PUBERTY BLUES SNEAK PEAK...

I arrived back home in Melbourne today after locking off my last episodes in Sydney yesterday. And tonight Network Ten aired a three and half minute (!!!) 'sneak peek' of Puberty Blues. I think we were all a little nervous of what a 'first look' might be like. But I think it sets a nice and inviting tone. It feels like the show in that it's ultimately warm and character based and there is just a sniff of some of the darker territory the actual show delves much deeper into. Cool that Ten are supporting the series so early on with such a generous chunk of airtime!

Both Ashleigh who plays Debbie and Brenna who plays Sue called me immediatly afterwards shrieking down the phone giddy with excitement!

LAST RIDE'S JOURNEY CONTINUES

It's been a long time since I posted anything about my feature Last Ride. The film was actually the genesis for this blog back in August 2008 in the lead up to it's June 2009 release here in Australia. Even though Last Ride has travelled around festivals and sold steadily in territories all over the world, a U.S theatrical release seemed a distant if near impossible reality. Well it took some time but this weekend Last Ride opened in cinemas in the U.S (Chicago now and New York from Jul 6th).

Big thanks to Content and to Music Box Films and also to the legendary reviewer Roger Ebert for giving the film such a glowing review!

The U.S artwork takes a very different approach to marketing the film. There is a great contrast between the two pieces of key art and not just in the colour pallete. Infact I don't think you could get two more different approaches. The Australian poster which featured Hugo Weaving and Tom Russell sharing equal billing with the stunningly poetic landscape, whereas the U.S version sees the stars in close-up and and treated in a far more 'rugged' way. Interestingly they also added a rifle to Hugo's hand in the image below the title as well. (There was an interesting post discussing the pros and cons of the different posters here on Madman's Facebook page.)

I like them both for different reasons. The U.S poster definitely feels like it sells the film harder and for a 'small film' like Last Ride, perhaps thats exactly what it needs.

Last Ride also available on Video On Demand.

POSTCARDS FROM PUBERTY 2

Wrapped shooting on my last two episodes of Puberty Blues during the week. I found directing this block (Eps 5 and 6) different to my first (Eps 1 and 3). The first eps were all about finding what the series was. What it looked liked, how it sounded, how the scripts translated, how the drama worked, where the performances should sit and how to work with each actor. It was such an exploratory process yet at the same time we were making the series as we went along. Which I love.

But by the second block a lot of the things I didn't know the first time, which kept my eyes open wide, I now knew. This made it a little less exciting, or because it was more familiar it didn't feel as 'special' maybe and perhaps even trickier than usual to remain aware and in the ever elusive moment. But on the other hand, because we had edited and finished the first two eps, we could refine what was working and push harder on the elements that  we wanted to see more of.

In some ways this was a little like my dream model for making a feature film. Where you shoot the film, cut for a period and then go back out and shoot more. The idea being, that the first shooting period is all about finding the film, the second is about refining and adding to what you have already discovered. Building on what the story has become rather than what you thought it might be.

The downside here is that everything that was once exciting, new and fresh, isn't so much the second time round. There is a tendency to become complacent or just used to whats going on around you. I had to remain focused and often remind myself just how beautiful it is what we are doing and within the tight schedules and budget there are wonderful opportunities still there ready and waiting and well worth exploring!

JUST THE BOYS

Just spent the coolest few days with my son Ollie (9). Rather than me fly down to Melbourne for the weekend, he flew to Sydney (unaccompanied!) and we had a fantastic boys long weekend. We have never hung out together for such an extended period of time where it's 'just us'. Went to Luna Park while the sun was out and spent the last day or so days indoors out of the heavy rain. Watched Hugo and Real Steel (which was surprisingly good, much better than that trailer makes it out to be and beautifully shot I thought!). Interestingly even though they are very different films, both are very good stories of ten year old boys reconnecting with their fathers/father figures. And they both feature robots! I photographed Ollie in the reflection of the triple glazed glass at the gate lounge while waiting for him to board his flight home to Melbourne. Felt very weird handing him over to the flight attendant and seeing him strut off down the flight bridge. Such a cool kid. The apartment seems a little empty tonight.

SUPER, SUPER 8!

My heart skipped a beat while shooting on location yesterday. I was standing next to a book shelf in-between takes and my eye was caught by something near by... Stacked amongst boxed software and A4 ring binders was a mint, unopened, still shrink-wrapped copy of the The Muppet Movie on Super 8!

One of my favourite films. Ever!

BEDSIDE

Spent a few hours sitting with my Dad in Gosford hospital yesterday. He was much more together mentally than last weekend, but far more frail overall. At least we were able to have a chat. Topics covered as he drifted in and out included. Forgiveness and regret. What constellation 'heaven' might be part of. About how it seems he decides on whether a film is good or bad  by how much swearing there is in it. How big a mouse has to be before it's a rat. And how his illness might be in some way related to the fact that no-one in the hospital will give him strawberry ice-cream (the only food he seems interested in).

Kind of pleasant in a weird way. And perhaps some of the better time I've spent with my Dad over the last decade or so.

OUT OF THE PAN, BACK INTO THE FIRE

Have finished editing my first two episodes (eps 1 & 3) of Puberty Blues today and tomorrow I head back out for another 15 days of shooting episodes 5 & 6. I'm really happy with how the first two episodes have come together. The first introduces us to the world and the characters of Puberty Blues, set deep in the heart of mid 1970's Cronulla, Australia. And Ep 3 takes us further into that world with Debbie and Sue, two teenage girls who are most definitely old enough to know better, yet to young too care!

Big thanks to my editor Deb Peart who very quickly tuned into our collective sensibility and approach to the show. As always I've really enjoyed the collaborative and explorative process of editing. I feel like we have made something really special here!

YESTERDAY

Spent the weekend in Gosford visiting my Dad who is very ill and in hospital.

BIG CHILL

Tonight while having a break from the edit we watched an episode of Australian Story about the very different lives led by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey who wrote Puberty Blues (a truthful account of their teenage exploits growing up in Cronulla in the 70's) The book was published when they were only 18 years old. Soon after the book was published they had a huge falling out and haven't really spoken since. While I understand that people can grow apart it seems strange that two friends that were so close and shared so much could not have spoken for over 30 years! Regardless I find their stories really fascinating. Especially Gabrielle who has had one incredible chapter after another.

I must say it breaks my heart to think that the Debbie and Sue in our version of Puberty Blues could ever 'break up' with each other. They are so beautiful onscreen together. And it's been an absolute pleasure as a director bringing it to life on screen.

HOME

An all to brief weekend back in Melbourne...

POSTCARDS FROM PUBERTY

I can't show too much from the shooting of Puberty Blues just yet... but here are some photos taken on set over the past few weeks. They kind of remind me of postcards. I've just finished directing Episodes 1 and 3, I'll edit them for few weeks and then head back out to shoot episodes 5 and 6. The wonderful Emma Freeman is currently out on the front line directing Episodes 2 and 4.

If there was a hand scribbled note on the back of each these 'postcards' it would read...

"I'm having an absolute ball! Wish you were here! x"

9!

Happy Birthday Ollie!

Running to stand still

Mid way through my first block of Puberty Blues. Long days and nights battling schedules, budget, time, the sun and the surf and the rain. Not that I'm battling against those things, it's just the reality of production. I guess the trick is (and I'm constantly reminding myself this) is to try and remain flexible and work with it and around it as you go. Push as much as you can, but allow yourself to be pulled when you have to. 'Time' even on the most luxurious and well organised of shoots is rarely on your side and I'm reminded each day of the reality 'it's not how good a director you are, it's how good a director you are while under the pump and having to make things work, with very little time'.

Some days I feel like I get it right, others times I spend the drive back home to Newtown from Cronulla wondering how I could have made it work better, more efficiently, given better direction, revealed the drama and/or the onscreen relationships better. Each day on set brings it's own unique set of challenges, you win some and enivitably you lose some. But hopefully it balances out.

Luckily for me I have an incredible cast (and scripts!) I can rely on to make the job a whole lot little easier! I am constantly amazed and full of gratitude when actors bring out their best in pressured situations. It does more than make it easier, it makes it a privilege!

We have had more than a few 'ambitious' shoot days. A mass of extras, large interior and exterior locations, all period dressed and set for 1977. Throw in some horses (girls riding bareback), shooting day for night and night for day, stunts, low loaders, fireworks and all the safety and restrictions that brings, so they are full on days to say the least.

In my limited experience, it seems most TV drama is designed around and works most efficiently when you have one, two, maybe three people talking in a room together. If you have the right script and cast and you are prepared, you can work through those kind of scenes pretty quickly. Making the drama work and make it look good as well. But the moment you involve anything else, it takes more time than you have. And by 'anything' I mean an extra person, an effect, or a stunt. Or the moment you go outside (or underground) or rely on weather or natural light, a fight, surfing(!!!) involve a car, water, freaking horses or anything other than two people in a room talking. It slows down really fast.

Which is why I guess a lot of TV consists of a couple of 'people talking in a room', then it cuts to more people talking in rooms etc. After all it is an almost limitless set up for story and drama.

Regardless, I do love finding myself amongst the organised chaos of shooting. Surrounded by talented artists and technicians, I wouldn't choose to be anywhere else. Stealing shots, racing against the clock and making every second count. In fact somehow using the sense of urgency to create an atmosphere on set that despite all the push and the nessecity to be 'moving on' will feel alive and very much in the moment when on screen.

What Lies beneath...

...under the Puberty Blues school desks. By the looks of it some of that chewing gum it might have been there since the 70's!

BEACONSFIELD on air

We had a media screening for Beaconsfield a couple of weeks ago. The miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb who's real life experience the film is based on were there and they watched the film for the first time. I can't imagine what it would be like to sit in the comfort of a cinema and watch (a version of) the worst experience of your life playout in front of you.

I was a little nervous, not about the media seeing the film for the first time, but of what Todd and Brant might think. They were the only ones who experienced it all first hand and lived through it, so in the end, it's their opinion I value the most.

I wasn't worried about getting all the rescue procedure and technical details right, but more about how both men go through quite extraordinary and emotional journeys while they are buried alive and many of these details have never been revealed or discussed publicly. Todd and Brant are not 'emotional' guys, Todd in particular is a man of few words and as stoic as they come. So I suspect the idea of  your lowesest emotional point broadcast across the country isn't that exciting for either of them. And from past experience if they see or read something that isn't right, they speak up and be rather direct about it.

But thankfully, they really liked what we have made. In fact they were really moved by it. Both Todd and Brant feel we captured the atmosphere and the emotional state of the fourteen long days and nights they spent trapped side by side a kilometre underground in a truthful and realistic way. Brant told me he had no idea how we crammed so much emotion, the highs and lows, the anguish and even laughter into two hours. Todd gave me a firm handshake and said we had '..done good mate'.

Perhaps the nicest compliment I received was from Todd's wife Carolyn. She has never been in the limelight and remained very much out of sight during the whole ordeal but is of course now featured in the film (played beautifully by Michala Banas). I asked Carolyn after the screening that even though "...it's not you on screen or your house, your furniture, your kids, your words etc... but was the film kind of what it was like?" and she said "Thats exactly what what it was like. The whole atmosphere and the feeling is right...'. Good enough for me.

And good enough for the media as well,  and I say with a sign of relief. As seen here on Hoaxville, Beaconsfield was a really tough film to make creatively, financially, logistically and physically, so it's nice to feel some love after all the blood, sweat and tears. There was a great feature review in The Australian (above) this weekend and some other nice words have popped up here and there.

Beaconsfield airs on Channel 9, Sunday, April 22nd.

UPDATE : Just saw this A Current Affair story chatting to Todd and Brant after they saw the film...