New television series, Grace Beside Me, premieres tonight

Was lights, camera and action in Beaudesert and Boonah, as tv crews film their new teenage drama series

STARS: Tjiirdm McGuire, Kyliric Masella and Mairehau Grace are the leading actors in Grace Beside Me. Picture: Contributed

PARTS of the beautiful Scenic Rim will be broadcast to the entire country when a television show which was filmed here airs tonight.

Tv producers used buildings and landmarks from both Boonah and Beaudesert to create the fictional town of Laurel Dale, the setting for their new show Grace Beside Me.

Dena Curtis, who was one of the producers of the series, said the Scenic Rim offered many beautiful landscapes which they wanted to portray in the show.

"We started filming in July last year and filmed for a total of 11 weeks in Boonah, Beaudesert and the regional areas surrounding these two towns," she said.

"Beaudesert was a little too big for our fictional town, so that's why we decided to use a composite of it and Boonah.

"We used Beaudesert as our main shooting location, and we pretty much filmed all over town. We filmed a little at the Beaudesert Primary School, the park, and used a lot of the town's houses to make up Laurel Dale.

"In Boonah we used the council office and did lots of shots down the main street.

"We really enjoyed filming in the Scenic Rim because it was so beautiful.

"We also used a lot of local people as extras."

Director of photography Murray Lui on set. Picture: Contributed

Starring some of the best up and coming Australian actors, Grace Beside Me is a heart-warming series which follows the story of Fuzzy Mac and her mates.

Fuzzy Mac, played by Kyliric 'Kiki" Masella, wants to be an ordinary teenager and have fun with her friends. But when her ancestors have other plans and she keep seeing spirits, that's not so easy.

The 13 episode series combines the drama and fun of contemporary teenage life with magic realism.

For Kiki, this was her first major screen acting role. The Sydney teenager said this project was great a experience for her.

"I love everything about acting, but mostly being able to pretend you're someone else, feel like you're living a different life and experiencing things you wouldn't normally get to do," she said.

"I pretty much liked everything about working on set but especially doing scenes with the new friends I made, who also play my best friends on the show.

"We all became so close throughout the series."

She also appreciated the hospitality of residents who were thrilled to have camera crews filming in their home towns.

"On our first day in Beaudesert we were invited to be part of a welcome ceremony down by the river with local elders and their families," she said.

"I stayed in Beaudesert on the weekends. We would have dinner at the Beaudesert Hotel and play trivia with the locals. We were pretty terrible at trivia but we felt like we had become part of the local community after three months of filming."

In her spare time, she was able to explore this beautiful part of the world.

"I also went on a bush walk with Mai (who plays Tui in the show) around Tamborine Mountain and we went on the Tree Top Walk at Lamington National Park which was really beautiful and fun too."

Grace Beside Me is the first ever drama commission for National Indigenous Television Australia (NITV) and their first live-action drama co-commission with the ABC.

Grace Beside Me will premiere tonight on NITV Channel 34 at 7.30pm, and will be shown every Friday night afterwards.