Why is Guy Montgomery crossing the ditch a big deal?
It’s big news when a Kiwi television format and its star are both exported across the Tasman and that is exactly what Guy Montgomery and local production house Kevin & Co. have achieved.
In a few
Guy Montgomery is going to teach Aussies how to spell - Spy
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Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee will premiere in Australia in a few weeks.
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“On top of that for the ABC in Australia to want in on the action, it feels like a dream coming true inside of a pre-existing dream, it’s more than I ever could have hoped for.”
Grey Lynn-based Kevin & Co. managing director Cam Bakker and his team went to Sydney to pitch the show with Montgomery late last year.
Like many Kiwi comedians, Montgomery has become a big deal in Australia and is a huge drawcard at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival year on year.
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“We’ve found the Australian and New Zealand comedy senses are very similar, and you see that through Australian comedians traditionally having a big fanbase here in New Zealand, with the inverse now true,” says Bakker.
“New Zealand comedians in Australia have never been more popular and there are a number now with Australian agents and representation.”
Kevin & Co. have a long and ever-growing list of hit shows across New Zealand television. They adapted the UK version of Taskmaster UK for TVNZ in New Zealand and for Channel 10 in Australia, so producing Spelling Bee for the ABC was an easy fit for the company.
“We’re delivering our fifth season of Taskmaster NZ for TVNZ, and the third season of Taskmaster Australia will be playing on Channel 10 later this year,” Bakker reveals.
Montgomery and the Kevin & Co. team recorded the series at ABC’s studios in Sydney at the end of June, which Bakker says went extremely well.
“We have high hopes that Australian audiences will get behind the show and tune in.
“This is a bespoke show for Australia with a number of brand-new games designed specifically for an Australian viewer.”
Montgomery, inspired by the Scripps National Spelling Bee, began hosting spelling bees with other comedians over Zoom and broadcast live on YouTube during lockdowns in 2020.
In 2022, Montgomery took the spelling bee to the Melbourne Festival, performing four shows with a panel of Kiwi and Aussie comics, including our own Urzila Carlson.
He returned to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF), with sell-out shows last year and followed that up premiering the show in Sydney.
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This year at the MICF, Montgomery hosted the Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow and is already a familiar face on Aussie TV, featuring on several of their panel shows.
Carlson is already popular with viewers across the ditch and has joined the panel of A-List Australian comedians featuring on the Aussie Spelling Bee.
Kevin & Co. are a shining hope of what’s possible in the everchanging television landscape. Bakker says the dream is to keep making shows that work for a New Zealand audience, and also have an appeal in overseas markets.
“We’d love to help many more Kiwi creatives take their ideas to the world.”
Ricardo Simich is the Herald’s Spy Editor. Based in Auckland he covers all roads that lead to popular culture.
