End of the Sydney trip

It’s been a long week. More interviews are on tape and our heads are spinning with excitement as we look to the New Year with anticipation of cutting together what we have so far.

One of the highlights this week has to be our first radio appearance. After interviewing Megan Spencer she invited us on, as late replacements, to be interviewed about our documentary. We were cut from the main broadcast due to the 20/20 cricket and could only be heard streamed live from the web. So our audience was small but it is a beginning. We also spoke with Paul Coulter (late owner of the Lumiere in Melbourne) on the phone in a live cross.

Now its beer o’clock and the cricket is on. Sitting here with our KFC bucket, air con pumping and our heads chilled back on our pillows. Time to pop open the draughts and celebrate!

Quit our jobs...but still full steam ahead

This trip is already frustrating and it’s only the end of Day 1. Since quitting our jobs to work on the documentary full time, money has been a problem. Not so much a problem but an issue to deal with and it looks like we will be hitting up the credit card from now on. Which means debt.

The hotel is not to bad, but it isn’t great. The internet is expensive, the extra comforts of a bedside table are non-existent and the desk is one of those minimalist ones shoved in the corner that can hold a skinny TV and that’s about it...not the ideal workspace for traveling filmmakers. Enough complaining - on with the job at hand.

Today we had two great interviews, firstly Adrianne Pecotic from AFACT, who raised some interesting points about piracy and creative ownership. After lunch we interviewed Stephen Basil-Jones from Sony Pictures Releasing. He was very encouraging of our work and great to chat with, he had some upfront thoughts on the real issues facing distributors in this evolving cinema environment.

Destination: Film Festival

Today we jumped in the Honda and zoomed off to Newton, Sydney for the closing session of Destination Film Festival. We had an interesting drive through Newton finding the place but once we did it was worth it. Carriageworks! A new contemporary art space transformed from an old railway station...an unreal space, mixing rustic charm with modern technology perfectly.

Megan Spencer introduced the session (Cyber-Born Film) and then let the film Four Eyed Monsters do the talking. It’s a great film, innovative in everyway. We had watched all their video podcasts but had never seen the film on the BIG SCREEN. Its a testament to how indie filmmakers can use digital distribution and marketing to get a film out there...hey we just watched their film on a Big Screen in an old railway station in Sydney! If that’s not getting it out there I don’t know what is.

The discussion with the panel afterwards was great with such speakers as Rosemary Blight (Clubland), Rachel Lucas (Bondi Tsunami), Dan & Dominique Angeloro (Soda Jerk) and Toby Ralph (Street Sweeper). We had some drinks afterwards in a nearby pub, swapped some stories and bizz cards then were back on the road. A good trip and a good festival.

Highlights so far...

What a whirlwind tour. Interviews, running out of money, changing schedule, the red carpet of the AFI’s! It’s been hard going but great all the same. We have some really good interviews on tape and great colour from the AFI’s.

Highlights of this week included an encouraging chat with Robert Connolly, great discussion with Dee McLachlan and Andrea Buck from The Jammed and interviewing George Miller on the red carpet at the AFI’s.

On to Melbourne

Ah the ole City Limits. It’s a little hotel tucked away on Little Burke street, but its got all the right comforts, nice staff, brekky in the fridge and cheap internet– great for any indie filmmaker looking for a place in Melbourne.

Adelaide is down, Melbourne and Sydney to go. Spoke with a taxi diver this morning about the upcoming Indian tour of Australia. Meeting with Paul Wiegard from Madman today followed by Robert Connolly, Richard Wolesncroft and Antony Ginnane tomorrow.

Who are we interviewing?

Two big interviews today and they went really well. Talked with Didier Elzinger from Rising Sun Pictures about the VFX industry and the way he believes Australian filmmakers and VFX artists could evolve in Australia. In the afternoon we had a lengthy discussion with Murali, director of 2:37. He shared some insightful thoughts about the way forward for young filmmakers in Australia and how we can be making cinema people want to see.

Tonight I am watching Alexandra’s Project, ahead of an interview with Rolf De Heer tomorrow. Then in the evening we will interview Richard Harris, which rounds out our time in SA.

It’s been worthwhile; hopefully we can muster two good interviews tomorrow and head to Melbourne with our heads up. Phil is tired and hungry, my stomach is growling...time for some takeaway.

Adelaide arrival

Arrived in Adelaide to warm evening heat and a very talkative taxi driver. This city is interesting with its blend of colonial buildings and modern centres. Our hotel is terrible; definitely not what was in the picture but after some chummy chatting with the receptionist he has upgraded us (free of charge). Apparently he doesn’t like his job and says he’ll quit tomorrow- lucky timing for us.

A big week ahead, time to stop typing and start prepping...maybe after a quick bite.