UsMob is a unique immersive interactive series that transports viewers from around Australia and the globe to the little known world of Hidden Valley. It is the first project to be launched under the AFC and ABC New Media and Digital Services Broadband Production Initiative (BPI), which supports dynamic projects developed and produced specifically for broadband delivery on ABC Online.

What is UsMob?

Based on the internationally popular short Bush Bikes, UsMob is set in the central desert of Australia and focuses on teenagers Charlie and Jacquita and their Aboriginal bush community friends encountering the extraordinary challenges, exciting cultural experiences and dramatic external forces that shape their lives in the Town Camps of Alice Springs.

Played out on the web, television and e-mail, Charlie and Jacquita's exploits launch viewers on journeys steeped in humour, excitement and sometimes crisis - creating a dynamic bridge between cultures, communities and characters.

Viewers can interact with the world of Charlie and Jacquita by directing multi-path storylines, activating video and text diaries, forums, viral movies and games that offer an online virtual experience of Hidden Valley and the surrounding deserts. And by uploading their own video stories, viewers become an even more integral part of the UsMob community.

UsMob is an online community of people who are engaged, not just in the narrative, but also in the culture, creativity and consequences that energise each of their lives.

Why UsMob? UsMob uses online characters and friendships to spark an exchange of culture, creativity and experience between non-Indigenous and Indigenous young people. UsMob encourages sensible and accurate discussion about Indigenous and non-Indigenous issues without a focus on 'educational' or curriculum-based outcomes. UsMob enhances the uptake of digital and interactive media-based technologies in classrooms through compelling weekly webisodes and content rich material. UsMob inspires young indigenous people to use the web and develop skills in new media technologies. UsMob is an online environment that is sensitive to authoring biases and is therefore culturally relevant to Indigenous audiences. UsMob provides real training and employment opportunities for Indigenous youth in the ongoing maintenance of the site. UsMob also features an online forum for discussing cross-cultural issues.

Launched at the 2005 Adelaide Film Festival, UsMob was shot in and around Alice Springs with an all-Indigenous cast, was directed by David Vadiveloo, produced by Heather Croall and executive produced by the Tangentyerre Council.

The interactive stories include:

Kwatye (Water): Aboriginal kids don't get lost in the desert without any water... do they?

Money Day: Teased about her hearing aid at school, Della has to decide whose voice she will listen to.

Ure (Fire): When Harry burns a tree on someone else's land, is it just nature that he is messing with?

Wrong Skin: In a battle for the same boy, sisters Jacquita and Della must decide whether to follow their hearts or their traditional law.

Pmere Amekemeke (Sacred Sites): 10, 9, 8, 7... As their childhood days disappear and the non-Aboriginal world seems to be closing in, will Charlie and Harry's friendship survive?

Sniffer: Alienated by her family and friends, Della turns to petrol sniffing and leaves her sister with a difficult decision.

Iwerre Atherrame (Two Paths): No longer a boy but still not a man. Can Harry keep pushing both black and white laws and avoid the consequences?


UsMob is funded by the AFC/ABC Broadband Production Initiative, the Telstra Broadband Fund, the South Australian Film Corporation's Educational Content Fund and the Adelaide Film Festival's Investment Fund. UsMob also received development funds from the AFC and through the South Australian Film Corporation's Crossover Australia initiative.

Links and contacts

UsMob website: www.usmob.com.au
Heather Croall, Producer: heather@reangle.com.au


September 2005

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