Young Mabel lives in a world where robots are commonplace. As she and her friends struggle to maintain their relationships, Mabel decides to rebuild an old robot in the hopes that she can have a friend who she can relate to. Unfortunately, Switch doesn't turn out to be any easier to get along with....
Inventive Warrnambool teenagers, Olive Adams, Alex Drinkell and Cole Carr came up with the idea for Mabel & Switch thanks to the mentoring program of a local creative organisation.
And now that idea is a published comic book and TV show.
With the help of Warrnambool-based One Day Studios and Reverie Publications, the trio has seen their story published and stocked in a local bookshop and developed into a pilot TV show and documentary.
One Day Studios was founded in 2020 to create a safe space for students to bring to life their own creative projects, such as animation, writing and illustration.
Co-founder Gareth Colliton said the group began attending an after-school program at One Day Studios.
“The Mabel & Switch storyline was generated by group discussions, then a focused team will consolidated the ideas,” he said.
“Currently the pilot episode is on YouTube, as is the behind the scenes documentary. We now have better equipment and more staff, and we're aiming to have episode two shot this summer.”
The One Day Studios team will also share the story of Mabel & Switch in schools across the state through Regional Arts Victoria’s Creative Learning program.
This will see the One Day Studios team bring props, costumes and their creative teams, share the Mabel & Switch story, and deliver workshops including electronic music composition, costume design, script writing, miniatures and editing.
One Day Studios is supported by the Victorian Government through the Creative Ventures Program, with funding for its Media Mavericks program, which helps provide disadvantaged young people in regional Victoria with mentoring and training in the production of digital content.
Gareth said the Mabel & Switch team, aged between 15 and 23, had used their experience as a leaping off point.
“The three students have all taken on more creative endeavours now, which is exactly what we aim for,” he said.
“Olive was accepted into RMIT this year straight out of Year 12. It's hard to say whether she would have had the same results without her One Day Studios portfolio, but we're confident it gave her a boost. In her spare time, she still works for us remotely, drawing the storyboards for Mabel & Switch.”
Find out more at onedaystudios.org.au