In 2020, Private Function mega-fan and Swinburne University student Lauren Hester contacted Melbourne pub-punks Private Function via Instagram, requesting permission to use their track ‘Give War A Chance’ from their ARIA top ten album Whose Line Is It Anyway? for her final uni assessment piece.

The band sent her the track and promptly forgot about it. That was until Lauren sent the band over her final clip.

"We were completely blown away when we received Lauren's video," says Private Function drummer and video director Aidan McDonald. "I went to the same film school as Lauren 10 years ago, and I never made anything as good as this. I can’t believe she beat me to making a puppet PF clip."

Throughout pre-production, Hester incessantly hoarded cardboard and spent an extraordinary number of hours in front of YouTube, Play School and Sesame Street, learning how to make puppets from scratch and establishing how best to build the set and props.

The budding filmmaker spent hours handcrafting each puppet and musical instrument, and in collaboration with her production designer, constructed the entire set and props from scratch.

“Private Function are such a fun band and I always have the best time whenever I go to their shows, so I wanted to make something that reflected that specific brand of chaotic fun I experience whenever I see them perform – and puppets were the perfect way to achieve that,” says Hester.

“As a director, I wanted to take myself out of my comfort zone, and I’m glad I did. I’d never worked with puppets or puppeteers before, but it was such an amazing experience to work alongside such a passionate group of puppeteers and learn about this wonderful craft.”