Vancouver odd couple spins comedic gold out of unexpected pregnancy
He's a straight filmmaker; she's a lesbian artist, and together, they're having a baby
It's a cliché that truth is stranger than fiction, but this Vancouver couple is no cliché.
Local filmmaker Joel McCarthy and artist Rachel Kirkpatrick are the co-creators of the locally-produced web series, "Inconceivable," which was recently awarded a $50,000 grant by Storyhive, a Telus-sponsored initiative that awards grants to emerging content creators in Western Canada. .
And they're not just co-creators of a web series, they're also the co-creators of a soon-to-be-born baby.
But here's the thing: 25-year-old McCarthy is a straight dude, and 25-year-old Kirkpatrick is an out-and-proud lesbian.
We decided to take a crazy road that not many millenials seem to want to take these days.- Joel McCarthy
The couple sat down with Stephen Quinn on CBC's The Early Edition to talk about how it all came to be.
"Joel and I met at one of his movies ... we met outside the liquor store afterwards, and uh, ended up hanging out in the park afterwards," Kirkpatrick explained.
"We kind of hit it off. It felt like we were very similar people, but it was not the night I was expecting to have."
"I thought this girl was really cool … and then we had a nice, little surprise and found out that she was pregnant," McCarthy laughed.
An unexpected pregnancy
The pregnancy was definitely unexpected, Kirkpatrick added.
"If anything, I expected to turkey-baster-method it with some chick at some point and the whole plan would be fairly mindful."
Instead, Kirkpatrick found herself at 24 years old having a baby with a "dude."
There were obstacles: like how a baby would affect their careers, and where they would get the financial resources to raise the child.
"At 24, I have 10 years of potential child-bearing. Am I gonna have a kid within the next 10 years? Is that actually going to happen? Would I just end up focusing on my career and never getting there?" Kirkpatrick wondered.
But the pair decided to take a chance and raise the baby together.
"It was decision that we really thought a lot about, and we decided to take a crazy road that not many millenials seem to want to take these days," McCarthy said.
'Omigosh, we're living in a comedy'
After a while, he realized their journey was ripe for comedic film treatment.
"Everyone was just so fascinated [because] it's an experience that not many people that we know are going through ... Omigosh, we're living in a comedy."
The duo decided to pitch their idea to the web series competition organized by Storyhive.
They were awarded $10,000 to develop a pilot, and then went on to win the grand prize of $50,000 to create a full season.
In the meantime, their baby — a boy — is due in mid-September.
Kirkpatrick and McCarthy are excited for what comes next.
"Life is a crazy thing that you have very little control over," McCarthy said.
With files from The Early Edition
To listen to the interview, click on the link labelled How an unplanned pregnancy and an unlikely couple spawned a hilarious web series