REMEMBERING 1st Assistant Director JAMIE LESLIE

Sad to hear about the passing of 1st Assistant Director Jamie Leslie. I made the miniseries Gallipoli with Jamie as my 1st AD in 2015. Although we were different kinds of filmmakers there is no way our incredibly complex production (80 odd days of shooting a WW1 drama, mostly exterior, through extreme heat, cold and torrential rain and mud) would have gone as smoothly nor would I have been able to create the level of work I was aspiring to. 

Jamie taught me so much about the process of filmmaking and helped organise my scattered thoughts on many occasions. He put his heart and soul into making our production (and every production) to be as good as it could be.

In looking back at photos from that time it’s interesting to observe Jamie and the role of the first AD in general. They are integral to film production but rarely at the centre. As you can see Jamie liked to be just off to the side in a position where he could see all the moving parts at once, making sure the dance of the crew was in and on time. I think he was in his element here and I know he loved to watch and be part of that dance of when a crew is up and running and working harmoniously. 

I trusted and respected Jamie so much. He was incredibly patient, wise, loved a good laugh and I’ll always remember his cheeky grin when things were working, just the way he scheduled it! 

Jamie Leslie (left of both pictures) strategically placed on the set of Gallipoli.

THE SEARCH CONTINUES...

 ‘The Search’ was a daily photograph practice where everyday for the last three years I took a photo and posted it under the THE SEARCH menu. The idea and the challenge of ‘The Search’ was all about having to find an image each day and perhaps most importantly not letting ‘perfection’ get in the way of ‘good’. This daily process taught me so much about photography and made me take a lot of photos when I normally wouldn’t have and they were often some of my favourites. Some nights I would be getting ready to go to bed and realise I hadn’t taken a photo and I’d force myself to head out into the streets where I would have to search for an image. Even if the photo itself wasn’t always the best, the process was always satisfying. It became a very special and essential part of my day.

THE SEARCH menu no longer appears above but The Search will continue here always! (and perhaps not daily, but quite regularly). The Search has become a part of my process as a filmmaker.

To kick off the search 2020 here is a selection of photographs tracking some of the crazy weather we have been experiencing in Australia this summer as I drove thousands of kilometres from Melbourne to central N.S.W and back again.

Dust Storms and dry lightening in Tamworth N.S.W.

Dust storm rolling into Cowra, N.S.W.

Bush fire smoke hanging over Melbourne.

Rain in Melbourne the same day as the smoke!

SAFE HARBOUR WINS INTERNATIONAL EMMY!

We won the International Emmy for Best Mini-Series! This was such great news to receive. I was actually in L.A the weekend before the awards and was going to attend the ceremony in New York. But my daughter Rosebud was turning 13 on the same day!

Sightly conflicted and wanting to be at both the International Emmys in NY and Rosebud’s birthday in Melbourne. I suggested to Rosie in the weeks leading up to the event that maybe she would like to come to NY and spend her 13th Birthday in NYC with Dad? I thought it would be an offer she couldn’t refuse! But after consideration Rosie said “As much as I would like to come to NY with you. At school when it’s our birthdays we decorate each other’s lockers…!”. I took a moment to view the world and it’s priorities from the perspective of a nearly 13-year-old and knew neither I or New York could compete with a decorated school locker on your birthday.

So in making the decision to not attend the Emmys but Safe Harbour still getting he gong and being there for Rosebuds 13th, in the end, I felt like I had won twice. Priorities.

Happy 13th Birthday Rosebud!

SAFE HARBOUR and THE CRY nominated for INTERNATIONAL EMMY AWARDS.

Excited to have two productions that are very close to my heart nominated in the 2019 International Emmy Awards. Safe Harbour is nominated for Best Mini Series and Jenna Coleman is nominated for ‘Best Performance by an Actress’ in The Cry. All the nominations here. The ceremony is held in New York, November 25th.

CUT!

35 Days later… that’s a wrap!

ACTION!

Day one of Penguin Bloom down…

A PREPARED SPIRIT

STALKER

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

NEW PROJECT ANNOUNCED : PENGUIN BLOOM

For years I’ve dreamt of making a film based in and around ‘nature’. Where an animal would be a main character and there would be a spirit of generosity and a wildness throughout. And it would be hopeful and emotional and beautiful and there would be darkness as well as light. And if it was based on a true story and had real life elements that could be drawn heavily on then that would be a bonus.

Dreams like this, especially when written down come across as thin and vague and highly unlikely, but… then along came Penguin!

Photograph by Cameron Bloom.

Penguin Bloom: Based on the International best-selling book of the same name, this magical film tells the true and emotional story of a family’s extraordinary friendship with a unique little bird. Set on Australia’s northern beaches, the film stars Naomi Watts (The Impossible) as Sam Bloom, a young mother recovering from a near-fatal accident that has left her unable to walk. As they struggle to come to terms with their new situation, a guardian angel enters their lives in the form of an injured magpie chick, whom they name ‘Penguin’. This odd little bird helps them rediscover the preciousness of life, as they learn to heal as a family. Produced by Bruna Papandrea, Naomi Watts and Emma Cooper, the film is directed by Glendyn Ivin (The Cry) and written by Shaun Grant (The True History of the Kelly Gang) and Harry Cripps (The Dry).

Pre-production starts soon…

RIP Mark Hollis. One of my few Heroes…

SECRETS AND LIES

Secrets and Lies (60 pages, colour, hardcover) is a very limited edition book of photographs from The Cry. The images range from location scouting photos, portraits, behind the scenes, details and visual explorations many of which became frames in the series. There is also storyboards, script notes and an introduction. ) NB: Not for sale.

Excerpt from the introduction…

On one of our first days of shooting The Cry we were setting up for a scene between Ewen and Jenna in the backyard of ‘Elizabeths house’. In the scene, ‘Alistair’ schools ‘Joanna’ in how to behave in an upcoming press conference. We blocked and talked through the beats of the scene and now adjustments to lighting and camera were being made and there was the usual commotion of crew getting ready to shoot.

More often than not actors step off set during this time but Jenna chose to stay seated where the scene would take place. From behind my monitors I watched Jenna take a deep breath and gently closed her eyes and exhale. At first I thought it might be jet lag, but as the crew worked around her, Jenna sat still, eyes closed and seemingly unaware of the work going on around her. After five minutes or so, even when ‘final checks’ were called, her eyes remained closed as the hair and make- up departments moved in and made their final adjustments to her.

It wasn’t until all the crew had fallen silent and “Action!” was called that Jenna then opened her eyes and ‘Joan- na’s’ world, began. I realised then, that if we were to find our way through this complex story, I also had to filter out all the noise of the ‘real world’ and find myself present in the ever shifting, fractured realities of The Cry.

The images in this book are some of my own moments of stillness within those parallel realities that closely coiled around each other. The spiralling layers of tone, atmosphere, the look, the feel, the secrets and lies. The physical world of what we eventually called ‘the vortex’ of The Cry.

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OZ RELEASE TRAILER FOR THE CRY

ABCTV trailer for the Australian release of The Cry which goes to air and streams on iView on Feb 3rd.

THE FLAMES OF ANGELS

Saw the New Year in quietly with some country fireworks and a swim on New Years day. 2018 was a huge year for me a director and us all as a family. 2019 promises more good things along with some challenges. Wishing you a creative year ahead!