After clocking over two million views on YouTube, the Launceston-based series Australia's Best Street Racer has become a home-grown success story.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Now, the 18-year-old lover of the Launceston blockie route returns with a two-part Christmas special.
A holiday season story about a P-plater in his mum's hotted-up Holden Barina might be an unconventional take, but for co-creators Dylan Hesp and Michael O'Neill it's an exciting way to explore the hapless drag-race wannabe's life in ways previously not possible.
"It's a Christmas story, we're playing in that genre and with all the tropes," Mr O'Neill said.
"In the past we've totally nailed the comedy, but we've never really tried to delve into the emotional side of things for our character."
In the new two-parter, released this week, the "loveable-loser" finds himself wrapped up in festive, albeit typically Tasmanian, trouble.
From 'loveable loser' to world-wide relatability
With funding from Screen Australia and Screen Tasmania, the creators have been able to expand the format into eight-minute episodes, but it's the heart of the story that the creators said carries the production into new territory.
Mr Hesp, who stars in the show as well as co-directing and writing, said he wanted to create a Christmas story that resonated with a different type of viewer.
"The beauty of this kind of genre is it's the sort of thing our audience could watch with their kids or family," he said.
"There's a whole generation of people who don't want to watch Love Actually over Christmas. They want to watch someone do blockies."
Blockies aside, Mr O'Neill said much of the series success can be attributed to the main character's relatability.
"He's just someone who wants to fit in and wants to have people that like him, and somewhere that he can belong, basically," he said.
"So in putting up the facade of being a street racer and pimping out his car and all this, it's all just an effort to fit in and be accepted."
And although visually the series is undeniably Northern Tasmanian, to the surprise of Mr Hesp and Mr O'Neill, it has transcended the state - and the nation - in viewers who resonate with the series.
"We both grew up here in Launceston, where the blockie route is just this thing, this kind of rite of passage," Mr Hesp said.
"But once the show came out, we immediately realised that this rite of passage happens not just all over the country in regional areas, but all over the world.
"We often find people watch the series and say 'I've met this guy'."
With half of their audience overseas, they soon realised young men in the UK, New Zealand, the US and Europe could relate.
It's a testament to the power of digital media, which has allowed the Tasmanian-based crew to reach far beyond traditional audiences and find new avenues to reach previously unimaginable amounts of viewers.
But even with all their success, there's one goal Mr Hesp said they were chasing.
"My real hope is that people won't just watch it this year, but maybe next year and the years to come," he said.
- Watch the series and Christmas special at: www.youtube.com/@AustraliasBestStreetRacer
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner