A new crime-fighting force has been unveiled in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Delta Force: Hardkill, a dark comedy following the misadventures of two mismatched, delusional private investigators, made its screen debut last week on community television Channel 31.
The six-part series, based on a concept by Sunshine local Eli Abidin, was developed in the past 18 months by Albion’s Neil Harvester and Robert Suavez, Deer Park’s John Flores and West Footscray’s Jimmy Exclaimer.
Suavez and Exclaimer star as the two hardboiled protagonists while Harvester plays a variety of different characters, mainly villains.
Harvester said their independent production company Same Yellow Productions had been filming in and around locations that would be familiar to people living in the west.
“For Delta Force headquarters, we have used the State Trustees building in Footscray,” Harvester said. “We also had a whole bunch of different places around Sunshine and StAlbans.”
The zero-budget project was initially due to be web-based and shot on hand-held cameras.
“After we shot the pilot this way, we attended a ‘make TV’ seminar hosted by C31 at RMIT and handed it in for their perusal,” Harvester said. “They were happy with the concept and gave us the green light for broadcast, asking us to reshoot it using better equipment.”
The team is happy with the outcome of the first six episodes and is toying around with ideas for where to take the concept next.
“We are still tossing up whether to turn it into something film feature length.”
Delta Force: Hardkill will be released on DVD after its Chanel 31 season.
Harvester says Channel 31’s support helped keep the project alive while everyone juggled other commitments such as work and family.
“It was really exciting when they said yes, we thought it would be a definite no,” he said.
“I think it’s because it’s a narrative and they don’t have a lot of episodic narratives. It’s certainly unique and original.”
