White Fever

Television ABC
1

image

Cameras roll on ABC’s sexy new comedy White Fever.

ABC and Screen Australia are delighted to announce that filming is underway in Melbourne on White Fever, the new Australian comedy from rising star Ra Chapman.

Jane (Ra Chapman) is a cocky Korean-Australian adoptee with a love of hairy white guys – the hairier and whiter the better. When her friends call her out for having “white fever”, she sets out on a journey to try and reprogram her libido but instead instigates the process of finding out who she really is.

From hens’ nights to country weddings, moon crystals, “gotcha” days and a boxing ring, it’s a K-Pop-infused, action-packed, wild ride filled with revelations, surprises and a large helping of Asian pop culture.

Creator, writer and star of White Fever Ra Chapman says “I’m so excited for audiences to meet Jane, and experience the unceremonious roller-coaster journey she goes on. I hope this fun and cheeky comedy not only makes you laugh but also makes you see yourself and the people you love, and lust after, in a totally new light!”

Starring alongside Ra is a terrific line-up of Australian comedic talent, including Chris Pang (Crazy Rich Asians, Joy Ride), Roz Hammond (Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, Bay of Fires), Greg Stone (Jack Irish, Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries), Katie Robertson (Rosehaven, Five Bedrooms), Cassandra Sorrell (North Shore), Harvey Zielinski (Deadloch) and Jillian Nguyen (One Night, Barons).

ABC Head of Comedy Todd Abbott says “Everyone loves a romcom, but this one, from the phenomenal talent that is Ra Chapman, is so much more than just that. It’s sharp, smart, funny, fresh and plunges us deep into a unique world. Hearing this sensational cast read the scripts around the table made us laugh, cry and rethink so much of what we take for granted. I can’t wait to see it burst into life on screen and share it with audiences.”

CEO of Screen Australia Graeme Mason says “White Fever is a refreshing and authentic take on the everyday romcom. With its clever script, candid insights, exceptional cast and creative team — this bold and hilarious series provides a meaningful exploration of identity and relationships. Without a doubt, Ra Chapman and White Fever will strike a chord with Australian audiences, leaving them wanting more.”

Developed by Ra Chapman and Katherine Fry. Written by Ra Chapman, Michele Lee, Harvey Zielinski, Clare Atkins and directed by Aidee Walker, White Fever will film in and around Melbourne over the next five weeks and will air on ABC TV and ABC iview in 2024.

Production Credits : A Black Sheep Films, Orange Entertainment Co. and Unruly Production. Major production investment from Screen Australia and ABC. Financed with support from VicScreen. Producers Katherine Fry and Lisa Wang. Executive Producers Dan Lake, Ra Chapman, Rosie Lourde and Kurt Royan. ABC Executive

1 Like
2

ew

3

Well, I am keen.

4

2024 Upfronts

image
image1342×1855 105 KB

Jane (Ra Chapman) is a cocky Korean-Australian adoptee with a love of hairy white guys – the hairier and whiter the better. When her friends call her out for having a white man fetish she sets out to try and reprogram her libido, reignites a connection with childhood friend, Yu Chang (Chris Pang) and stumbles into the process of finding out who she really is.

From hens’ nights to country weddings, moon crystals, “gotcha” days and adoptee dinners, it’s a K-Pop-infused, action-packed, wild ride filled with revelations, surprises and a large helping of Asian pop culture.

Created and written by Ra Chapman with writers Michele Lee, Clare Atkins and Harvey Zielinski.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

A Black Sheep Films, Orange Entertainment Co. and Unruly Productions series. Major production investment from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Screen Australia. Financed with support from VicScreen. Producers Katherine Fry and Lisa Wang. Executive Producers Dan Lake, Kurt Royan, Ra Chapman and Rosie Lourde. ABC Commissioning Editors Louise Smith and Todd Abbott. Head of Scripted Rachel Okine. International Sales by ABC Commercial.

1 Like
5

New comedy White Fever heats up ABC iview this April

image

Get ready to laugh and cry as new comedy series White Fever premieres on ABC iview, with all six episodes available to stream from 9pm on Wednesday 10 April.

Jane (Ra Chapman, Wentworth, K-Box, Face To Face) is a cocky Korean-Australian adoptee with a love of hairy white guys – the hairier the better. When her friends call her out for having a white man fetish, she sets out to try and reprogram her libido, reignites a connection with her childhood friend Yu Chang (Chris Pang, Crazy Rich Asians, Palm Springs, Charlie’s Angels) and stumbles into the process of finding out where she belongs and who with.

From hens’ nights to country weddings, “Gotcha” days and adoptee dinners, it’s a K-Pop-infused, action-packed, wild ride filled with revelations, surprises and a large helping of Asian pop culture.

Joining Ra and Chris is an exciting ensemble cast including Greg Stone (Jack Irish, Neighbours), Roz Hammond (Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, Bay Of Fires), Harvey Zielinski (Deadloch, Love Me), Katie Robertson (Rosehaven, Five Bedrooms), Jillian Nguyen (One Night, Barons) and Cassandra Sorrell (Bump, North Shore).

A fast-paced and fun series that doesn’t shy away from its undeniably emotional core, White Fever is created and written by Korean-Australian adoptee Ra Chapman with writers Michele Lee, Clare Atkins and Harvey Zielinski, directed by Aidee Walker, and produced by Katherine Fry and Lisa Wang, with executive producers Dan Lake, Kurt Royan, Ra Chapman and Rosie Lourde. ABC Executive Producers are Todd Abbott and Louise Smith.

White Fever premieres on ABC TV on Wednesday 10 April at 9pm with all episodes available to stream on ABC iview.

Production credit: A Black Sheep Films, Orange Entertainment Co. and Unruly Productions Series. Major production investment from Screen Australia and ABC. Financed with support from VicScreen. Producers Katherine Fry and Lisa Wang. Executive Producers Dan Lake, Kurt Royan, Ra Chapman and Rosie Lourde and ABC Executive Producers Todd Abbott and Louise Smith. International Sales by ABC Commercial.

6

Episode 1

image

Wednesday 10 April 9.00pm

When Jane, a Korean-Australian adoptee, is accused of having ‘white fever’, she tries to reprogram her libido, only to learn she’s out of her depth. Looks like popping her ‘Asian-guy cherry’ is just the start of her journey.

Jane (Ra Chapman, Wentworth, K-Box, Face To Face) is a cocky Korean-Australian adoptee with a love of hairy white guys – the hairier the better. But when her work buddy, Charlie (Harvey Zielinski), suggests she has a ‘white meat’ fetish, Jane begins to question her dating preferences and what that might mean.

To add fuel to the fire, Jane’s best friend Edi (Katie Robertson) inadvertently brands Jane as being “whiter than most white people.” And to top it all off, Jane is taken to task by her latest conquest – an exceptionally hairy white bartender – who accuses her of being a “fake Asian.”

Discombobulated but determined to prove that she is not a ‘racist dater,’ Jane throws herself into an ill-fated mission to date only Asian men and to cure herself of “white fever.”

During her quest, Jane attempts to reconnect with her childhood friend Yu Chang (Chris Pang), the only other Asian from her country town; reaches out to a Korean adoptee influencer and her group of adoptee pals; battles with her inner white woman, who manifests in the form of her childhood doll ‘Cindy’ (Susanna Qian), and even invests in an Asian male sex doll.

It seems Jane has opened Pandora’s Box, discovering a whole new world of Asian men, but more significantly, a whole new way of ‘seeing’ and interacting with Asian people and places.

Jane soon learns that her ‘whitewashed libido’ is a symptom of a larger problem she’s been avoiding for years. Much like the letters she received from her birth father as a teenager, Jane has shoved her emotions into a storage box under her bed. But as Jane enters a new world, deeper feelings start to surface, and she can no longer run from them. Jane is forced to confront her past, and more importantly decide what her future looks like. What starts as a fun dating challenge ends in a life-changing decision she never thought she’d be making.

Production credit:** A Black Sheep Films, Orange Entertainment Co., and Unruly Productions Series. Major production investment from Screen Australia and ABC. Financed with support from VicScreen. Producers Katherine Fry and Lisa Wang. Executive Producers Dan Lake, Kurt Royan, Ra Chapman and Rosie Lourde and ABC Executive Producers Louise Smith and Todd Abbott. International Sales by ABC Commercial.

1 Like
7

Episode 2

image

Wednesday 17 April 9.00pm

At her best friend’s wedding, Jane sets out to snag an Asian man, but her past catches up with her when Jane’s old school friend, Yu Chang, rejects her. While visiting her mum, Jane’s confronted with a letter from her past.

Jane’s (Ra Chapman) first date with an Asian man, ‘Michael with a goatee’, is a disaster and she’s without a plus one for Edi’s wedding – so she invites work buddy Charlie (Harvey Zielinski) to be her wingman instead. As they drive through her hometown of Mount Whiteman, Jane, distracted by the influx of Asian people in the normally very white town for the wedding, almost hits a hot Asian guy at the pedestrian crossing.

As the bridal party is preparing at Edi’s family farm, Jane promises Edi she won’t ruin anything, but as Edi (Katie Robertson) and Kong (Yuchen Wang) exchange vows, Jane eyes up the groomsmen, and then becomes entirely distracted by her ex, Stu, and his chest rug. When the Asian hottie whom Jane nearly ran over appears at the buffet, Charlie convinces Jane that he’s a fine candidate to be her first Asian male hookup. Accepting the challenge, Jane turns on her charms to try and capture Yu Chang’s (Chris Pang) attention. But he doesn’t respond.

Never one to be deterred, Jane sets her sights on one of the groomsmen, Vincent, and after a brief flirtation at the bar, she leans in for a kiss. But when he comments on how they have the same nose, Jane is totally wigged out and pushes him away.

Jane is seeking solace at the dessert table when Yu Chang appears. It turns out that he is Jane’s childhood friend, George, who has reclaimed his Chinese name and made quite the transformation. Drawn to the familiarity of Yu Chang, Jane goes in for a kiss, and while there is definitely a spark between them, he is not interested in being part of Jane’s games and leaves. Having seen it all, Edi confronts Jane – she’s ruining her wedding just so she can conduct some weird experiment in dating Asian men. After a fight, Edi asks Jane to leave.

The next day, Jane asks her mum if she remembers George and discussion of how he has reclaimed his Chinese name leads to Deidre trying to remember Jane’s Korean name, but Jane won’t have a bar of it and dramatically shuts her mum down.

1 Like
8

This is one ABC’s best recent short run comedies. Original themes, and great production values and acting. There are one of two familiar faces but also several unknowns.

9
10

The first trailer I saw with the K Pop sounding soundtrack made me think this show was going to be over the top ridiculous. But the second trailer with clips from the show made me laugh out loud so looking forward to this.

11

Episode 3

image

Wednesday 24 April 9.00pm

At a dinner for Korean adoptees hosted by adoptee advocate & influencer Hera, Jane meets Kev, another Korean Australian adoptee. After striking out with him, she heads home & finally opens the letter from her birth father.

Jane is on a date at home with a Korean guy, Dae. Things are going well, but when he learns that she is an adoptee, he becomes inconsolably sad and apologetic for the Korean national shame relating to sending Korean babies and children overseas. Rather than getting any action, Jane is left holding the tissues.

As Jane starts to research, she learns just how big a deal Korea’s national shame for their adoptees is. In her rabbit hole, she comes across the ‘White Fever’ video again. Watching further, she learns that the maker is also a Melbourne Korean adoptee. The video is a wakeup call and Hera (Cassandra Sorrell) the influencer has a ton of ‘advice’ about how to “decolonise your libido.” Left wanting more guidance on how to purge her white man urge, Jane DMs Hera to see if they can meet up.

The next day, Jane meets her dad at the boxing gym for some sparring. Jack declares he’s going to win Deidre back, unaware that it might be too late. When Jane sees an Asian woman speaking to her son in their language, she queries Jack on whether she spoke much Korean when they first got her. Jack shares that they couldn’t shut her up and that she’d march around the house singing in Korean but then one day she just stopped. Feeling disorientated by this new information, Jane is thankful when she receives a reply from Hera inviting her out for a drink.

Jane arrives at a Korean BBQ restaurant thinking she’ll be having a one-on-one catch up with Hera but instead finds herself suddenly amidst a monthly dinner for a group of Korean adoptees. When Jane lets it slip that her birth father wrote to her - which she learns “never happens” – she unintentionally becomes the centre of attention at the dinner and the pressure is too much.

Later at home, Jane finally opens the letter from her birth father.

1 Like
12
13

Episode 4

image

Wednesday 1 May 9.00pm

Jane takes the step of having the letters from her birth father translated. But her childhood doll Cindy has come to life, determined to stop Jane from digging up her Korean past. Cast Ra Chapman.

Jane shares the letter from her birth father with Hera to translate. Hera encourages Jane to retrieve the rest of the letters from Deidre’s house, advising that Jane must confront the past before she can move forward. Jane experiences a daymare where she and ‘George’ (Yu Chang) as children are at his mother’s restaurant, Dragon Empress, and he gives her a letter written in Korean, but the memory sours when Jane’s childhood doll Cindy (Susanna Qian) appears in human form, snatching the letter.

Jane fronts up to see Yu Chang at his café, wanting to apologise about the wedding and invite him out for dumplings. There’s chemistry between them, but Cindy keeps ruining the moment. To Cindy’s delight, Yu Chang shuts Jane down, suggesting that Jane wronged him in the past.

Next day, Cindy sees Hera sending translations of Jane’s letter. She deletes them and reminds Jane of the fun they had when Jane was a child. Jane, wanting to get the letters, lies and tells Cindy that Deidre has invited them to Mount Whiteman.

Later, Jane discovers that Cindy has been texting Edi on the sly. Jane goes to the boxing gym to punch out her frustrations but finds Jack already has a sparring partner, Charlie. Jane receives an unexpected text from Yu Chang, and they begin to exchange flirty messages. During the exchange, Jane decides to pay Yu Chang a surprise visit at his apartment.

1 Like
14

I’ve only seen the “first look” edit - which is a useless trailer that tells me absolutely nothing about the show.

Where could I see the second one you refer to?

15

This one?

16

I’ve only seen it on the ABC itself. Can’t find it anywhere on social media though.

A proper preview which shows scenes with her mum, dad and best friend as well as others seen in the musical trailer.

17

And that’s the ABC’s problem

Young people don’t generally watch ABC they are all
On YouTube Netflix and Tik Tok. Yet this show would appeal to younger auds. Yet the trailer that actually tells you what the show is is nowhere to be seen the places young audiences actually are

18

Episode 5

image

Wednesday 8 May 9.00pm

Jane purchases an Asian sex doll & manages to form a connection with it, giving her the courage to seek out Yu Chang one more time. In flashbacks we learn what happened between Jane & Yu Chang as teenagers.
In 2002: A teenage Jane receives a letter from Korea, but she’s not in the least bit interested and is happy for Deidre to write back if she wants.

Present day: Jane calls Yu Chang but he doesn’t want to see her. She buys an Asian sex doll, determined to conquer her misbehaving, ‘whitewashed’ libido.

2002: Teen Jane sees her dad, Jack and Uncle Bob (Damian Callinan) watching a movie, and as the men compare a hyper-sexualised Asian character to Dragon Empress’s Becky, teen Jane is uncomfortable.

Present day: Newlyweds Edi and Kong come by to pick up a chair Edi left behind. Watching Edi and Kong get playful with each other, Jane caresses Kong too. Furious, Edi tells Jane that she hopes that one day Jane will experience more than just “Asian dick.” After Edi and Kong have left, Jane experiments with kissing her sex doll.

2002: At the Dragon Empress, Jezza, Jane’s teen boyfriend and his mates tease ‘Jockey George’ about his ‘Dragon Lady’ mum and Teen Jane, wanting to be accepted by her peers, joins in.

Present day: Jane is astride the sex doll imagining it is Yu Chang when Jack and Charlie unexpectedly arrive home. When Jack refers to the doll as cheap Chinese crap, Jane - flustered and embarrassed - reveals to Jack that Deidre is in a relationship with a woman.

2002: Teen Jane throws eggs at the Dragon Empress restaurant window and Jezza, now happy to be seen with her, kisses her in front of his mates.

Present day: Jane is convinced she’s a racist. Charlie tells Jane that he once had adverse feelings about other trans people but now feels more comfortable with them than with anyone else. Suddenly, K-Pop dancers appear in a shimmering fantasy.

19
1 Like
20

Episode 6 - Season Final

image

Wednesday 15 May 9.00pm

Jane pops her Asian guy cherry with Yu Chang, just in time for a confrontation with her family at her Gotcha Day celebration lunch.

Jane and Yu Chang have great sex and for the first time Jane physically and emotionally connects with an Asian man. She tells Yu Chang about the letters from her birth father and that she’s planning to write back. Yu Chang thinks it’s massive and encourages Jane to tell her parents at her Gotcha Day birthday lunch.

At home, Jane is reading one of the letters sent by her birth father when Kintaro jumps out of his bowl. Jack manages to get him back in, which gets him and Jane on better terms again. However, as they arrive at Mount Whiteman for Gotcha Day, Jane realises that Jack is still in denial about Deidre’s new relationship with Llewellyn.

Deidre, Uncle Bob, and Grandma Coral (Deidre Rubenstein) are waiting for them to celebrate Gotcha Day. Deidre gets everyone’s attention as she performs a cringey but endearing adoption poem and Jack mimes along with her.

It’s hard for Jane to get a word in edgeways, but finally she is able to take the floor and announce her plans to write to her birth father. Deidre is over the moon while Jack stays quiet.

But then Deidre crumbles into tears because the letters are missing. Jane reveals that it was she who took the letters…

Jane then surprises herself when she blurts out that she’s going to Korea. Jack asks if she’s serious, and to prove it, Jane announces that she had sex with Yu Chang. This spirals into a farcical discussion about whether Jane is Asian. Jack thinks not and that she’s ‘just like him’ but Jane tells Jack she doesn’t want to be ‘just like him’ anymore. When Jack calls Jane ungrateful and mentions all the things they have given her, she hits back and asks about what she’s lost.

Jane arrives home to find Kintaro dead! Yu Chang comes over and Jane inadvertently reveals she announced to her family that they had sex. Yu Chang can’t believe he got sucked into her attempt at an ‘Asian awakening’. Jane strikes back and says she was using him.

Sad and alone, Jane gets a message from her mum – Jack is fishing, and she should join him. After an overwhelming day, Jane decides what she needs to do and jumps in a cab.