When

2023: development, Unless Pictures

Creative team

Writer/Creator Michele Lee

About

Format

8 x 40 minute, drama-comedy

One-liner

Three best friends start living more authentically by embracing their true dreams, if they can just figure out what that really is.

Story

After attending a farewell party for a mutual friend making a major career pivot to start a cheese-making dairy, three best friends are inspired to start living more authentically. NATALIE, TILDA and MATT are ageing millennials living in inner-city Melbourne convinced their real dreams must be around the corner.
Natalie (Hmong-Australian, 38) is a writer dealing with mid-career stasis; she pivots a complete 180 and returns to her original love of theatre and starts to write her next big play. This is Natalie’s most authentic and ambitious script yet about her dying mother but she’ll need to confront a lifetime of reasons (and her six siblings) for why she’s not close to her family.

Tilda (Nigerian-Serbian, 38), who’s bored with her high-paid top government job, realises her pivot is to actually coach everyone else making life changes. As Tilda becomes a natural life guru for the parents in her daughter’s prep class, she also realises that she’s ready to burn her whole career to the ground.
And Matt (white guy, 40), who’s generally happy to just be getting by, goes back to therapy and discovers he has autism and ADHD. With a whole new take on life, he starts to implement small manageable changes with work, parenting, life. But then can’t help but organise a surprise wedding with his new-ish girlfriend.

As the three characters try to grow up, glow up and blow up, they’ll amuse and enrage each other, leading to a breakdown between the friends at Natalie’s mum’s funeral.

In the words of turn-of-the-century prophet Mel B aka Scary Spice, these three friends will try to figure out what they ‘really really want’ in life but might just end up chasing mirages.

Support

Authentically is a revamped and expanded concept from initial development work on the concept Next Big Thing.