Interview: Director Mimi Helm Talks Upcoming WA Comedy Series “Single Ladies”

In the span of 6 mini-episodes, new WA comedy series Single Ladies explores the complicated lives of 2 strong, confident women who host a controversial sex-positive radio show. As they fight to stay on-air, face-off with their sexist radio rivals, and navigate their messy personal lives, Catherine and Nina find themselves in all kinds of unpredictable situations.

We spoke with one of the series’ 3 female directors, Mimi Helm, to learn more about why Single Ladies is so relevant to modern women.

IN: “Single Ladies” had its premiere screening on June 30th at Event Cinemas in Innaloo. How did it go? What were the reactions in the audience?

MH: Yeah, the Australian premiere was held on Sunday June 30th, and that was a private screening. It was really great; we packed out the cinema. It was probably the best it could have gone. There were lots of laughs, which was a relief. It’s always a bit stressful, especially when it’s a home crowd versus a general crowd, but there were a lot of people there who we didn’t know.

What was the inspiration for creating “Single Ladies”?

MH: Well the creators were Alex Nell and Megan Hollier, who play the two leads. So they came up with this idea, and then they went to the writer Aaron Moss about it. The concept came from them having all these crazy single adventures, and they were like, “Let’s come up with something fun that we can also act in”. I think they wanted to create roles for themselves that were really exciting and cool, and also took advantage of those stories.

What do you think sets “Single Ladies” apart from other comedy series?

MH: It’s obviously unique in that we have 2 female leads acting in the way that they do. It’s very real, in a way that we’re only just starting to see things the way they really are. It’s really refreshing, because it’s 2 women who are just gonna do what they want, and they’re not going to let anyone tell them what to do. I think it’s really exciting, and it’s the kind of thing I wish I had seen growing up.

We’re starting to see sex gradually being portrayed more on TV than it used to be, but as one of your characters says in the series, “If you show a woman orgasming, or 2 consensual adults peeing on each other, you immediately get canceled”. How did community standards and media censorship play a role in the creation of this story?

MH: A few weeks ago, when all the Alabama abortion stuff was happening, I just had this moment when everything really hit home for me, where I was like “Wow, it’s actually so important that we are telling these stories”. I knew that before, but that was a moment for me when I thought “Oh shit, we’ve still got so far to go”. It was so shocking, and I felt really really down. I didn’t know what to do, because you feel so powerless. Women’s rights are still very much under threat, and I think that seeing sexually liberated women on screen, it’s comforting for other women to see that, and I find that quite hopeful. Moreso, hopefully it means that the more that this becomes the popular narrative, the more people will have to change their attitudes about it.

We do see a lot of sexualised content in the media we consume, but sex itself is still really a taboo subject in society. How do you feel “Single Ladies” handles this kind of paradox?

MH: I agree with you, there’s a lot of content that’s sexualised, but it’s this clean, polished version of sex that is not real. The girls on the show preach sex positivity, but there’s also a space for sex neutrality. There’s a scene in the show where Catherine is having some pretty shitty sex with a barman, and I really like that scene, because sometimes it’s not all glam and cool and sexy. Not all sex is sexy; sometimes it’s disappointing. Also I think the reality is that one-night stands and hook-up culture are sometimes a lot more beneficial for men. It might be a generalisation, but I think it’s a lot easier for men to enjoy one-night stands than women, who can be slut-shamed for engaging in the same actions. It’s funny that this series was happening in a time in my life when I was very single, so I could completely relate to so much of it. Sometimes one-night stands can be a bit shit, but they can also be fun to do, and I never want to be judged for doing it. So this series portrays a more realistic form of hook-up culture for women.

A lot of mainstream media still struggles to reflect the true diversity of a multicultural country like Australia, but you were able to form a cast that includes an Indigenous Australian character (Mike the Bartender), a supporting character of colour (Hashim), and a protagonist who’s a bisexual woman (Catherine). How did that process go as you were casting and creating the series?

MH: I think a lot of it was that we just really wanted these actors. I worked with Jad, who plays Hashim, on a music video quite a few years ago, and he was fantastic, so I wanted to work with him again. Clarence Ryan, who plays the barman, is killing it, so it was pretty cool having him on the show. He’s actually currently on set with Cate Blanchett somewhere. We had already worked with a lot of these people, but obviously diversity is also so important. I’m a white woman, so I’ve got to try and do my part to help create more diverse spaces on screen. At the same time, it’s important for it not to be tokenistic, so it’s a bit tricky. You want to reflect more diversity, but you don’t want to put someone on screen just because they’re this ethnicity, or this sexuality, or this body type. It’s a hard one, but I think it’s just nicer to watch something where everyone has different backgrounds and looks different, and brings something of their own unique background to it.

One of the male characters from the series, Hashim, gets nosebleeds whenever he’s “excited”. Was this inspired by the comedic nosebleed trope which a lot of male anime characters often demonstrate whenever they’re aroused? Or was this meant to be about things that stop us from having sexual satisfaction?

MH: Oh, I actually have no idea about that. Who knows? It was the writer Aaron Moss who came up with that, so I’m not sure if he’s an anime fan or something. I’ve never heard of that before, that’s so funny! You’d have to ask Aaron, but I personally think it’s just about Hashim being super awkward. He wants to be outgoing and sexually confident like the girls, who inspire him, but in reality, he’s still awkward. He also has a weird family history that involves a really conservative upbringing and maybe even a bit of repression, so I think that’s what it’s about.

The characters of Donnie and Ronnie are kind of the antithesis to your 2 female leads. What was the inspiration for their characters?

MH: Pretty easy, that one. I think we have a lot of “lad culture” on Australian radio, a lot of men with subtly misogynistic attitudes that they can still get away with. It’s people like Kyle Sandilands from The Kyle and Jackie O Show who provided that kind of inspiration for their characters. I’ve listened to it and thought, “What is this? This is bullshit.” When I had a radio in my car, I noticed that most of our radio shows tend to have this dynamic, this set-up of a trio of presenters, made up of 2 guys who are more ladsy and blokesy, and 1 token woman who has to rein them in. She’s almost a maternal presence, playing it straight while the boys produce this abundance of annoying, unfunny, sexist, and racist content that they think is funny and edgy, when it really isn’t.

“Single Ladies” will be available for viewing to the public as of July 22nd. What are your hopes for the series going forward? Would you want to expand into longer episodes, since the current episodes are quite short, or would you want to keep it in its current format?

MH: I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t hope for a Season 2. That’s the biggest wish I have for it. I don’t know how realistic that is, but it would be amazing. I think that the length of the current episodes (average of 7 mins) works really well for people who either want to watch a bit at a time, or who want to binge the whole series in one go. I would just love to tell more of these stories, especially since I have my own crazy stories about being single that I’d love to chuck in there. My secondary hopes are that people watch it, see women being represented differently to how they have been before, and get a chance to laugh. I hope it’ll subtly start changing people’s attitudes, and make both men and women laugh, because it’s really funny.

“Single Ladies” will be available for streaming at Hyvio on July 22nd.