WA Footy Drama Yeah the Boys Set For Screen Adaptation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WA FOOTY DRAMA YEAH THE BOYS SET FOR SCREEN ADAPTATION
Perth, 22 June 2026 — Western Australia is set to take centre stage in a raw new television drama about football, sex, shame and the first gay male AFL player.
Deadset Pictures has secured the screen rights to Yeah the Boys, the acclaimed adult novel by award-winning Western Australian author Holden Sheppard, and is developing it as a premium international television drama with WA at its centre.
Set across contemporary Perth, Northbridge, Geraldton and the world of WA football, Yeah the Boys follows star full-forward Kade “Hammer” Hammersmith, whose tightly controlled life begins to collapse when he publicly attacks Pride Round while hiding the truth about his own sexuality.
When blackmail threats pull him back towards Zeke and Charlie, the estranged schoolmates who know what he has spent years trying to bury, the story becomes a funny, filthy and bruising drama about gay men, masculinity, friendship, football culture and the cost of staying hidden too long.
Deadset Pictures is developing the series for an international audience with a clear ambition to make Western Australia central to the production: its locations, crew base, creative talent, football culture, gay community and sense of place.
The series is being developed as a Western Australian production in the fullest sense: shot across Perth and regional WA, built with local crew and suppliers, and powered by the creative talent already working in the state.
For Deadset Pictures, the ambition is to put Perth on screen with the kind of scale and confidence usually reserved for Sydney, Melbourne or international cities. Yeah the Boys gives WA something sharper than scenery: Northbridge at night, footy grounds under lights, Geraldton heat, suburban secrecy, gay spaces, coastal roads, locker rooms, clubrooms and the particular pressure of a city where everyone is close enough to know your business.
A production of this scale would also bring millions of dollars in direct screen expenditure into Western Australia, supporting local crews, cast, suppliers, locations, accommodation, hospitality, transport and post-production services.
It is a chance to show international audiences a version of Perth they rarely see. Not the postcard. Not the empty beach. A contemporary city with sex, humour, danger, class, shame, friendship, violence, loyalty and a football culture that shapes how men perform and hide. Filming the series in WA would keep the economic benefits in the state while exporting a story that could only have come from here.
Deadset Pictures co-founder Steve Pennells said the project was a chance to put a contemporary Western Australian story on screen with the scale, specificity and confidence it deserves.
“Holden has written the kind of book that demands to be seen,” Pennells said.
“It’s funny, filthy, wounded, political and completely specific. Perth is not a backdrop here. Northbridge is not a backdrop. Football is not a backdrop. Sex is not a backdrop. They’re all part of how these men survive, lie, hurt each other and try to become honest.
“This is a story that could only come out of Western Australia. The heat, the distance, the footy culture, the country-town history, the gay spaces, the pressure of being seen and not seen — all of that is baked into the book.
“The exciting thing now is the chance to build a series that uses WA talent, WA locations and WA creative energy to tell it properly.”
Deadset Pictures co-founder Dan Bennett said he was thrilled to help bring Sheppard’s novel to screen.
“What Holden has achieved with this book is profound and life-changing for many,” Bennett said.
“Deadset Pictures is deeply honoured to be involved, hand-in-hand, with Holden. LGBTQIA+ relationships are having a moment in mainstream culture in a way they never have before. This story is not only timely but also desperately, deeply important.
“The chance to shoot and work in Perth is the icing on the cake — showcasing the majesty of the environment, culture and uniqueness that is too often underrepresented on screen.”
Sheppard, who grew up in Geraldton and whose earlier novel Invisible Boys was adapted for television as a Stan Original Series, will serve as Executive Producer on the adaptation.
“I am so stoked to be working with Deadset Pictures on this project,” Sheppard said.
“I was absolutely blown away with Steve and Dan’s vision for Yeah the Boys and I knew immediately my book was in the right hands to be adapted authentically in this cultural moment.
“I am so grateful that the characters of Zeke, Charlie and Hammer have received so much love from Australian audiences and I hope they’ll be as excited as I am to see this chapter of their lives on screen.
“It’s always been important to me that screen adaptations of my books are filmed locally in WA using our WA talent and locations, and I am so chuffed that I didn’t even need to ask Deadset Pictures for this — they were already on the same page.
“WA’s urban and gay spaces will be showcased like never before, and I’m so pumped to see it.”
Deadset Pictures secured the screen rights in a deal brokered by Gaby Naher at The Naher Agency.