Several months ago my friend, and favourite creative, Lucas Jones got me to follow an instagram account, set up to see how fast a fake 'relationship goals' page could take off. It was an experiment, a set up, the start of a larger project by Think Eden Media, a multi-platform creative think tank, set up by Lucas, Sorcha Garavan, Shean Williams, Chris Gray, Sidney Turner.

Lucas finally revealed to me a couple weeks back that the instagram page belonged to the fictional characters in the debut web series on Think Eden, titled 'goals'. I was blessed enough to be able to see the first episode and oh my god. I'm so excited and captivated by these characters. The episode was full of suspense and question marks about who these people are and what's underlying in their love, while also keeping the glamour and idealism of the recognisable #instacouple.

After the release of the trailer, I chatted to Lucas about Goals, love, social media and media in general...

Tell me a bit about how the series came out? Where did the idea come from?

‘GOALS’ came about purely on the back of a conversation with one of my creative partners/dearest friend Sorcha Garavan. We were having coffee, talking about how mad it is that a lot of people of our generation are essentially living double lives; The virtual, online avatar version of you, showcasing the highlights vs. the real, normal human being version of you, who has challenges and problems and insecurities. Not excluding ourselves from that realisation, we felt drawn to create something that explored that dichotomy. How even though many of us are hyper-aware of the fact that social media exacerbates those insecurities, we still open and close Instagram a hundred million times a day. After we’d drafted a couple of episodes, we took it to our other creative partner/spiritual guide/third Think Eden family member, Shean Williams, and started putting plans into action to make it a reality.

Do you think social media and the romanticising of ‘#relationshipgoals’, or really just peoples general lives, is a lot more dangerous than it seems on the surface? Or is it villainised a bit?

I think the distorted perception of other people’s lives and the constant, instantaneous access to seeing the carefully edited bits of someone’s day-to-day life can definitely have a negative effect on people. Especially if you’re at an age where you’re still trying to figure out who you are. I think we all subconsciously compare ourselves to other people on some level. It’s kind of human nature, it’s how you have a point of reference for what is considered ‘normal’. And if you constantly see photos of people who look a certain way, appearing to be ‘living the dream’ with thousands of likes, you’re bound to start feeling a little inadequate within yourself or your relationship, when in reality you’re absolutely perfectly fine. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the amount young people suffering with depression and anxiety has risen dramatically alongside the rise in social media popularity. Having said that, I don’t think the people who post said ‘perfect’ photos are doing any wrong necessarily. Everybody wants to be liked and to feel good about their appearance. I just think there is a balance to be maintained with how seriously social media should be taken.

How do you feel about TV as a medium in comparison to film?

With the success of Netflix and online streaming, it’s quite literally the golden age of Television. The Netflix original ‘The Crown’ had a budget of £100 million for ten episodes. - £100 million!! - And it makes sense. A TV series gives the audience more time to fall in love with the characters and flesh out each and every little subplot. There’s so much room for nuance in TV these days; Look at Breaking Bad for example. Personally I prefer film. The cinema is my favourite place in the world. It feels like visiting another universe for a while. But I definitely understand why a lot of people will binge watch an entire series. Years worth of episodes right there in your pocket, it’s incredible.

Even from just watching the trailer and first episode, I’m so invested in these characters. Was it difficult to write captivating yet relatable characters, or did that just kind of happen?

Firstly, thank you for the kind words. And to be honest, I don’t think it’s ever been too difficult for us to write for any of the characters because we understand them so deeply. I mean, they’re not too far removed from ourselves and our friends (If not a little more extreme). Our main focus has always just been honesty. Just to present Art and Tess (the lead characters) as truthfully as we can and hope that, given the current zeitgeist, people will understand.

How do you feel about the presentation of love on social media?

There’s been some major, MAJOR, benefits of social media in terms of the presentation of what ‘love’ means. The platform and connectivity that social media has provided for the LGBT community being possibly the most beautiful of all things. But then there is a side to social media that seems to glorify the superficial aspects of a relationship, such as showcasing Valentines Day gifts or posting photos of your partner being the means to validate your love. That kind of thing. It’s a tough one. I think it goes back to maintaining balance in the understanding of what really matters and what doesn’t.

What made you decide to start Think Eden Media?

Think Eden Media was born very simply from conversations starting with ‘I had this idea for a thing..’ - After a while, having realised that we’ve been blessed to be surrounded by some of the most talented people I’ve ever met, we collectively came to the conclusion of ‘Let’s just make that thing? And make it the way we want to make it.’ And so we have and will continue to do so.

Quick shout out; Our team is made up of Sorcha Garavan, Shean Williams, Chris Gray, Sidney Turner and myself.

What would you see as relationship ‘goals’? What is your idea of the ideal love?

For me, I think the ideal love is very simply a relationship built on honesty, trust and respect for one another.  If you have that down, there’s only really room for growth between the two of you.. That’s goals. And I suppose also to super fancy the other person.

What do you think is the most romantic story in the world? And what story do you think is over romanticised?

In film, I think the relationship between David and Sofia in Vanilla Sky is the most romantic story ever. They only properly meet once for a few hours, they never sleep together and they only kiss once, yet they both know that they’ll never know a love so real ever again. Ohhhhh, it’s beautiful and tragic.

Most over romanticised is that couple from 50 Shades of Gray; Like, in the film (which I unfortunately saw) she’s literally the victim of an emotionally and physically abusive relationship. He’s a stalker, he manipulates her into all sorts of awful things. I felt a bit sick watching that; I don’t understand it at all.

What do you think is the future of TV and films? Do you think youtube/social media/the internet is really changing the face of art? And is that necessarily a negative thing?

I’m excited about it. Film/TV and visual storytelling will live forever. It’s the most human thing. We need it. I just hope that cinemas don’t ever become extinct in place of streaming. I don’t think they will, it’s still a pretty special place for most people. And the internet has definitely changed the face of art but only in how it’s consumed; it’s instant, it’s easier, anyone with a Smartphone can create something artistic if they want - Instagram is kind of an art platform in a lot of ways - but art itself will never change. Art is art. It just evolves.

What is it about films/moving pictures that you love?

It’s the fact that you can live so many lives within your own life through watching films. We all put ourselves in the shoes of the character experiencing the story. When you watch a Marvel film, you’re a superhero for two and a half hours. When you watch a beautiful love story, you’re in love and then heartbroken over people who have never even existed. It’s that powerful. (I say ‘you’, you guys do that too right? It’s not just me, right? RIGHT?!’

Why this story? Why these characters? Why do you think this issue is important now?

Because social media has revolutionised the way we connect with each other on a day to day basis and created a platform for every voice to be heard, and every image to be shared. But the underlying issues that come with the ability to mould ourselves into any image we like and present our lives as a source of entertainment for the rest of the world, for some, go hand in hand with the development of self-disassociation. A quick scroll through Instagram or Tumblr gives a clear indication into the mind set of how a lot of us fee Tumblr especially; Romanticised photos of self-harm, macabre images glamorising suicide, celebrity obsessed hysteria, and the 4th most popular trend on Tumblr- ‘Love’. There is an undeniable sense of longing and loneliness surrounding certain corners of the internet, and in a world where being a ‘YouTuber’ or being ‘Instagram famous’ is a viable career option, we have to ask ourselves, why does it all seem so attractive? What are we trying to find? What are trying to escape from?

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