Beyond Harry Potter: House of the Rising Sun
In this year’s Encore Power 50 list VFX company Rising Sun Pictures’ CEO Michael Taylor placed 38 courtesy of Hollywood blockbusting clients. Taylor tells Colin Delaney how thinking smaller will see him and RSP climb the extra 37 rungs.
Tech Diaries: GoPro’s Helmet Hero
Busy shooting in Cannes, between the odd champagne, Brooke Hemphill found the GoPro ideal for hands-free filming.
I’m currently sitting in the south of France – glass of champagne in hand – while my GoPro hangs over the edge of my villa balcony capturing still images of the Cannes street below.
Dive Another Day: Stunt performers hang tight
Stunt men and women are the go-to team for risk-taking. But is this school of hard knocks doing it tough in the industry. Georgina Pearson reports.
As humans, we have a natural fascination with danger. Since Buster Keaton emerged unscathed from a house collapsing around him (Steamboat Bill Jr) we have been unable to tear ourselves from a thrilling action sequence, or a daring gunfight.
I Like Your Video: the rise of digital content
“The money’s still in TV” says Kai Hsing from the internet entertainment brand College Humor. Hungry Beast’s Dan Ilic embedded himself with three American online entertainment companies to discover the digital realm sure are giving old media a run for its depleted money.
The Ultimate Challenge – Available Light Camera Test
Writer/director Kate Dennis and DOP John Brawley shot six shorts with six available light locations on six different cameras. Ross Mitchell, post-production manager at Deluxe helped them in this adventure. This is their story.
US Wilfred premieres tonight; Renegade Films interview
“Wilfred was rejected by every television network twice,” Tony Rogers, director of the Renegade Film’s sitcom tells Encore. “I don’t know how many DVDs with dog collars we sent out, minimum of a hundred.”
Tonight the American version of the show, starring Jason Gann back in the dog suit (Aussie accent intact) and The Lord of the Ring’s Elijah Wood as his neighbour Ryan, airs on Eleven.
Director John Polson announces Sydney I Love You
Following in line with features, Paris Je T’Aime and New York, I Love You, John Polson has announced he, with Gary Hamilton (Arclight Films), will produce Sydney, I Love You – a collection of short films by some of Australia’s finest established and up and coming feature directors.
Speaking to Encore from New York, Polson said “the feature will involve 12 films, each eight to ten minutes long put together as one feature project.”
Film Festivals: Where they stand in the digital climate
Every year dozens of new film festivals pop up around the world, and Australia is no exception. Miguel Gonzalez asked Australia’s festival directors what the proliferation of these events mean to screen culture and the local film industry.
As the screen industry migrates to the digital world, there’s one experience that cannot yet be replicated online: the excitement of a film festival.
Sleeping Beauty opens today; Sydney Film Fest’s Q&A with Julia Leigh, Jane Campion and Margaret Pomeranz
Once there was a princess condemned by an evil fairy godmother to sleep for a hundred years. All that could wake her was the kiss of a prince strong and brave enough to enter the enchanted palace.
Julia Leigh’s version of Sleeping Beauty – a modern and controversial rendering of the tale – opens in cinemas nationally today.
“She’s not a traditional heroine that we walk every step of the way with,” explains Margaret Pomeranz at Sydney Film Festival’s Q&A session with Leigh and mentor Jane Campion. “It’s challenging to enter her world and follow her in it. You either like the mystery or feel frustrated that it doesn’t give an answer.”
A New Hope: Oranges and Sunshine
Thousands of disadvantaged British children were promised oranges and sunshine when they were deported to Australia in the decades after WWII. A new co-production is now bringing attention to their once forgotten story.
The film chronicles the journey of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker who in 1986 brought public attention to a little-known Government program that saw up to 150,000 British children shipped to Australia (and other Commonwealth countries), often without the parents’ knowledge. Humphreys established the Child Migrants Trust to help them reclaim their identities and, when possible, reunite them with the family they didn’t know they had. The Trust has also allowed them to tell the stories of abuse they suffered as a result of the forced migration process.