A romantic comedy with serious balls
Has an Australian filmmaker finally cracked the rarely attempted romantic comedy genre? Colin Delaney visits the set of Not Suitable for Children to find out if Oscar nominated first time director Peter Templeman’s flick about testicular cancer has the balls to make it big at the box office.
A mismatched collection of twenty somethings loiter in front of a large old house in Eveleigh, south of Sydney’s CBD. Goths, surfers, hipsters and stoners make up the group. Inside it’s shoulder-to-shoulder with revellers filling hallways and stairwells. The event is not just thrown together either – flashing lights and disco balls suggest the members of this household take their parties seriously. And the amount of drugs and alcohol circulating certainly deem the environment unsuitable for children. Read more »
For & Against: Can a gig on community television lead to bigger and better things?
FOR: Jess Harris, co-creator, writer and star of ABC2’s comedy series Twentysomething
Josh Schmidt (Twentysomething co-creator) and I wanted to get into the industry but we didn’t really know the gap between having an idea and making it a job. We knew about community station Channel 31 because our friend, Ryan Shelton, had done a show on 31 called Radio Karate. We decided to make a series about being in your twenties, struggling and not really knowing what you’re doing with your life.
It took us about two years to finish the six episodes and we didn’t get in contact with Channel 31 until the very end. We called them up and said, “we’ve got six episodes here of a show we would love to air on your channel”. We had to pay an airing fee so we got RMITV, RMIT University’s media production group, to help us out by sponsoring the show. Read more »
Q&A: Tropfest’s John Polson
When Tropfest creator John Polson isn’t busy taking the festival to the world, he’s flat out with a host of film and television projects. We ask him about Sydney’s 20th Tropfest, his thoughts on sponsorship and Sydney I Love You.
Did you ever expect Tropfest to become as big as it has?
No, I had no idea. I didn’t know it would last to the second year. It started as a short film screening and I ran with the ball. I never expected it to have the scope that it does in Australia or any of the other places. Read more »
High summit of cinema?
More than a decade after the controversial film’s release, Bob Ellis considers whether Geoffrey Wright’s Romper Stomper, starring Russell Crowe, has stood the test of time.
It was nine years before Tampa, four years before Hanson, but there it was, ugly, prophetic, violent, Romper Stomper. ‘This is not your country’. A frankly Hitlerist gang of tattooed thugs going after Asians with baseball bats, bricks and knives in Footscray alleys, defending Australia’s racial and cultural purity. ‘Won’t let what happened to the Abos happen to us,’ says Hando, the headshaven pack leader, urging his eager swarm of war-painted dysfunctionals on, despising pasta as ‘wog food’ and smashing up Japanese cars, pushing back the yellow hordes with Howardite gravitas, we will decide who comes here, and tribal pride. He may lose this war against the unceasing invader, but he will give it his best shot. Russell Crowe in the role has the moral force of Brando, with the crisp, succinct charisma common to all great warrior-leaders. Read more »
Inside the celebrity boardroom bitch-fest
With the grand finale airing tonight, Nine’s end-of-year ratings push has been led five nights a week by the FremantleMedia-produced Celebrity Apprentice. Georgina Pearson visits the set during the show’s six-week Sydney shoot to find out how the series came together.
Celebrity Apprentice is an interesting concept; one that perhaps, on paper, could be deemed a marketing nightmare. For how can you take B-grade Australian celebs and replicate the hugely successful multi-billion dollar Donald Trump-helmed hit?
The crew shoot a challenge episode
For the unfamiliar, the premise is fairly simple: 12 celebrity contestants, each vying for a final prize of $100,000 for their chosen charity. Entrepreneur and founder of wealth management company Yellow Brick Road, Mark Bouris, presides as the ultimate boss. Guided by ACP Magazines’ Deborah Thomas and Bouris’ long time right-hand man Brad Seymour, Bouris puts the contestants through their paces with a series of team challenges before gradually eliminating them in a boardroom showdown.
Initially created in the US by Mark Burnett Productions and billionaire real-estate tycoon Trump, The Apprentice shot to success in 2004 and has since spawned over 20 global imitations. Down under, FremantleMedia produces the franchise as part of a larger deal with Burnett that gives them the local rights to all of the producing powerhouse’s formats.
In 2009 series one of The Apprentice Australia aired on Channel Nine concluding with Bouris hiring auctioneer Andrew Morello. While the first incarnation never managed to crack the magical million mark in the ratings, the celebrity-driven version is clearly faring better. Read more »
Man on fire: Burning Man’s Jonathan Teplitzky
Burning Man, Jonathan Teplitzky’s third cinematic offering, proves a small budget Australian film can stand tall on a global stage. Georgina Pearson spoke with Teplitzky about the film’s creation.
Within our society there is a common underlying thread. That unspoken C word, only ever briefly discussed or tentatively skirted during dinner party conversation. Despite a growing abundance of people living with or affected by cancer, it still remains the elephant in the room. Jonathan Teplitzky’s, Burning Man does no such tiptoeing.
Aussiewood: our guide to Australia’s film studios
Australia now boasts four main production studios with facilities of international calibre. Set to take on the Hollywood big league, Georgina Pearson gives a brief snapshot of each studio in its current state.
In order to compete with such universal giants, Australia’s studios must offer that little bit extra – a uniqueness not found anywhere else. While perhaps considerably smaller in comparison to the backlots of Hollywood, Australia’s absolute landscape versatility has proved to be a substantial draw-card.
Tech review: 1D vs 7D
Canon 1D
Michael Rymer opted to shoot Face to Face on the Canon 1D. Encore managing editor Brooke Hemphill took both the 1D and 7D on a shoot out, where did her vote land? Read on.
Readers of past product reviews will recall my love for the Canon 5D which has only somewhat diminished in recent months after a three-day shoot in the snow singlehandedly playing camera and sound girl with the aforementioned camera. The whole process of lugging separate audio equipment tends to become tiresome especially with all those battery changes and memory cards to keep track of. But there are many other Canon DSLR cameras out there and I’ve now had the pleasure of playing with both the 7D and the 1D. Since everyone on the interwebs is doing it, I thought I’d do a little comparison review for you.
Navigating The Pirates
All independent filmmakers dream of seeing their film on the big screen. Seeing it appear on a pirate site first can mean financial death. However, becoming a ‘Filmmaker2.0’ will arm a director or producer against pirates, to turn a torrent into a revenue stream. Colin Delaney reports.
It’s the 21 Century filmmaker’s worst nightmare. Read more »
Beaconsfield Telemovie: Coming up for air
For 15 days in 2006, the world watched the Beaconsfield mine disaster unfold in the media. This time, the team behind Beaconsfield: The Telemovie go 925 metres below the surface to truly reveal the claustrophobic terror. Colin Delaney goes on location, to the coalface.
Entering the site, it’s pitch black and damp. Small white spotlights illuminate the darkness but only so far. Moving closer to the source it’s clear – the lights are headlamps on the workers, also dressed in day-glo vests. It’s ‘safety first’ down here and just as a mine should feel, but Encore is on a film set.