Would you sell your family home to finance a feature film? First-time filmmaker Kane Guglielmi (Home and Away) has done just that, selling his house for more than $1 million in NSW's Blue Mountains to finance the comedy Cooped Up.
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It's a bold gamble that has come after the 28-year-old failed to find finance for previous films. "Out of sheer frustration with the system, I decided that I wanted something that I could control myself," he says. "I don't see myself as any different from some of my mates who are trying to start businesses. If they believe in something, they've got to take a risk themselves."
Having finished Cooped Up, Guglielmi is now pitching it to distributors. He describes it as a quirky comedy centring on a pro wrestler (Charles Cottier from Home and Away and Please Like Me) who, after coming into contact with a potentially deadly virus, is quarantined for 21 days with his doctor (Kathryn Beck from Wentworth) as the only contact with the outside world. The film features cameos by Stephen Peacocke as a plumber and Ray Hadley on the radio.
Guglielmi says his wife Nicole was supportive of selling the house to make the film, even though they have an 11-month-old daughter. "This might sound cheesy but I wouldn't have been still doing this as a career if it wasn't for her," he says. "She's been my biggest fan." And if the film struggles to get the kind of release that will justify selling the house? "It's not something that I haven't thought about," Guglielmi says. "At times the thought of it is a little bit overwhelming for sure. I have good days and bad days. But the interest we've seen just in this past week or two has been really encouraging for me to believe that there is a home for this."
New cinemas for Double Bay, Paddington
Palace Chief Executive Benjamin Zeccola has expansion plans for the cinema chain. Photo: Simon Schluter
Palace Cinemas has been given the go-ahead for a new cinema in Sydney's Double Bay and plans to double the number of screens at the nearby Verona cinema in Paddington. Woollahra Council has chosen a consortium that includes the art-house cinema chain for a $77 million redevelopment of the Double Bay car park on Cross Street, beating other two consortiums that included Dendy Cinemas and Limelight Cinemas. While the proposal is still to go to public consultation, Palace plans to have 10 cinemas in a building that includes apartments, shops and public parking next to the Intercontinental Hotel. "Double Bay used to have its own cinema and a very strong film-going community," says chief executive Benjamin Zeccola. "Numerous times over the years we've had requests from residents saying 'won't you please put a Palace cinema in Double Bay?' " Zeccola hopes to open the new complex within four years. As well as replacing the seats and carpets, he wants to take the Verona from four to eight screens by the end of next year. On the north coast of NSW, Palace is replacing the three-screen Byron Bay cinema with a new one featuring nine screens. And in Melbourne, the chain is expanding the Balwyn cinema from five to 11 screens. Zeccola says the "quality end" of the cinema business is performing strongly. "We're looking forward to renovating and improving most of our sites over the coming years," he says.
Lion will roar with Toronto world premiere
With high hopes of being a contender during Hollywood's awards season, Australian drama Lion will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film festival in September. The festival has announced the film, which stars Dev Patel (pictured), Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman, will get a gala screening. It is based on the real-life story of Saroo Brierley, who, after being adopted by an Australian couple when he was separated from his parents in India at the age of five, locates them 25 years later using Google Earth. Directed by Garth Davis (Top of the Lake), Lion has been picked up for international distribution by the Weinstein Company, continuing the collaboration that producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning had with the Hollywood distribution heavyweight on The King's Speech. The festival will open with Antoine Fuqua's remake of The Magnificent Seven on September 8.
Shine returns to cinemas for 20th anniversary
Geoffrey Rush in Shine, which is getting a re-release to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
It was the unheralded Australian film that was surprisingly nominated for seven Oscars including best picture and director – with then little-known Geoffrey Rush winning best actor. It launched director Scott Hicks on a Hollywood career that has included Snow Falling on Cedars, No Reservations and The Lucky One. Now Shine, the life story of pianist David Helfgott, is heading back into cinemas for a series of 20th anniversary screenings. In Canberra, Ronin Films and the National Film and Sound Archive are hosting a whole weekend that includes screening a new digital print and a behind-the-scenes documentary, a Q&A session with Rush, Hicks, producer Jane Scott and screenwriter Jan Sardi and a concert by Helfgott and Rhodri Clarke, performing the film's signature piece, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, on August 13 and 14. In Sydney, there will be a Q&A screening with Hicks and Helfgott at Palace Norton Street on August 10. In Melbourne, there will be a Q&A screening with Hicks, Sardi, Scott and composer David Hirschfelder at the Astor on August 16.
Films compete for $100,000 prize
Aaron McGrath and Levi Miller in Jasper Jones, which has been named as a finalist at the CinefestOz festival.
Two Australian films that are debuting at Western Australia's CinefestOz festival next month are in the running for the country's richest film prize. Named as finalists for the $100,000 award are Rachel Perkins' mystery drama Jasper Jones, based on Craig Silvey's popular coming-of-age novel and starring Toni Collette, Hugo Weaving, Levi Miller and Aaron McGrath, and Tim Ferguson's comic romance Spin Out, starring Xavier Samuel and Morgan Griffin. The other two finalists are The Death and Life of Otto Bloom, the experiencing-time-in-reverse drama that has its world premiere opening the Melbourne International Film Festival on Thursday – also starring Xavier Samuel – and Rosemary Myers' quirky coming-of-age film Girl Asleep, starring Bethany Whitmore and Harrison Feldman. A jury headed by Gillian Armstrong will decide the winner at the festival, which runs from August 24 to 28.
Star Trek's declining returns
Chris Pine as Captain James.T Kirk in Star Trek Beyond.
Despite a promotional tour by director Justin Lin and stars Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, Star Trek: Beyond has opened well down on the previous two instalments of the rebooted series. The sci-fi movie took $4 million (averaging $7400 a cinema) on the weekend, which has to be disappointing compared to the openings of both 2009's Star Trek ($4.6 million) and 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness ($5.2 million). What's interesting, though, is how much wider blockbusters are playing now. The three Star Trek movies have gone out on more screens each time – 317 cinemas then 486 cinemas and now 539 cinemas. Ghostbusters took another $2.4 million – a reasonable 48 per cent drop on its first weekend – to reach $8.5 million. In a country where horror films usually perform relatively poorly, Lights Out opened surprisingly well with $1.1 million (averaging $6500 a cinema). But the big successes among releases are Finding Dory (up to $46.9 million and heading towards the top 10 all-time highest grossing films), Kiwi comedy Hunt For The Wilderpeople ($9.8 million) and a couple of surprises – comedy Central Intelligence ($14.4 million) and romantic drama Me Before You ($11.9 million).
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