Jackie Van Beek goes off-script in her new comedy series Educators.
Jackie Van Beek goes off-script in her new comedy series Educators.
Joanna Hunkin talks to the comedy dream team behind TVNZ's new series Educators.
There's trouble in the halls of Bruce McLaren Intermediate. Someone is in the principal's office and they are not happy.
A crowd of people is squeezed around the doorway, trying to peek at the drama. Silence fillsthe hallway. People are tense.
Suddenly, someone laughs and the tension evaporates. Eyes roll and people laugh as they rush around to reset the shot.
We're on the set of Educators, a new comedy series created by Jackie Van Beek, Jesse Griffin and Jonny Brugh, available to stream now on TVNZ OnDemand.
These are not the people you want teaching your children.
It's a production like no other. The series – which was shot on location at the West Auckland intermediate during last year's September holidays – is entirely improvised. There are no scripts for any of the 10 episodes.
Instead, Griffin – who wrote and directed the series – drip-feeds ideas and the occasional line to his actors just before the cameras roll and then lets them run free.
It's a recipe for disaster – and hilarity. This is not the first take that has been ruined by spontaneous laughter.
"It's an occupational hazard. But a good one," says Griffin, who has a background in improvised comedy and theatre, as do Brugh and Van Beek.
The concept, a first for New Zealand, is a risky one. And it's a logistical nightmare. Improvising stories on the trot makes it incredibly difficult to build sets and create schedules.
How do you light a scene, for example, when you don't know where anyone will be standing?
These were just some of the headaches, Griffin and producer Rachel Jean had to tackle before shooting could begin.
On set, Jean explains how they figured out a way to make it all work.
"We shoot it like a documentary so the camera can follow whatever action happens. We don't even block a scene. The camera team have no idea what's going to happen, so the trick is to follow the action."
Educators features an all-star comedy cast.
Originally, Griffin had planned to give the actors more background and direction so they would know where to take the scene. But when filming began, he changed his mind.
"After the first day, I was really struggling. After a big chat with Jackie, I changed my approach. From that moment on, I told the actors less and less about what they needed to do and why it was significant. I'd give them very little information and let them go. We'd tweak it from there. As a director, watching that happen, we got so much more fresh, interesting and unique performances and options."
Even Van Beek, who is married to Griffin, was kept in the dark.
"We all had different takes on what the scene might be. Which weirdly kind of worked," she recalls. "Halfway through the scene, Jesse would bring in another actor ... it was very fresh for us but Jesse knew the shape of the scene. But the more freedom we had, the fresher our performances and dialogue were."
Van Beek and Brugh are joined by an all-star comedy cast on screen, including Tom Sainsbury, Cohen Holloway, Kura Forrester, Australia's Rick Donald and last year's breakout star of The Breaker Upperers, Ana Scotney.
Madeleine Sami, Jeremy Elwood, Chris Parker, Oskar Kightley, Hayley Sproull and Joel Tobeck all turn up at various points as well.
Educators features an all-star comedy cast.
"I think I speak for all of the cast ... when you're just improvising and don't have a script or a story breakdown in front of you as an actor, it is quite a risky space," explains Van Beek.
"But I think we all felt in such safe hands with Jesse. And even though he did laugh and ruin a number of takes, I think we all forgave him because he was driving us with such a sure and steady hand towards something that felt authentic and real and funny.
"It's not purely comedy. Jesse has managed to integrate pathos and human fragility in there, which I think is something that will really help lift it from being a gag-based comedy into something that hopefully people will be able to invest in a little more emotionally."
She does have one fairly major concern, however. Teachers.
It would be fair to say Educators does little to endorse the vocation of teaching – or those who pursue it.
"My greatest hope is that teachers around New Zealand don't hate us," says Van Beek, whose character Robyn is the world's least inspirational – or aspirational – careers counsellor. The type of person who encourages students to dream small and still brace for disappointment.
In one scene, she shakes the hand of a student who dreams of being a rapper, sarcastically saying: "I would just like to give you a personal 'best of luck' for your career as a rap artist. I'll try to make it to one of your concerts."
Van Beek is adamant the characters are not based on any real-life encounters with the profession.
"I mean it's certainly not a naturalistic portrayal of teachers in New Zealand. We've used a lot of poetic licence. I'm sure teachers around New Zealand will have a good sense of humour and laugh along with it."
LOWDOWN: Who: Jackie Van Beek and Jesse Griffin What: Educators When: First two episodes available on TVNZ OnDemand now, with new episodes weekly.
