When a plush toy T-Rex is assigned to care for a 27-year-old OCD sufferer, he must overcome his own insecurities in order to defeat the mental illness before his human gives up on life.
SYNOPSIS
RORY, a plush toy T-Rex, has just graduated from Carers University. Top of his friggin’ class y’all!!! He is ready to make a human child very, very, happy. But upon arrival at his new home, Rory discovers that he has actually been paired with MATTHEW – a depressed 27- year-old suffering from OCD. Crap! Reassignment is out of the question, and failure means becoming a dog’s plaything.
The plush T-Rex adjusts to his unexpected charge and struggles to bond with Matthew. The OCD (aptly named Brian) has its metaphorical tentacles wrapped around every part of Matthew’s life. Rory helps Matthew win victories over Brian, including a daring mission into the ‘Quarantine Zone’ and stopping Matthew from completing a complicated coffee ritual.
After successfully helping Matthew through Christmas lunch with his family and inspiring him to leave the house, Rory is certain that he has finally defeated Brian. It wasn’t easy, but he did it. Matthew is cured. Rory’s transfer is approved – WOOT! But at a New Year’s Eve party, Brian rears his ugly head and Rory learns that Matthew has previously tried to kill himself. Rory can’t leave Matthew! Not now, when he’s still needed.
Committing to Matthew long-term, Rory seals his human’s affections by helping him win the girl – and clean the house. Both Rory and Matthew don’t know what the future holds or whether they can defeat Brian, but they will face it together. Life’s certainly easier with a plush toy by your side. Well… More interesting at least.
MATTHEW’S OCD. JERK.
Although Brian exists in Matthew’s head, he’ll often be physically represented to the audience as a creature made from Blu Tack. Cunning and manipulative, he is fuelled by fear and anxiety. Brian was born out the domestic violence Matthew experienced as a child and has him convinced that he is evil and worthless.
HUMAN. MALE. 27.
Graphic artist. Dinosaur enthusiast. For years, Matthew has suffered from OCD and severe depression. He has tried to kill himself three times and is unable to separate the illness from himself. Matthew spirals in and out of periods of hyper energy and inactivity. He needs to learn to like himself.
PLUSH TOY. T-REX.
Loveable, but a little cocksure, he likes to be the centre of attention. Essentially a teenager, he is the world’s greatest babysitter, if the baby is a nine-year-old boy. He strides a fine line between fun and annoying, often barrelling right over it. Pink marshmallows are his fave and Rory is a connoisseur of fashion.
PLUSH TOY. GUINEA PIG.
Cantankerous and with no fucks left to give, Mouldy has observed his fair share of human nature and daytime television. His last human child died and he retired from the field. Suffering from guilt and PTSD, he has developed a nasty addiction to iced coffee.
HUMAN. MALE. 52.
A handyman with a secret love for Master Chef. Tim believes in hard work – you get out what you put in. He built his mechanic business “with his bare hands”. Tim loves Pam, it took him forty years to find “the one”, and he doesn’t want to lose her because Zoe and Matthew don’t like him. He’ll win them over.
HUMAN. WOMAN. 50.
A physiotherapist, Pam is used to being able to help people heal and overcome their ailments. But she can’t help her own child and it is tearing her apart. Pam is terrified of being alone and hasn’t had much luck with men. They are dicks. At least her current partner is reliable. She’s also a lifelong Doctor Who fan.
HUMAN. WOMAN. 24
A young Asian writer trying to make sense of her life. She works night shifts doing data entry for a chain of newspapers and often struggles to find the energy to get out and about in the day. She LOVES music and can be often found strumming away at her purposely out-of-tune guitar.
HUMAN. WOMAN. 24
Zoe is one of those infectious people who can change the feel of an entire room depending on how she feels. Like her mother, she tries to always be positive, opting to treat everything as okay even if it’s not. She’s not afraid to speak her mind and often leaps without thinking things through.)
A Plush Toy T-Rex & His OCD Suffering Human.
PLUSHED is a live-action series that takes an honest, fresh, and playful look at mental illness. Inspired by an article (The Dag, the Demon, and the Plush Dino) written by the show’s creator, it charts the ever-changing relationship between a plush toy T-Rex carer and his human.
DEMI LARDNER
Demi Lardner is a comedian based in Melbourne, Australia. Demi’s career in comedy at the age of 15 in 2010, and has since won numerous awards at many Australian and international fringe and comedy festivals, including the Director’s Choice Award at the 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and The underbelly Award from the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe. Lardner was also co-writer and director of Wolf Creek, The Musical, which won the Best Emerging Comedy award at Adelaide Fringe 2013.
SEPTIMUS CATON
Voicing the role of Mouldy is Septimus Caton. Septimus is an actor and composer, known for X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Peter Pan (2003) and Griff the Invisible (2010). He graduated from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) with a degree in Performing Arts (Acting) in 1999.
KEVIN SPINK
Voicing Brian is Australian/Scottish stage, screen and voice artist Kevin Spink. Kevin made his theatre debut for the state theatre company of Queensland working with international director Michael Attenborough. Productions that Kevin has been involved in have travelled to festivals around the world: Palm Springs, Cannes, London International Film Festival, St Kilda, Flickerfest and Tropfest. These films and theatre productions have won national Australian film and theatre awards.
TARGET MARKET
The key target market for Plushed is 16-25yr old males. A key identified demographic for focus on positive social change with relation to positive strategies for mental health.
WEB DISTRIBUTION
To enable accessibility by all the project will be distributed as open source, as a web-based series.
APP
An integrated extended digital experience will be developed to create a world beyond simply viewing of the series. A key focus will be on developing a positive community to support and elevate.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
An integrated, focused social media strategy will be executed to further develop a community of positivity, good vibes and plush toys.
SOCIAL
An integrated, focused social media strategy will be executed to further develop a community of positivity, good vibes and plush toys.
TIMELINE
Plushed commenced development in December 2017, following a considerable amount of ‘life’ planning by Simon. Shooting in 2020.
OUR TEAM
WRITER. CREATOR. DIRECTOR.
Simon is a writer, filmmaker and content creator. Working on a variety of corporate and creative outlets, his true love lies in film and television. He has worked in development with a number of Australian production companies including LUDO Studio, Freshwater Pictures and Like a Photon Creative. Simon’s short film 1848 won him best director at the Griffith Film School awards in 2011 and has featured in festivals overseas. In 2016, Simon was selected by Screen Queensland to pitch at 37 Degree South and to take part in Screen Queensland’s Podcast development program in 2017. In 2018, Simon received Screen Queensland Talent Development Funding for his horror feature script RED RITES.
SCRIPT PRODUCER.
Luke McGregor is a writer, actor, and one of Australia’s favourite comedians. In 2016 Luke presented Luke Warm Sex (ABC), a show that took an embarrassingly honest and humorous look at all things ‘sex’. Luke is the co-creator, co-writer, and star of the smash hit sitcom Rosehaven with Celia Pacquola for ABC TV, for which Luke which won the award for Most Popular Actor at the 2019 TV Week Logie Awards. The third season of Rosehaven aired on the ABC in 2019.
CO-PRODUCER.
Sam Weingott is a producer, content creator and founder of 2CM, a content creation house focused on health & social action. Sam’s experience spans feature films, television series, TVC’s and corporate & educational content. Dedicated to the ongoing development of the Arts, Sam was the West End Film Festival Director for 3 seasons and has recently wrapped as Industry Events Producer for the 2019 Gold Coast Film Festival. In addition to lecturing at Griffith Film School and Canberra University. If not in a cinema, you will find Sam on the ski slopes and one day plans to become a full time ski bum!
DOP.
Ben Cotgrove is an award winning cinematographer with credits including Maddie & Marc, How to Break a Heart, Freudian Slip,, It’s all I know and many stunning music videos.
CO-WRITER.
Clare Sladden is an acclaimed writer/director whose first feature-length screenplay, ‘Always the Dressmaker’, was a finalist in the prestigious Cinestory Fellowship in 2014. In 2017, Clare was a semifinalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship with her screenplay, ‘Broken Head’, which also won the inaugural Byron Bay Film Festival International Screenplay Competition, and was selected to attend the 2016 Cinestory Fellowship Retreat, where Clare was mentored by Oscar-nominated screenwriter, Meg LeFauve (‘Inside Out’). Clare’s short films, ‘Consent’ and ‘Dolls’, which she wrote, directed and produced, are both award winning, and have screened at Academy-qualifying festivals, including the Palm Springs International ShortFest, the Cleveland International Film Festival, & Flickerfest. ‘Freudian Slip’, Clare’s web series, which she wrote, directed & produced, was released exclusively on the Frankie Magazine website at the end of March 2018, and received over 10K views in its first week online, and now has over 50K views. ‘Freudian Slip’ was nominated for ‘best Australian comedy’ at the Melbourne Webfest, and Clare received an AWGIE nomination for her writing on the series.
CO-PRODUCER.
Ruby Schmidt is a screen practitioner and producer from Brisbane. Graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 2013, Ruby worked as production and executive assistant to Veronica Fury of WildBear Entertainment before embarking on a brief stint in advertising. Ruby then spent two years working as a Development Executive at Carbon Creative, working across a diverse slate of projects, including ‘League Nation Live’ (NITV), ‘Sesame Street Season 47’ interstitials, and the animation series ‘Cheeky Dogs’. While at Carbon Creative Ruby also spent time working on advertising campaigns for various State and Federal Government Departments.
Ruby’s recent credits includes Production Managing the MIFF Premiere/Netflix feature documentary ‘Iron Fists and Kung-Fu Kicks’ and Line Producing the four-part NITV/France TV series ‘Elements’ for WildBear Entertainment.
Ruby is currently producing the LGBTQI+ documentary ‘Belonging’ for Network Ten/Screen Australia as well as Associate Producing ‘Brock’ at WildBear Entertainment for Universal/ABC. She is also in development on a slate of independent projects for new and traditional platforms through her production company Toy Shop Entertainment. Projects include factual series ‘Influencers with @ChiliPhilly’ and Indigenous comedy series ‘Zaroville’ with TikTok star, Ian Zaro.