Who are The Candle Wasters?
Photographs by Jen Smith
Elsie Bollinger, Minnie Grace, Sally Bollinger, Robbie Nicol, and Claris Jacobs
The Candle Wasters are four young women and a token dude from New Zealand, who create fierce, funny, feminist web series. They made their first webseries Nothing Much To Do in 2014, and have gone on to create Lovely Little Losers, and Bright Summer Night, and Happy Playland . These series have had over 5 million views and are watched all over the world. They recently received NZ On Air funding for a new webseries and webcomic called Tragicomic which will be released in 2018.
The name ‘The Candle Wasters’ is derived from a Much Ado About Nothing quote which refers to people who stay up late at night wasting candles. Claris, Elsie, Minnie, and Sally met at Western Springs College in Auckland, New Zealand. They began making webseries when the youngest of the group was just 17. Robbie Nicol joined the writing team in 2016. Elsie, Sally, and Robbie are also behind the ever popular political satire White Man Behind A Desk.
The Candle Wasters believe in creating content for the community they are a part of. This community is young, mostly female, it’s feminist, it’s queer, it’s anxious about the state of the world, and it’s excited to be making art that connects with individuals across the globe.
The name ‘The Candle Wasters’ is derived from a Much Ado About Nothing quote which refers to people who stay up late at night wasting candles. Claris, Elsie, Minnie, and Sally met at Western Springs College in Auckland, New Zealand. They began making webseries when the youngest of the group was just 17. Robbie Nicol joined the writing team in 2016. Elsie, Sally, and Robbie are also behind the ever popular political satire White Man Behind A Desk.
The Candle Wasters believe in creating content for the community they are a part of. This community is young, mostly female, it’s feminist, it’s queer, it’s anxious about the state of the world, and it’s excited to be making art that connects with individuals across the globe.