How Liv McClymont’s iPhone Shorts Led to a Million-View Web Series

When Liv McClymont found herself in the grips of the 2020 lockdown, she began to ask some tough questions.

The young producer had already spent several years rising through the ranks of the production industry, having moved to Auckland from Ōtautahi Christchurch for work. But with some time to reflect, she realised she wasn’t exactly where she wanted to be.

“There was this itch I needed to scratch,” she explained. “There were stories I really wanted to tell.”

So during the lockdown, Liv made a short film on her iPhone and entered it into Iso Fest – a lockdown film festival.

“Out of that, I ended up getting a director's mentorship with a commercial company,” Liv said.

“I got to work with some wonderful directors who taught me a lot about the world of commercial directing. I had worked on the other side in production, but they were really, really wonderful.”

After six months in the mentorship, Liv started directing music videos, short films, and documentaries.

“After having that experience, I wanted to get in the trenches. I wanted to see how long-form things are made.

“I’d already been doing production work -- mainly logistical things, managing people, and problem solving. The more I've directed, the more I realise this is the majority of the job. It's all very well having great ideas and wanting to share them with people, but if you can't communicate, and you can't be a diplomat sometimes … it ends up being so important. Those skills have transitioned over really well.”

Liv eventually directed ‘I Stand for Consent’, a documentary about young people calling for compulsory consent education in New Zealand.

“As part of that documentary, I spoke to a lot of young people about the issues that were affecting them,” Liv said.

“What kept coming up was how common and prevalent abuse or harassment through online means had become, and that it felt like nobody was talking to young people about the issue.”

Realising the opportunity to lead the conversation, Liv wanted to talk to young people in a way that didn’t patronise or spoon-feed them.

“When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with over-the-top shows like Ryan Murphy shows or ‘Gossip Girl’. I thought going down that teen comedy-drama approach would engage young people in a show they’re actually excited to see.”

Liv then directed ‘The Sender’, a web series that is currently airing on TikTok and Instagram. The absurd, teen-comedy who-dunnit has generated overwhelmingly positive feedback so far and already exceeded 1 million views.

“The most popular apps young people are using are TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. That's the real release; we made it specifically for those platforms. So we decided to make it a fully vertical series, and wrote it with those platforms in mind.

“What you're allowed to have on those platforms -- there's a level of what you can have sexually or in terms of violence. And we found out that politics, anything political, is basically a no-no. There are lots of parameters that are quite strict, and it was whirlwind, but it was amazing, because we ended up making a product that is so specific for a specific audience who are telling us in real time how much they're enjoying it.”

While working on ‘The Sender’, Liv also made her TVC debut with 2Degrees’ ‘NOtifications’, which focused on teenagers’ device use.

“It married up perfectly, because I was about to take on the series project, which was about teenagers and devices, and how that can impact them.

“The making of that 2Degrees spot last year was wonderful. It was heaps of fun working with AO Studios and with TBWA. It was a dream first big commercial.”

Liv said the idea central to her work is communication, and a preoccupation with speaking to her audience.

“When I made ‘I Stand For Consent’ we wanted to talk about sexual harm in a really positive way -- providing some hope in the situation. That was the way I felt would communicate effectively to that community and actually engage, rather than scare. I know that the true crime style is something that really works, especially for a young female audience, so we adopted that approach.

“When it comes to music videos as well, you're thinking ‘Who is this performer?’ and ‘What kind of artist are they?’

“It's a different process, but it's the same thing in different ways. You refine an idea or a script to its best form, so that when you shoot it you're being the most efficient, and you're definitely getting the stuff that you need to tell that story right.”

Now working firmly in the TVC space with Supernormal, Liv isn’t eager to leave her long-form learnings behind.

“My goal is always to bridge both worlds. I think there's a lot to be learned from both. For example, in longer projects, you get so much longer to play with actors and to really enhance performances and to find creative ways to take filmmaking to another level.

“I am also a writer, and I am at the moment developing some series ideas and some feature film ideas and turning those into scripts. So at the moment, my goal is to get some of those up and then bring what I learned from those productions to my work as a commercial director.”

Liv is currently working on a shoot for a major international airline, which she described as the story of “multi-generational female relationships.”

“It’s very up my alley, and each new project brings the chance to grow with filmmaking.”