Rolling out at the London TV Screenings after a slot at the Berlinale Series Market, the Aussie crime comedy “Sunny Nights” follows American siblings Martin (Will Forte) and Vicki (D’Arcy Carden) as they try to strike rich in the spray tan business – only to fall deeper and deeper into the Sydney underworld.
Created by Nick Keetch and Ty Freer and produced by Jungle Entertainment and Echo Lake Entertainment, the series will air on Australian streamer Stan later this year, with Cineflix Rights handling international distribution.
Director and showrunner Trent O’Donnell — creator of “No Activity” and veteran of “New Girl,” among myriad other credits – executive produced and helmed all eight episodes. Variety spoke with O’Donnell ahead of the London screening.
How did this project come to you?
I first read the pilot in 2020, when I was in Calgary, staying in a hotel during a two-week quarantine, and immediately thought of Will and D’Arcy. That very day, I messaged both of them and to my surprise, they both ended up being part of the show! It was a long journey, though. These projects often heat up, feel like they’re going to happen, and then cool down. This cycle continued for about four years until everything came together in early 2024. Amazingly, both agreed to come to Australia, and we got to make it.
Let’s dig into that. What specific elements in each role made you think of Will and Darcy?
I had just worked with Will on “No Activity,” and I loved the experience. He’s a master of blending comedy and vulnerability, and he excels at playing people struggling to keep their heads above water, which is exactly how you would define his character here. Martin is essentially a good guy who makes one mistake, and everything spirals from there, so Will’s physicality and his believability really made him key.
As for D’Arcy, I worked with her on “The Good Place” and on a small indie movie. She’s one of the sharpest, funniest actors around, and she has this dark comedic edge that fits perfectly with the Vicki character. Vicki is the wilder, more impulsive one who often leads Martin astray, and I could see D’Arcy embodying that effortlessly.
How did you make the project your own?
It was all about finding the right tone. I drew inspiration from the Coen Brothers, who excel at capturing the specificity of a place and time. I wanted to balance cinematic grandeur with rapid-fire comedic dialogue, knowing when to let the visuals speak and when to let the dialogue shine. I didn’t set out to make a homage, of course; instead, I focused on blending a dramatic, high-stakes criminal story with my comfort zone—performance-driven comedy and dialogue.
How would you define that specific tone?
I like to push comedy as far as possible without losing believability. I’m fascinated by real-life people who seem almost too bizarre to be real, and I wanted to capture that here. The tone is about pushing these comic characters to their limits while keeping their actions grounded, without doing things just for the sake of a joke. Of course, in moments of darkness, people tend to crack wise, so I wanted to reflect that. This show is more rooted than my previous work, which has been more absurdist or network-style comedy. Here, everything stems from the characters, and I wanted to maintain empathy for them throughout.
The central comedic premise of the show revolves around spray tan. What makes that premise so rich for storytelling?
Spray tan is a vanity product, but it also serves as a metaphor for the characters. Martin and Vicki are trying to reinvent themselves, much like the product promises to do. It’s a subtle parallel—they’re selling a product that gives people false confidence while they’re struggling to maintain their own facades. We didn’t hit the subtext too hard, but it’s there, adding depth.
Ex-rugby player Willie Mason co-stars as an enforcer with a soft heart in ‘Sunny Nights’
Stan
Without giving too much away, how does the series build over the course of eight episodes?
Martin and Vicki, despite their best efforts, sink deeper into trouble and have to step further out of their comfort zone to get themselves out of it. They find themselves in worlds they’re not familiar with, which leads to some genuinely dramatic and even scary moments. But the comedy comes from how they react to these situations—often laughing about them the next day or even in the moment. The humor is mostly derived from the characters and their interactions rather than setup jokes or punchlines. It’s very much about the dialogue and the small, fine-tuned moments.
How so?
For example, during rehearsals, D’Arcy started doing this thing where she’d flick Will’s character in the nuts out of frustration, like an annoying sibling. Will would recoil and say, “Come on, we’re brother and sister!” It was a small, improvised moment, but it felt so true. There was also a great bit with Willie Mason, an ex-rugby league player, where D’Arcy does the same thing, and he looks at her and says, “Aren’t you brother and sister? What are you doing touching your brother like that? It’s not right!” Those little moments, which came from the actors, added so much.
You spent over a decade working in Hollywood before returning to Australia. Was that a result of the growing opportunities in the Australian industry?
Absolutely. This show feels like the culmination of everything I learned in the U.S. I moved to America because I wanted to work full-time in comedy, not just do commercials or a few episodes a year. Working on shows like “New Girl” was like attending an American film school—I got to watch other directors and learn from them. Coming back to Australia, I wanted to bring that experience home and make something that could compete internationally. This show was an attempt to blend what I learned in America with Australian talent and storytelling.
Australia has emerged as a major production hub, especially during the pandemic. Do you think “Sunny Nights” could be emblematic of a new wave of Australian shows that blend local and international talent?
I hope so. Since I first got to L.A., I’ve noticed that actors are now more open to working in different countries. This shift is due to a variety of reasons, including political ones—many people in America don’t mind leaving for a while now — and so I do hope this show can act as a calling card for Sydney.
We’ve tried to showcase a broad spectrum of the city, moving around to give a real sense of place. Plus, the crew here was incredibly invested, and everyone was excited to tell this story. We had to be – because if we gave Will and D’Arcy a bad time, they’d run home, and everyone, “Don’t shoot in Australia!” I love working in America, and I also like I love making stuff in Australia, so being able to mix those two voices is extraordinarily exciting. If we can create a positive experience for international talent, it will only attract more.
Interestingly, the series never does become a fish-out-of-water type thing.
As someone who travels between America and Australia quite a bit, I really don’t think our countries are so alien. Honestly, we’re really not that far apart in many respects! Joking about all our differences would have just felt like a wasted opportunity in lieu of something much funnier.
