All Our Eggs – Web Series (Pilot)

Charlie and Jack, mid-thirties, broke but happy and together since forever, are trying for their first child. Problem is they’ve been trying for a while. It’s time to get serious about the whole parenthood thing, but in putting all their faith in letting things happen naturally have Charlie and Jack been putting all their eggs in one basket? Based on playwright Vanessa Bates’ acclaimed memoir LEGS UP AND LAUGHING, the 9 part comedy drama webseries ALL OUR EGGS covers five years of trying to make one new, very special little life, navigating the highs and lows, the ups and downs, the herbal teas, the acupuncture, the headstands, the sex-by-stopwatch, the IVF procedures — all the agonies and ecstasies of the Great Big Fertility Ride. Painfully honest, bitterly funny, heartbreaking, but ultimately life-affirming, ALL OUR EGGS is the journey taken by a family, to make a family. With just a little more help than usual.

All Our Eggs is a raw and no-nonsense look at one couple’s experience of IVF and fertility treatment. From a design perspective, I wanted to highlight the dichotomy between Charlie and Jack’s intimate relationship and the clinical decisions they have to make build their family.

The bedroom is where we first meet Charlie and Jack and where their relationship grounded. I wanted it to feel intimate and warm but also slightly chaotic to highlight the whirlwind that has been created by Charlie’s fertility treatments. I started with a base of soft, textured window and bed textiles and then added key set dressing the create a sense of Charlie and Jack’s lives. A wall of postcards, stacks of art and book surrounded by disordered piles of unfolded laundry and discarded towels suggests that building a family is right decision, just maybe not at the most right time.

Charlie and Jack’s apartment is in direct contrast with the medical locations in which the various IVF consultations and procedures take place. Here, I focused on cold metallic and vinyl textures and a cooler palette of blues and greys to highlight the disconnect between the family Charlie wants and the clinical and impersonal route she’ll have to take to get it.

Collaborating with director Martha Goddard and her strong vision and intimate understanding of these characters was such a joy. I honoured her treatment of Charlie’s journey and her unflinching portrayal of IVF  by doing as much as possible to ensure all scenes portraying the medical procedures and consultations were as close to reality as we could muster.

Martha Goddard

Dan Prichard

On the Deck Productions