NO ORDINARY PROJECT
When Esther Fwati decided to make a K-drama-inspired rom com, she had to navigate uncharted waters. Here, the African-Australian actor, writer and first-time showrunner/producer shares the story of how web series No Ordinary Love came to fruition.
My team and I set out to make a series with better representation of Asian males and African females in the romantic comedy genre — a space where, especially in Australia, there haven’t been a lot of stories where we play the leads. We also created this production as a space for crew members of colour to have more opportunities to learn and upskill. Setting these goals as a first-time producer was difficult − even more so as a female, African-Australian producer.
Leading a production as showrunner and series producer means being in a position of authority over every aspect of the project. To be a leader, you must have a strong voice for your authority to be respected — even more so in a place like the film industry. There were many times when I had to use my voice to reinforce the creative vision and guidelines of our work environment, and this wasn’t easy. During conversations with my core teammates, Helen Kim (co-producer) and Mina Kang (one of our two directors), we realised why this was difficult for all three of us.
Photo By Teniola Komolafe
For our set, we needed to put established and seasoned crew members in as heads of department. The way our team ended up being structured, most heads were our seniors in age and were white. This was understandable, given how long these talented individuals had been in the business, compared with how, in past decades, there weren’t a lot of people of colour in the Australian film industry. However, this created a dynamic where most of our core team − females from collectivist cultural backgrounds that teach us not to be confrontational — had a lot to work against for our voices to be respected.
There was age, gender and ethnicity. Not only were we doing the job our roles as producers and directors required of us, but we also had to be cultural advisors, having uncomfortable conversations so our team could work together. Conversations such as the prevalence of hair and make-up artists who didn’t know how to work with darker skin, and African and Asian hair textures. Conversations around how most people still don’t know how to light for darker skin or work with varying skin tones in one frame. Then there were conversations where conflicts arose and our voices needed to be respected in order for the issues to be resolved and our sets to remain safe spaces.
When you look at the emotional space leaders of colour have to create to carry the weight of a project like this, you can see how, by the end of our production, we were mentally and emotionally exhausted. This is something the industry needs to be more aware of, especially seasoned and established creatives, who are usually white. If they can approach working on diverse sets with an understanding of holding space for the cultural differences that create distinct leadership styles, and respecting those, it will give leaders of colour the same room white leaders have been afforded to grow. Similarly, it will give females the same room as males and young leaders the same room seniors were once afforded.
Helen, Mina and I saw our styles as not being loud and assertive, as is sometimes seen in western leadership, but more of a quiet confidence, which is just as powerful. We prioritised our crew’s mental health on set and made sure the working environment was one where everyone was an equal part of a creative team. That, in turn, meant a better and safer environment for the work to be produced. We didn’t get it 100 per cent right but we walked away from this production realising the strength we had in our gender, ages and ethnic backgrounds.
Esther Fwati was chosen as a participant in the 2018 Equity Diversity Showcase. Her credits include theatre production The Container by Kevin Hopkins and indie short films, Stan Loyal by Kalu Oji and For Becky by Chido Mwat which was an official selection at the Combat Discrimination Film Festival ’21 and received an Honourable Mention at the Multicultural Film Festival ’21. In 2021 Esther began development on No Ordinary Love Series which went into production with Screen Australia funding in 2022. It was released in August 2022.
No Ordinary Love is now streaming on YouTube.
