The Overlanders

The Overlanders (1946)

It's the start of WWII in Northern Australia. The Japanese are getting close. People are evacuating and burning everything in a "scorched earth" policy. Rather than kill all their cattle, a disparate group decides to drive them overland half way across the continent.

Does anyone else think the synopsis of, 1946 film 'The Overlanders' sounds eerily familiar?

SHOWTIME for MEN'S GROUP

I interviewed John L Simpson for Into the Shadows, late December 2007, and we spoke about Men's Group. From then on I had hoped the film would work for him and for those that took that leap of faith in the project and above all I hoped it would turn out to be a great film.

I saw it for the first time at Spaa Fringe 08 and it was very compelling. And it has now won a bag of awards at the INSIDE FILM AWARDS 2008. This is a great triumph for independent film and for the creative team behind the film!

It goes to show that if you want to make a film, do not take no for an answer, do not feel you have to be confined to the traditional ways of making a film. We live in an interesting time, when technology and film making culture is changing, anything is possible.

John L is working closely with independent exhibitors to find an audience for Men's Group and I hope he does. This is a film that all men should watch and will get something out of. The distribution and exhibition of this film is very telling of the market place for Australian films - there is none.

Well that is not entirely true, but it is very hard to find an audience for a low budget Aussie film and John L is a good example of how we as filmmakers can work with the distribution and exhibition industry and help find that core audience.

Glass Portrait

When Phil and I went the ADG last year we watched a screening of Scott Hicks new film, Glass, a portrait of Phillip in 12 parts.

It was quite a moving film, one of the best- if not the best documentary I had seen in YEARS! And I have been watching a lot of doco's of the past while. It was really interesting to hear from Scott, how he felt cast back to his early days of indie film making when making this film as he started with no real budget and some consumer video cameras. Kind of inspiring really, as Phil and I were just in the thick of producing Into the Shadows.

Well the film is about to come out in limited release around Australia. Its crazy to think that these days such a crafted film about an amazing composer can struggle to get screens, but that's a discussion for another day. What this film is also a good example of is a good website. Its easy to access, and even has clips for your i-phone.

Check it out, if you want an insight into a genius mind you won't be disappointed.

SPAA FRINGE: Saturday, Day 3

Last night finished up as 3am this morning. Regardless, I had to meet Peter Broderick at 10:15am so it was quickly off the couch, in the shower, pack the bags, say bye to Johnny and meet Andy on the corner of Abercrombie and Broadway. Then hail a taxi, arrive at Paddington town hall, ask if I could leave a bag somewhere, leave it in the cloak room, run up the stairs and bump into Peter Broderick in the foyer.

We sat down and I played him the chapter of Into the Shadows that he mostly features in. He laughed at a few key moments and he watched the whole 11 mins! He gave me some frank advice about distribution and commented that he really liked the chapter! Great start to the morning.

I went and got some Doritos for breaky (yeah I know, not exactly weetbix) and headed into: How and When: A Guide To Successfully Presenting a Project for Financing, Distribution and Sales. I think I missed the good part, but it was interesting enough, the speakers spoke about Poster Art and showed some cool examples. Then I went to hear Kristy Vernon speak about the making of Gabriel. The best talk of the day! I had heard most if before while interviewing Shane Abbess, but Kristy's insights were refreshing and inspiring to hear. Afterwards I apporached her and asked about gaining access to clips of Gabriel or behind the scenes pictures that Sony doesn't own the copyright to. She was happy to chat and said to email her as she might have something - so fingers crossed something might turn up. Not that I don't want to have to pay Sony for the clips, its just the people that clear this kind of thing are based in LA and it takes ages! to hear from them.

After lunch I bumped into Mark Pesce and asked if he wanted to meet to view some of the film, he was happy to and then I headed into Sue Maslin's session on Doing Business differently. Interesting session and cool to see a producer really trying to grasp the new business paradigm of Media Rights Management.

Then I rushed out of her session to meet Mark and get his thoughts on the chapter he features in. He watched it all and gave me great feedback on the edit. Also commented that he hadn't seen the material covered in such a way before! So as you could tell I was feeling pretty pumped, then slipped into a session on budgets. It was OK but by then I wasn't really in the mood, so I slipped out of it and went looking for broadcasters.

I met the head guy for documentary from SBS and introduced myself and the idea of the doco to him. We exchanged business cards and I said I would keep him up to date with the progress of the film.

Andrew Urban hosted a Q and A with Steven Kastrissios and fellow co-producer of The Horseman. The clips of the film looked great and I am keen to see it, hope it goes off in Australia and establishes a determine young filmmaker (in Steven). His talk was great and I reckon he will go places.

Then it was time to grab the bags and head off to the Fringe Bar one last time.

Spaa Fringe 2008 - over and out.

SPAA FRINGE: Friday, Day 2

After an OKish sleep on the couch, a hurried shower and hot cappuccino from the POINT Cafe on Broadway I was in a taxi again and off to Paddington Town hall.

I was marginally late but it meant I got a free run at the bar and headed into the opening session with a bottle of water and Banana bread (not a bad breaky on the run?). Peter Broderick opened Spaa Fringe by handing the microphone over to the crowd and asking for people to stand up and offer their skills up to other producers in the room. Last year I stood up and asked for anyone with a story about indie cinemas to come chat to me and as the speakers behind the microphone went from offering up skills, to asking for collaborators to introducing oneself, I thought I mise well get up and plug the doco. I tried to slant the website as a space where people could 'continue the conversation of Spaa Fringe' but that has not happened as yet? Anyone? Feel free to be write inspired words on the blog.

I stayed for Peter's session on Hybrid Distribution and could hear his interview playing over in my head. Cathy Henkel from The Burning Season provided a great example of how an Aussie can use the power of the net and Hybrid Distribution to great effect. The Burning Season looks like a powerful film and I hope it helps to promote the cause of the Orangutan and the survival of Rain forests globally.

Afterwards I bumped into Andy K 'the intern from Melbourne' and we got a bite to eat from a nice cafe on Oxford Street. The weather had changed! And now we were enjoying a chance for fresh air in the warm Sydney sun.

Then came the surprise session of the day: Melanie Coombs talking about making Mary and Max. I'll write about this in detail later. After that session Andy and I went down to the Fringe bar and got an early start on drinks. Shortly after other Spaa Fringe attendees turned up and we had some fun networking before going our separate ways.

SPAA FRINGE: Thursday Day, 1

Arrived in Sydney at Central Station on Thursday at 2:30pm. It was raining and windy, apparently one of the worst days (weather wise) in Sydney during the month of October ever! So turning up in a bright blue polo and cargo shorts wasn't the best start to the trip.

But I grabbed a sandwhich from a nearby vendor and caught a train to St. Lenoards. While trying to not be blown away from the mighty wind, I made it to Johnny's work (mate from school days) and he gave me his spare key. Then on the way back, and in true Indina Jones style I got onto the return train moments before the doors closed.

Another long walk and finally Johnny's house. I bumped into his Forgien room mate, who was great for conversation, dropped off my bag, quickly changed and taxied it to the new home of AFTRS, in Moore Park.

Free drinks, food and networking was a nice touch, but I had come for one thing, to watch Mens Group. Every since interviewing John L Simpson for Into the Shadows I had been keen to watch Mens Group and it did not disappoint! Its the kind of movie every guy will avoid seeing but if they watched it, they would connect with it on all levels. Its going to provide John L with a challenging marketing task but good luck to him! Its a solid film; funny, revealing and top perfomances.

Taxi back to Johnny's and first night on the couch. Spaa Fringe 2008 has begun.

ScreenACT application

After not much sleep on Thursday and some last minute DVD burning issues on Friday morning I have handed in an application for ScreenACT funding.

Phil and I have not had any funding for the documentary thus far but as we are approaching the business end of the film (final stages of post-production), funding would allow us to complete with Archival footage and a professional sound-mix.

The Into the Shadows story is an important document on the state of the industry and needs to be told in this twilight time: new government, merging of film funding bodies, debate over the tax offset and so on.

So the application is in and the wait is on. In the mean time I will be posting videos from my trip to MUFF 2008 on Youtube and Facebook. Keep an eye out for them.

-Andrew

MUFF 2008 DEBUT

On Saturday, at 5pm at the Noise Bar I delivered the first public presentation on Into the Shadows. As part of Melbourne Underground Film Festival I was asked to give a talk about Into the Shadows as a work-in-progress documentary.

It was small but intimate crowd who listened on and I would like to give a big shout out to:

Rachael Lucas, director of Bondi Tsunami, who turned up in support. James Olof Collins and Christian Doran (friends from Canberra) who now live in Melbourne and suprised me by showing up to have a listen. And big thank you to Claude and Marina who were holidaying in Melbourne and came and filmed me giving my speech.

The people after the talk were really impressed with the sneak preview I gave them and were all keen to ask questions and want to see the film when it is finished.

So one small step for me, one giant leap for Into the Shadows.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support, it has given me a renewed energy to surge on and finish the film.

Cheers,
Andrew.

Broadcasting via My Laptop

I have recently started up a Laptop Journal.

I will be stopping from time to time to record my thoughts about film related issues, topics, ideas as well as use the Laptop Journal to keep you all up to date with the progress of Into the Shadows.

The videos will be recorded directly from my MacBook Pro Laptop camera hence the title. So keep an eye out for them, feel free to engage with me by posting comments about the journals or even making your own video responses.



Here is my latest entry.

Cheers,
Andrew.

Dark Knightsbridge

Into the Shadows has finally had its first fund raiser!

A few weeks back at Dendy Canberra we put on a screening of the Dark Knight and had a raffle with many great prizes! Thanks to the businesses who provided free gifts for the prizes and a big thank you to Impact Comics for the limited edition Batman Mobile that we raffled off! (Hence there store is our banner link)Also thank you to the girls at Dendy who helped organize and run the event on the night.

We sold out the cinema and a fair few raffle tickets, which helped us raise a smidgen over $600. This money will be the beginning of a pool of money we aim to fund raise to help pay for an online edit in the near future. We see this as a great to way to include the community in post-producing a local independent feature film.

And a BIG THANKS to Phil's mum and my mum; with out your last ditch efforts the prizes the raffle would never had been so good.

Also cheers to the guys on the night who helped sell raffle tickets and to Daniel at Plushroom graphics who designed the flyer we gave out on the night.

After the screening a small group of us celebrated at Knightsbridge in Braddon, one of the guys coined the term Dark Knightsbridge. Any ideas for the next fund raiser? It will be Bigger.

The great Picture Palace

A week back I drove to Sydney with a new edition to the Into the Shadows team, Callum Craigee, to shoot overlay footage of the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Cremorne.
Walking into the Orpheum for me is like stepping back in time. Each cinema has its own personality, its own charm and of course its very own name.

I have only seen one film there, Michael Clayton (it was in the Walsh) but after going back there to film I will no doubt be back again and again and again. In a time when showmanship is hard to come by and cinemas are more like supermarkets an old Picture Palace is a soothing experience. If your love for cinema is flickering go to the Orpheum and the magic for you will spark back!

While there we interviewed Paul Dravet the General Manager of the Orpheum and shot lots of great footage of the cinemas. We even had the surprise pleasure of meeting Tv personality and owner of the Orpheum, Mike Walsh.

A big thank you must go out to Rachell and Brett (Booking Manager and Projectionist) who assisted us the whole morning and also thanks to the floor staff on that day!

Intern Journal

Hello, its Andy (the intern) here.

I decided to take a journey up from Melbourne to see what this film was about. The subject matter was the thing that drew me here. If no one is watching Australian films, and I want to make films in the future, what's the point if no one will be watching them? So this documentary had me interested from the start and I've tried to help Andrew and Phil tell this story over the past two weeks.

Since I arrived, the film has gone through a phase of intense editing into a rough cut which is almost complete. There have been many long nights. Copious amounts of red bull have been drunk, much to the dismay of Phil's dentist and many of Andrew's so called 'concept' maps drawn leaving the white board completely coloured in and me more confused. Quite a few road maps constructed also, so I don't get lost around Canberra. However, much progress has been made! Hopefully in a couple of days there will be a rough cut done and ready for a private screening and feedback from a select few. From there its a matter of overlaying the basic structure, with additional footage which we are gathering from the archive and with animations from Owen, as the film comes to life.

It is an exciting time and what I've observed is a new found motivation from the guys as the film starts taking shape and coming to fruition. Hopefully by the end of the month a fine cut will be complete and the movie will shake up an industry which is waiting to be rejuvenated.

Watch this space!

Encore Article

Into the Shadows is in Encore!

About a month ago Phil and I had a chat with Tracey from Encore Magazine (over the phone) and it led to this article being published about Into the Shadows. It’s our first picture in a film magazine and hopefully another step forward for the film. What do you guys think?

The big Aussie Film Myth

Local flicks more popular than credited

Michael Bodey | June 12, 2008

THE notion that Australians dislike Australian films is a myth, according to a research study commissioned by Film Finance Commission Australia.

The qualitative and quantitative study found Australian films did not suffer an intrinsic disadvantage against international films, despite the study's focus group research throwing up some disparaging remarks about local films.

"The qualitative research looked at the perceived wisdom; the quantitative research showed the perceived wisdom is wrong," said John Berenyi, managing director of Bergent Research, which conducted the study.

Read the story here.

What do you think? If you hear a film is Australian are you turned off or turned on?

What the, IF?

So a week ago I come home to find my monthly subscription of IF mag lying on the kitchen table. I flick through it, read a few articles then put it down. Just before I go on to make some dinner I think, oh Rachael's column (as I usually read the magazine front to back and check out her column regularly).

Then, what the? There is Into the Shadows in print for the first time in an Aussie film mag.

A great surprise!

Gone Filming

So the bag is packed, batteries are charged and my train ticket (print out) is wedged in my wallet. In a few hours I will not be bright eyed and bushy tailed nonetheless I will be on my first train ride from Canberra all the way to Dungog. From May 29- June 1 I will be in Dungog attending the Film Festival while Phil stays home editing.

I heard on a radio interview today, the director of the festival say something like, 'we need more venues that screen Australian films'. What do you think? Do our exhibitors need to support Australian films better or do Australian filmmakers need to make better films? Have Aussies lost the love for Aussie cinema? If you think 'we' have can it be revived?

Pollack has died

Phil and I love cinema full stop, so when I heard that a great film director died I thought it was relevant to add. After all great filmmakers breed great cinema.

Pollack died of cancer at his home in Pacific Palisades today surrounded by his family, his agent Leslee Dart said.

Pollack's biggest success was the 1985 film Out of Africa starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, which won Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.

Read more here.

-Andrew

Dungog count down

As the new week breaks I am getting ready for the most exciting film festival on the Aussie calendar...Dungog!

Its only in its second year but it is already attracting great aussie films and a following.

Interested to know more about the festival? Find out here.

Interview with Honourable Peter Garret

After a few changes to dates and times I had secured an interview with the relatively new Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts - The Hon Peter Garrett AM MP and at 5am on Thursday morning Phil and I packed up the old Honda and headed off to Sydney. As the sun rose a new day dawned for Into the Shadows as we decided this would be the last day Phil would shoot any more interviews. He will now go into post-production hibernation with the goal of having a fine cut of the film mid July 2008.

While waiting in the nearby cafe Encore Magazine called us and we did our first 'over-the-phone-interview' we are not sure when the story will be published but we are told there will be one written so we will keep you updated on that later.

Shortly after, we met Peter and interviewed him for the film. He was very gracious with his limited time and I want to thank his team for helping to make this happen. We then took advantage of the beautiful Sydney weather and shot some overlay of the Harbour surrounds before heading back home.

More Variety the better

There is a great article in Variety on the possibilities that are emerging for indie filmmakers or DIY filmmakers. The article talks about the models for online distribution giving an outline of the challenges that lie ahead before it can fully function. It also comments on the hard realities that most filmmakers are facing, in that they are still having to mix between traditional media and online media to promote themselves.

I think it is clear that there are no either/ors anymore. It seems that it is all about deciding what best suits you as a filmmaker (what are your constraints and advantages) but also and maybe more importantly what medium suits your film?

Check it out here and let me know your thoughts,

Andrew.