What’s the plus?

What makes good content diverse and diverse content good?

Kelton Pell, Max Turner, Ngali Shaw, Lennox Monaghan and Jessica Mauboy during the read of Windcatcher.

I started at Unless just shy of six weeks ago and this is what I’ve learnt. Long term mentor Meg O’Connell decided to take me on as a Development Executive. After working together on Retrograde many moons ago, all conducted via Zoom, we have now entered a new chapter of making cool things together in person. 

Unless is one of 15 production companies to receive Screen Australia’s Enterprise Business funding, with tailored support from mentors and initiation to a 12-month education program from industry stakeholders. Rosie Lourde, an old friend who is always searching for collaboration, genre-benders and what’s new in the world to share with others (a bit of a natural leader), has also just started at Unless. We sit across from each other during lunch, eyeing the Clovelly sea as we chat and Unlessify our brains. 


Getting acquainted with our slate, Rosie and I also took the time to unpack the tone of our working relationship — who do we want to be to each other? Obviously communicative and respectful colleagues, but also sounding boards and development confidants. So, what are we looking for and what gets us excited when it comes to story and ideas? The long answer is too long  (the short answer may also be too long) but Rosie and I kept coming back to the idea of ‘The Plus.’ 


This is a ripe time of diverse stories being thought up, talked about, loved deeply and, in some instances, made! Being from our respective underrepresented backgrounds and unique experiences, Rosie and I confessed “this is bloody exciting!” as we sipped our coffees. But aside from having a story centering on under-represented experience, what is the plus that makes that story feel cohesive and new? That makes it feel electric. Is it a new take on a genre? A unique format? A twist? As Maggie Nelson puts it: it’s about “accessing the blue” of the thing you are creating.


The Seeing Ourselves report mentions that the representation of First Nations people, disabled people and LGBTQIA+ people on screen have all risen since 2021, but only by 3-5 percent. There is still more work to do to achieve significant diversity on our screens — let alone diversity that is also authentic, and creatively/commercially fulfilling.  


So what makes good content diverse and diverse content good? 


Yen Radecki’s version of this, inside Imperfect Reflections, riffing off the common argument as to whether bad representation is worse than no representation, says that in an age of new technologies, the days of “learning to make do with very little” in terms of seeing yourself on screen may be coming to an end, and that audiences are now reassembling and learning “to construct [their] fictional identities from scratch.” That essentially the jig is up, and for many marginalized communities we can tell when the story is about us but not for us or by us. One dimensional representation alone, even if it’s of their own reflection (superficially), doesn’t cure their hunger.


Inside Unless’ recent history of Retrograde, Finding Jedda and now with new family-feature Windcatcher, a coming of age story of an Aboriginal boy set in rural Victoria, we know that this ‘plus’ or this edge that we all search for as creators is no longer just inside the diverse identity of a protagonist, but it's how that diverse identity plays into a larger sum of the world and the themes of a show, and moreover, how also adds to it’s entertainment.


It’s A Sin is not just about queer identities, it’s also retelling of history, Betty is not just about young women, it’s also a homage to one of the largest skating cultures to exist, and Nope isn’t just about people of color, but is also probably one of the craziest films of the last five years (PLUS aliens!). There is a sense that what makes really inspiring content — that is both good and diverse — is having a “not just” and an “also” inside its story fabric. 


I think that is what Rosie and I landed on. Searching for a ‘plus’ that wasn’t a tickbox. As creators at Unless, but also as viewers, diverse stories are not only about including, but are about forever expanding.