The exciting 13 episode comedy drama follows a group of girls who abandon the sidelines to start their football club’s first all-girl team. Against the odds, they’ll stand united and overcome any challenges all while wrestling with what it means to be a girl today.
Debuting at 5pm on ABC ME and the ABC ME App, Mustangs FC will also be on the big screen at Federation Square from 6pm as part of The International Day of the Girl celebrations and ABC’s #GIRLSCHANGETHEWORLD campaign.
Victorian Producers Amanda Higgs and Rachel Davis led a strong female creative team with women comprising more than 60% of the cast and crew, including lead roles in writing, directing, casting, cinematography, production design, costume and editing for this very special project. They tell us more...
Inception and the incubation phases of the project…
"We both wanted to make a show about real girls - girls who felt vulnerable, honest, not always likeable but always understandable. As big sports fans ourselves and with soccer being the fastest growing sport for girls in Australia, it seemed like the right choice for contemporary kids.
We were also very influenced by the struggle that a lot of girls’ sports teams have to get recognition and adequate facilities. There’s still a real grass ceiling to kick through in girls’ sport and we were interested in weaving that into our stories. With the launch of the Women’s AFL and the rise and rise of the Matildas, it felt very timely.
The ABC were immediately very supportive of our initial pitch and we quickly moved into scripting. The strength and commitment of our writing team was really key to the development. Michael Miller, Kirsty Fisher, Rae Earl, Magda Wozniak and Warren Clarke were all fantastic in the writers’ room - they were passionate about the show and about telling truthful stories about these characters. We wanted stories that felt funny, poignant and real, dealing with issues like body image, mental health, sexuality and the complexities of female friendships. But as well as those big stories, we’re just as proud to be telling jokes about selfies, snapchat, sanitary bins and the peculiarly female challenges of peeing outside. We think we might be the first Australian teen show to say the word 'tampon'."
Working with a female led cast and crew…
"Women took the lead in every key creative role behind the camera and we’re proud that the show employed 61% women, reinforcing positive female role models on screen and off. Eighty per cent of our episodes were directed by women. Most departments were headed by a woman - we have an amazing Director of Photography, Kath Chambers; our Production Designer Jo Briscoe whose passion and love for the show sometimes took our breath away; our talented Costume Designer Penny Dickinson who provided such a unique, distinctive look for our girls. Supremely talented Composer Bryony Marks and Music Supervisor Lou Rigolli are responsible for delivering one of the most remarked upon elements of our series - the music. We had women in the camera and sound departments, in editing, casting and of course, two female producers, and three female executive producers. We feel like we are the show where gender truly does matter.
We were also very committed to giving opportunities to up and coming women, ready to make their mark on the industry including director, Corrie Chen; writer, Magda Wozniak and Sarah Freeman as Producer’s Attachment. What was really amazing was seeing these young women develop relationships with our other younger creatives - production secretary and new writer Alice Jones and editor Ariel Shaw - relationships that we hope will serve future series and future Australian stories. It was also really rewarding to see these young talented women working amongst experienced personnel and more than holding their own."
Film Victoria supported Mustangs FC through its Victorian Content Initiative, with Screen Australia funding.