Aunty Donna

**Aunty Donna** are a comedy group of six members that are part of the self-owned company Haven't You Done Well Productions.

## Members

The main members of Aunty Donna are:

* Broden Kelly - performing member and writer,
* Mark Bonanno - performing member and writer,
* Zachary Ruane - performing member and writer,
* Max Miller - main director,
* Sam Lingham - head writer and director,
* Tom Armstrong - musician.

Aunty Donna also had two former members; Adrian Dean and Joe Kosky.

## Influences

The group have cited Monty Python, Shaun Micaillef, Jim Carrey, Weird Al Yankovic and Tim and Eric as their comedic influences, plus many more.

## Biography

Adrian Dean and Broden Kelly met in high school. They went onto the University of Ballarat Arts Academy where the rest of the group met. Adrian was in his third year at the uni and Mark Bonanno was in his first, while the rest were in their second year. Mark became closer to the group during auditions for a university play where Zach got him to read the other lines as energetically as he could to rile the auditionees up, and decided to actually cast Mark in the play after seeing him do this.

When most of the group had finished uni in 2011, they got together to make comedy. They had never written comedy before, but enrolled in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with their show Aunty Donna In Pantsuits. They called in friends Tom Armstrong (who had been the lead in the play) and Max Miller to help make music and videos, and rehearsed in rented library meeting rooms. It was allegedly at this point that they chose the name "Aunty Donna," however this is debated. Their show was nominated for the festival’s *Golden Gibbo Award*.

They made several YouTube videos to show to producers in the hope of getting a TV show. One of these gained 100,000 views overnight, prompting them to continue with this as a career.

The group hit a wall with the weight of part-time jobs and fatigue, and this led to Adrian leaving the group. This did, however, mean that everyone still in the group was now 100% committed to the project.

From then on, the ABC asked for the group to make videos and they toured San Francisco and the Edinburgh Fringe, funded by a tea towel money raising initiative.

By 2016, the group had built a fanbase, but were still relying on part-time work. They attempted *Aunty Donna: The Pilot*, which was not continued into a series. Instead, they developed the web series 1999, funded by Screen Australia and Google. They signed with a touring team which enabled their tours to get bigger and better.

Able to gain a part-time wage for about four days of the week, they had more time to make more videos and the Aunty Donna Podcast. They developed a second pilot for Stan, *Chaperones*, which was not picked up either. They decided from then on to focus on one project at a time so as not to spread themselves too thin.

They were then able to gain enough income to make Aunty Donna a full-time gig, and broke into into the US market. Netflix executives came to see their shows there. In 2018, they released their debut album, The Album, and later went on a Glennridge Secondary College Tour.

They formed their own production company, Haven't You Done Well Productions to make their own stuff and give other comedians a chance to make comedy. They also made the web series for Glennridge Secondary College, and were given the go-ahead for a Netflix series.

In November 2020, they released Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun, their new Netflix show, to a massive positive response.

They have since gone on to develop an award winning YouTube channel, garnering over 498 thousand subscribers and 96 million views. Currently, they are performing The Magical Dead Cat Tour all around Australia.

## Accolades

### Awards

* **2018** Aunty Donna Awards *Best YouTube Channel*
* **2018** ARIA Music Awards *Best Comedy Release*
* **2016** *Director’s Choice Award*, Sydney Comedy Festival
* **2016** *Best Ensemble*, Melbourne Web Fest
* **2013** *Best Ensemble Sketch Comedy*, LA Webfest
* **2013** *Best Production*, LA Webfest
* **2012** *People’s Choice Award*, Melbourne Fringe Festival

### Nominations

* **2021** AACTA Awards *Best Narrative Comedy Series*
* **2019** AACTA Awards *Best Online Drama or Comedy*
* **2017** Helpmann Awards *Best Comedy Performer*
* **2014** *Comics Choice*, Edinburgh Fringe Festival
* **2012** *Golden Gibbo*, Melbourne International Comedy Festival