It’s Fine, I’m Fine – behind the scenes

Creator, director, co-writer and co-producer Stef Smith discusses how her experiences with therapy shaped her new series It’s Fine, I’m Fine.

After finding it difficult to take the next step in her career, director Stef Smith decided she needed to create her own content and bring other emerging talent along with her. Using her experiences in therapy as inspiration, Smith created a short form series entitled It’s Fine, I’m Fine and gave the team of writers three rules to adhere to.

“The rules were we had to stay in the one location, so we were always in the therapy room. They [the writers] had to write between five to ten pages per episode…” says Smith. “It had to contain magical realism that Joanne [the therapist] couldn’t see. Then they were able to go away and just explore whatever they wanted to say.”

In this behind-the-scenes video, Smith talks about the challenges she and her team faced in filming on a tight shooting schedule, the importance of authentic diversity in storytelling, and her love of unusual camera angles and framing to help drive the narrative.

It’s Fine, I’m Fine is available to stream on SBS on Demand.