Firstborn
Original documentary series concept + trailer
What happens when becoming a mother changes your sense of who you are?
Created in collaboration with Renae Turner and Tam Nguyen, Firstborn explores the emotional, personal and cultural experience of becoming a mother for the first time.
At its heart is the transformation of identity that accompanies early motherhood. Love, relationships, expectations and independence all take on new meaning. The vision is an intimate, honest series that makes room for very different experiences, with warmth and humour alongside the uncertainty.
A year of listening
To develop the concept trailer, we filmed three new mothers over the course of a year.
Returning over time allowed us to follow their changing experiences as they settled into motherhood. Early expectations gave way to everyday discoveries, and each conversation built on the last.
That continuity also gave the women time to get to know us. Developing trust was central to the filmmaking, creating space for them to speak openly about experiences that could be joyful, complicated, deeply personal or still difficult to put into words.
The vision for Firstborn
The series concept grew around the idea that there is much to recognise in one another’s experiences, even when our lives look very different.
Firstborn makes space for women to describe motherhood in their own words, including the feelings and questions that can be hard to voice. Its ambition is to create a sense of recognition and connection, giving audiences room to laugh, reflect and feel understood.
The concept trailer brings that vision to the screen through the openness of three women who let us share a year of profound change.
Trust shapes the story
Filming in someone’s home during their first year of motherhood requires sensitivity and flexibility. There is a baby to care for, a household finding its rhythm and a person navigating enormous change.
Our approach centred on listening, taking time and being responsive to the women we filmed. The relationship mattered throughout, allowing each mother to share her experience at her own pace.
Intimate interviews and observational footage brought those conversations into the context of daily life. Small gestures, interrupted routines, moments of closeness and unexpected laughter became part of the story.