Production begins for Easybeats TV series

Production has started this week in Sydney on the two-part series on iconic ‘60s Australian band The Easybeats.

Initially titled Friday On My Mind, the project is now simply called The Easybeats and is due to be screened on ABC-TV this year. Made with Playmaker, Screen Australia, and Screen NSW, the cast was announced this morning.

AACTA award winner Ashley Zukerman (The Code, Manhattan) plays Ted Albert, the publisher, music industry trailblazer and record producer who mentored the five European teenagers who originally met at an immigration centre in Sydney and went on to form a band in 1964.

A lineup of newcomers play the band: Christian Byers as singer Stevie Wright, Will Rush as guitarist and songwriter George Young, Mackenzie Fearnley as guitarist and songwriter Harry Vanda, Du Toit Bredenkamp as bassist Dick Diamonde (real name: Dingeman Adriaan Henry van der Sluijs) and Arthur McBain as drummer Gordon “Snowy” Fleet.

The Easybeats were the archetypal Australian tale of migrants wanting to find fame and fortune for themselves in a new country. In their case, they were lucky that Wright was a dynamic frontman and Vanda and Young proved to be a skilled songwriting team capable of coming up with worldwide classics including Friday On My Mind, Good Times and St. Louis which are still covered by bands around the world today.

Their story also was a reflection of some naïve business decisions that brought them undone.

Scriptwriter Christopher Lee (Howzat, Paper Giants, Gallipoli) and director Matthew Saville (Seven Types of Ambiguity, Please Like Me, The Slap) have gone for something deeper.

The producers explain, “The Easybeats is a story of identity, re-invention and belonging, touching on themes of celebrity and redemption, with a powerful contemporary relevance and a killer soundtrack.

“While the members of the band each confronted their own sense of self and the loss of identity in pursuit of their success, they came to understand that though they were all from different countries, the sum of the musical parts was quintessentially Australian.”

Sally Riley, ABC’s Head of Scripted Production and Executive Producer, says, “The Easybeats are truly iconic and hold such a special place in our Australia’s musical history.

The ABC is proud to team up with Playmaker, Screen Australia and Screen NSW to bring audiences this incredible homegrown story which will no doubt be just as upbeat as the band’s biggest hits.”

Playmaker Producers David Taylor and David Maher add, “We’re massive Easybeats fans so to be involved in bringing this incredible story to life is a real honour, and something we’re both proud and excited to be producing for the ABC.”

The Easybeats comes in the wake of two extraordinary music television success stories, INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, amassing 2.88 million viewers, and Molly which garnered 2.6 million.

It is understood that INXS and Mushroom Pictures are individually working on more music-themed projects.

Given the outpouring of grief after the December 2015 death of Wright, it is expected that The Easybeats will be greeted with a strong audience reception. As with the INXS and Molly Meldrum projects, the soundtrack to The Easybeats will also play a major role in its success.