PRE-PRODUCTION - DEADSIDE

Currently in pre-production and seeking investment, Deadside is a new Australian TV concept that hopes to create waves on local shores and beyond. Combining ancient mysticism teamed with the fast-paced action and the special effects of today, deadside aims to take the supernatural TV genre somewhere it hasn’t been before. Think a homegrown Buffy meets Supernatural with edge and sustainability.

Set in the western suburbs of Sydney, the show centers around Sara, a lonely teenage girl with a special gift. She is obsessed with death and the occult, particularly Voodoo mythology. She plays around with Tarot cards, Ouija boards, and recently has started hearing voices. Her friends make fun of her, her brother thinks she's crazy and her parents want to commit her into a mental asylum. She doesn't fit in anywhere and wishes all her problems would go away. Then one day a young man named Boli Shah contacts her.

Shah warns her that she is in danger, that a man named Baron Samedi wants her dead because she is an ancient Voodoo warrior named Ogunte. Samedi, guardian of the underworld, has risen into the world of the living. His aim is to destroy all the paths leading to Yemalla, the goddess of liveside, so he can kill her and let deadside rise up and take over the world.

Sara is Ogunte, the warrior path to Yemalla. She is the only one who can cross over to deadside, she is the only one that can stop him.

deadside is currently being developed by SL8IT Productions in partnership with VODO. Stars Laura Huxley, Dan Balcaban, Andy Minh Trieu 

REVIEW - LIFE WITH ASHLEY

By Reviewer Daniel Hobson

Starring: Ashley Butler, Chris Butler
Director: Chris Butler

What makes a good documentary? In my mind unlike feature films you don’t need a focus on people that you can relate with or even like. It all comes down to the premise and how much it can fascinate the audience. Life with Ashley has people that I can’t relate to and honestly wouldn’t want to hang out with but oh boy was I fascinated with what was happening.

What we have is a look into the life of Ashley Butler as filmed by her brother Chris. In a few days time they will be hosting a party where Ashley hopes to bed Stewart, the current guy in her life. What sounds simple is an in depth look into the party mentality of the youth of Australia, and also could make a few of us remember what it was like to be a teenager when stuff like this was the most important thing on our minds.

As the focus of the film Ashley is fascinating as she comes across as an arrogant teenager who thinks she knows everything, yet there seems to be a deeper vein of thought running underneath which does show with her more creative pursuits. Other than her brother who acts almost like a safety net for her plans, all the other people we are introduced to don’t really matter much other than to build Ashley up as a person. Even Stewart who is the target of Ashley remains very much an enigma over the course of the documentary.

Chris keeps the style of the documentary pretty simple, letting the story of Ashley take centre stage. There is an interesting sequence that happens midway through the movie when Chris and Ashley are telling their grandparents about what happened to their mother and her car in the morning. Acting like a flash back it does show Chris has the ability to stylise but instead has chosen not to be too flashy.

Overall this documentary really taps into the reality television idea. Just keep the camera on the person with hardly any agenda and let the person create the entertainment rather than force the situation. Also because the idea of the documentary is simple it means that most people should be able to digest it and come up with their own feelings. I am glad I managed to catch this documentary and I would recommend giving this documentary a try to just about everyone.

PRE-PRODUCTION / TRAILER PREVIEW - DEAD TRUST

Written and Directed by Rick McLeod,  Dead Trust puts the action back into action flicks.

The story revolves around a gang of armed men who pull off a well thought out vault raid. They manage to evade police in a stand off that has even the most crime weary viewer sitting on the edge of their seats, and upon reaching safety entrust the loot to  the youngest, cleanest member of the gang, Maxwell. Unfortunately for Maxwell, the money disappears from right under his nose, and all hell breaks loose as accusations fly as fast as  bullets and the race is on to locate the missing stash.

This is a clever movie, keeping you guessing about motives. The constant action and well scripted characters are slightly reminiscent of the 1995 Robert Mann Film Heat and the movie holds great potential.

Cast includes: Locally to Cumbria, Jenny Miller, Simon Patrick Finn, Mike Burnie, Suzie Thornton, Adam Wledrick, william Stocker, Bob Christie, David Siorop. Also Jack Butler, Kathryn Forte, Danielle Neary, featuring the voices of Leslie Grantham and Marco Radice. 

IN PRODUCTION / TRAILER PREVIEW - ROCK CHICKZ

Designed as a 7 part series, Rock Chickz is a tongue in cheek comedy about an all girls band and its less than meteoric rise to the top.

Forgoing the corny approach where everything is beautiful and everyone survives sterotypical ordeals, this has loads of laugh potential as ex-boyfriends gatecrash weddings and unwilling residents at a convalescent home get a taste of the band's clumsy and rather strange original songs. Needy grandmothers, co-dependent husbands, crying babies and an 'out there' manager with some questionable constume concepts all add to the plot, and a replacement bass player with more arse than class and very little talent balances out the more serious moments.

What I enjoyed most about this story, and is reflected in the trailer, is that whilst it makes no pretence to be anything other than a good fun comedy, it does not neglect the importance of  retaining a solid plot. It is "out there" and proud of it, written in a style reminescent of great Australia comedies like Muriels Wedding.


An intelligent collaberation between writer/director Vee Malnar and Producers Jak Wyld, Dan Balcaban, Ian Bickerton and Vee, the team  have clearly put a lot of thought into this series and deserves kudos for thinking outside the box. Congratulations also to the actors - hamming it up for comedy is nowhere as easy as it looks, and  these fiesty woman do a great job of dealing with obstacles as they march on their unflinching path towards rock fame.

IN PRODUCTION / TRAILER PREVIEW - SIX LOVERS

Six Lovers is a tantalising story that has huge relevance in this modern era where everything we do has the possibility of being broadcast to the entire world via the world wide web.  

The crux of the story is fascinating in its complexity, which is, despite our protests otherwise, a very real part of modern life .... Nathan loves Lucia, who is having an affair with Lorenzo, who is seeing Tom, who has a relationship with Walter, who’s separated from Marilyn, who wants to save her relationship. The teaser promises some good thriller moments  combined with some strong emotional scenes that will appeal to both genders.

The acting in the trailer is solid,  and it admirably avoids the  amateur vibe that sometimes creeps into lower budget Independent films. The cast includes one of Australia's many under-utilised talents, Cameron Daddo; and Peter Kalos, Maria Fernandez and the other cast meet Cameron's standards admirably (not an easy ask!)  Kudos to the director also ..if he and the actors can continue this standard into the full length feature film it will definitely hit the mark.

Currently in production, this film is worth keeping an eye on and if the feature fulfills the promise of the trailer it will be a worthy addition to your film collection!

Produced by Joel Mielle, Written and directed by Laurent Boulanger. Starring Cameron Daddo, Peter Kalos, Maria Fernandez, Constance Washington, Adam Turnbull, Kendall Osborne, Audrey Lamont, Alex Kadamani, Colin Masters, Nadia Andary.

IN PRODUCTION - 2 HOT 2 HOLD

After having worked on a number of large international productions, including Blue Lagoon Australian Filmmaker and award winning writer Martin Simpson found it frustrating that both the Australian and International market were overloooking so much of the talent available. So rather than complain, Martin decided to take action.

In his first step of a carefully structured campaign to show both Australia and  the world the untapped market of talent they are missing out on, Martin is kicking off  his “showcasing Australian talent” campaign with a short film, 2 HOT 2 HOLD which is being filmed in Queensland.

The film, based around a young girl who thinks she has met the man of her dreams, is a classic twist to a teenage love story, and has a hand picked cast and crew selected from the best Queensland has to offer. It is currently in production, and will be touring the short film festivals summer 2010. 

Cast includes Tegan Chamberlain, Rupert Raineri, Michelle Berka,  May Grehan, and Ozzie Devrish and crew includes Beau Eastman, Jeff Boot, Ozzie Devrish, Shaye Yuill, Belle Galpin, Ramona Rai and Richard Morton.

PRE PRODUCTION - THE LAUNDRY MAN

Loosely based on the classic The Mechanic this action thriller stars a modern day Charles Bronson in the form of Australian Actor Ozzie Devrish. Ozzie plays a cold blooded and calculating killer, known as The Laundryman, who has built a career out of ‘cleaning up problems’.

In a pleasant diversion from the norm, he's not the type of hired gun that you usually see in movies - whilst there are plenty of dead bodies by the end of the film, some great stunts along with a good dash of dark humour and a slightly warped sense of justice make this an entertaining piece rather than a "violence for the sake of violence" thriller.

Currently in pre-production, The Laundryman will be filming summer 2010 with cast being sourced from both Australia and USA.