Students skewer publishing world in new Truce Films web series

Swinburne students have played a major role in producing Monologue, a satirical web series by award winning production company Truce Films skewering the world of pop-culture publications. Throughout the duration of the project, over twenty Swinburne students and graduates were involved in the production, both on and off set.  

With the project requiring diverse skills, students were able to gain real-world experience from their studies in film and television, media and communications, and design. 

Funded by Screen Australia and VicScreen, the comedy series is about a fictional outlet, described as ‘Australasia’s sixth most influential pop-culture publication’ and the people who run it. The publication is led by Monique Crawford (Emily Taheny), a socially minded but narcissistic editor, and her conservative, money-hungry business partner Max Jenke (Mike McLeish). There are six episodes in total, looking at everything from AI and TikTok trends, to mental health and social issues.

A multi-media project

Beyond the film production, students also worked on the Monologue digital project, to create a brand identity and website in conjunction with the series. Communication designer Lauren Gualano and junior UX designer Yi Yang from Swinburne’s Design Bureau worked closely with Truce Films to create the multimedia experience.  

“Joining this project was a great learning opportunity for me and I enjoyed the process of taking in feedback, revising my work and then seeing a finished product emerge in the end,” said Yi. 

Upholding the façade of a pop culture publication, Swinburne student Eden Young created fake clickbait style content as a part of her major industry project in Literary Industry Practice (LIT30004) to include on the website, and even returned to work as an extra when production began.

By publishing content across several media channels, Monologue could blur the lines between truth and fiction and enabled the audience to engage with the material at a much deeper level.