and Sweet Charity and he toured the country in 2013 as the villain Baron Bomburst in the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

He’ll be joining us to play a failed theme-park operator with a talent for robot design, which still won’t be the strangest role he has had. In his home of New Zealand he appeared in a series of butter commercials as a drag queen called Marge, becoming for a while, in his own words, “New Zealand’s most famous transvestite”.

And here’s Tim Minchin’s celebrating Alan in song:

Adam Richard to guest star in Night Terrace

We’re excited to bring you another guest cast announcement: it’s Adam Richard!

Adam Richard
Adam Richard! (Photo supplied.)

A standup comedian since 1997, Adam has performed all over Australia, Britain and the USA. He began his gossip queen career as Triple J’s “Mister Bitch” before becoming part of Melbourne’s Number 1 FM breakfast team, the Matt and Jo Show on 101.9 The Fox.

He was co-writer and co-star of the ABC1 comedy series Outland, about a group of gay science fiction fans, and has been a regular guest on TV shows including Can of WormsChelsea LatelyRove and Spicks and Specks. His impression of an Australian Idol audition remains the most viewed Spicks and Specks clip on YouTube!

In 2014 he became a team captain on the relaunched Spicks and Specks. This was a much surer bet than some of his more questionable television choices, which included appearances on Celebrity Dog SchoolHole in the WallThe Footy Show and Celebrity Splash.

For Night Terrace he’ll be heading back to the 1970s and a disco which may also be ground zero for an alien invasion…

As an extra treat, here’s Adam appearing with none other than Jane Badler on Spicks and Specks in 2011! Another person from this clip will also be joining us in Night Terrace…we’ll be announcing who tomorrow.

Toby Truslove joins Night Terrace

We’re thrilled to announce another member of the guest cast – not just one of our favourite actors but one of our favourite people, Toby Truslove!

toby truslove

Toby is well known to viewers of ABC comedy, with leads in Outland, Laid and The Strange Calls. He starred in the feature film Scumbus, and his TV drama credits include All Saints, McLeod’s Daughters, The Strip and Tangle. He has extensive experience on the stage including Belvoir St’s production of Private Lives, Melbourne Theatre Company’s The Cherry Orchard and Bell Shakespeare’s Troilus & Cressida. He’s also been a regular on celebrity game shows including Thank God You’re Here, Randling, Slideshow and the TV adaptation of popular radio show The Unbelievable Truth. He was even a guest on an episode of Splendid Chaps!

He’ll be playing an alien in an episode of Night Terrace, a role he was born to play. In real life Toby’s a big fan of science fiction, but Night Terrace isn’t his first role involving a spaceship…

You can get involved too! Click here for details on how you can help make Night Terrace.

 

Jane Badler joins the cast of Night Terrace

jane-badler-silver-sweater

We’re excited to announce another TV veteran has joined the cast of Night Terrace – Jane Badler, best known as the huge-haired, hamster-eating reptilian overlord Diana in the classic 1980s TV series V!

Jane will appear as the only person who knows how and why Anastasia’s house is travelling in space and time. But is she a hero or a villain?

In a prolific television career, Jane was a lead in the late 80s version of Mission: Impossible, returned to V for the second series of the 2009 remake, and has appeared on numerous shows including The Highwayman, Fantasy Island, Falcon Crest (where she squared off against Vertigo star Kim Novak), Murder She Wrote, Sky Trackers, Cluedo, Blue Heelers, Spicks and Specks and Offspring.

Night Terrace will be the second time she’s been head to head with Jackie Woodburne, as Jane had a four-month run in Neighbours in 2010 playing a femme fatale named (surprise!) Diana.

Jane also has a successful singing career, with albums including The Devil Has My Double and Tears Again, and she’s currently recording in LA. Her latest single, “Volcano Boy”, is released on March 31st. You can find out more via her web site, janebadler.com.

Night Terrace has reached 80% of it’s budget but we still need to cross that line to produce the show! Become a backer now!

The Journey Begins!

Night Terrace house and logo

Only 6 hours in to our crowd-funding campaign we’ve raised 25% of our target. Thank you to everyone who’s joined us so far, we’re thrilled to have you onboard!

We’re also pleased to see so much interest in Night Terrace, with pieces by everyone from TV Tonight to Tansy Rayner Roberts, from cnet to DNA. Click those names to see what they said – and our thanks to all of them for getting the word out!

You can find our kickstarter campaign here and see the great rewards on offer. We can’t make Night Terrace without you, so tell your friends! Tell your enemies! Lean out of a window and shout about it like you’re Peter Finch in Network! Actually, don’t do that (but it is a great film). Come join us! JOIN USSSSSS!

Night Terrace Kickstarter launching today!

The Night Terrace Kickstarter campaign launches today! We’ll be pushing the “launch” button and sending the campaign out into space and time at around 1 PM (Melbourne time). You’ll be able to pre-order the first series of eight episodes as a digital download, or you can grab a copy on physical media including  custom USB keys, limited edition CDs or a very limited edition clear 12″ vinyl of episode one! You can also get a signed script, have your name mentioned in an episode, or even deliver a line of dialogue yourself.

We’re looking to raise $9,420, an amount we’ve calculated to cover all the base costs of the production as well as the costs of producing your rewards, and taking into account all Kickstarter and transaction fees. The campaign will run for thirty days, and if we manage to hit the goal, we’ve already thought of a few exciting stretch goals – but we’ll let you know about them if it looks like we’ll get that far!

We’ll let you know when the campaign is live and link to it from the web site, and you’ll have until noon Melbourne time on Saturday, April 12 to decide if you want in. We hope you’ll join us on the first journey of the Terrace!

Announcing Jackie Woodburne as Anastasia!

Jackie Woodburne
Jackie Woodburne. (Photo courtesy Fremantle Media; used with permission.)

The Night Terrace team are very happy to announce that Anastasia Black, the heroine of Night Terrace, will be played by none other than Neighbours star Jackie Woodburne!

Jackie has played Susan Kennedy in Neighbours since 1994, becoming one of the series most beloved regulars. Her successful career in Australian television also includes roles in PrisonerA Country Practice and The Young Doctors – but Night Terrace will be her first foray into science fiction.

We can’t wait to bring you Anastasia’s adventures; we know Jackie will be perfect in the role. Co-starring as her sidekick will be Splendid Chaps’ Ben McKenzie, while Petra Elliott will play the mysterious “Sue”.

The Kickstarter campaign kicks off on Thursday, March 13! Watch this space for more news and announcements.

Night Terrace Kickstarter coming March 13!

Night Terrace series one launches with a Kickstarter campaign beginning March 13. You’ll be able to pre-order the whole series as a digital download (for less than the retail price on release), or get it physically on a special USB key or set of CDs, plus there are other special rewards including appearing in the series and a special, limited-edition vinyl!

We’ll also be having a launch party here in Melbourne, to which all backers above a certain level are invited; if you’re not in Melbourne, we’ll send you a personal thank you via postcard.

Until the Kickstarter campaign launches, watch this site, follow us on Twitter, watch the Splendid Chaps Facebook page, or sign up to our mailing list via the form to keep up to date with the latest Night Terrace news.