Lightning Point

Did You Know?

• The series premiered on TeenNick in the United States under its international title, Alien Surf Girls on 29 May 2012.
• Co-star Jessica Green confirmed on Twitter (now known as X) in January 2013 that the series would not return for a second season.
• Philippa Coulthard was cast as Amber Mitchell while completing Year 12 at Hillbrook Anglican School in Brisbane.

Production

Lightning Point was announced in late 2010 by Jonathan M. Shiff Productions as a "retro surfing sci-fi" series. Filming began on 8 November 2010 at Village Roadshow Studios on Queensland's Gold Coast, with additional location filming at Byron Bay, New South Wales. Hundreds of teenagers nationally auditioned for the lead roles. The series was filmed in 2011, consisting of 26 half-hour episodes, shot by director of photography Zenon Sawko. The series launched the careers of several young Australian actors, including Philippa Coulthard, Lucy Fry, and Jessica Green.

Characters

Amber Mitchell has lived her whole life in Lightning Point, keeping things pretty normal until two alien girls from the planet Lumina, Zoey and Kiki, show up asking for her help. Amber tries to keep them under the radar, but they keep drawing attention. She lives with her mom, a police sergeant, and their dog Piper. Amber is close with her friend Luca, though she doesn't share his fixation on aliens, and she spends her time teaching younger kids to surf. Zoey is sharp, fearless, and quick to act, which makes fitting in on Earth tough. She likes being in charge, a challenge on a strange planet, and loves pushing herself as a daring surfer. She quickly catches the eye of local surf star Brandon, which makes his girlfriend Madison her first enemy on Earth. Kiki is fresh to both Lightning Point and Earth. She's gentle and curious, drawn to nature and surfing, and eager to learn what being human really means. She misses her home planet Lumina, but as she gets closer to Amber's best friend Luca, she starts thinking staying on Earth might not be so bad. Luca is something of an outsider in town. He doesn't surf, and his strong interest in aliens makes him a target for Brandon and his crew. Amber is the only one who really gets him, since they've been best friends and neighbors since childhood. When Zoey and Kiki arrive, Luca picks up on strange signs of alien activity and becomes set on finding out the truth. As he and Kiki grow closer, his belief that aliens are real only gets stronger. Madison sees herself as the top girl in Lightning Point, so she's not happy when two talented surfers like Kiki and Zoey show up. Used to getting her way, she will do whatever it takes to make Zoey look bad when she suspects Brandon is interested in her.

Episodes

A compilation film highlighting the series' main storyline aired on Nickelodeon Australia on February 24, 2013. The show can be bought on Amazon Prime Video, where it is listed as Alien Surf Girls, and on Apple TV. In Germany, it streams through ZDF’s on-demand services ZDF select and ZDFtivi via Amazon Prime Video Channels. The complete series is free to watch on YouTube, with official playlists available in English, German, and other languages.