Laura Macdonald, our Head of Programming, talks to legendary Aussie Producer Al Clark
Al Clark: It excited my imagination. Without that, there’s nothing else.
LM: Patrick Hughes is the talented writer/director, tell us why you had faith in him for this, his first feature film?
AC: I’ve known him since he finished film school. I thought then, as I know now, that his first film would be extraordinary.
LM: How did you attract top level talent such as Ryan Kwanten, Steve Bisley and Tom E. Lewis to the cast?
AC: Patrick sent each of them the script, then they talked. Ryan was filming “True Blood” in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the time, so he didn’t meet his director face-to-face until he arrived on our set after a 15-hour plane ride and an 8-hour drive.
LM: Can you tell us a little about the setting of Omeo and the challenges of this production?
AC: Isolation is an important element in the movie, and the town of Omeo – in the Victorian high country, just below the snow line – is very isolated indeed. The assets and liabilities of that are pretty much as you’d imagine.
LM: Red Hill's release is much anticipated, what do you think makes this film such a crowd pleaser?
AC: The elements are familiar, but the way they’re mixed is full of the unexpected. I think audiences cherish surprise.
LM: Tell us a little about launching Red Hill at the celebrated Berlin Film Festival?
AC: The Berlin invitation arrived early January, with most of our post-production team still on holiday. We had to go into overdrive to get the film ready. Patrick arrived in Berlin with a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) exactly 12 hours before the first screening – no time for a print at that stage. Suddenly we were watching the film in an 1100-seater cinema, and within a couple of days we’d made 14 sales.
LM: Sony is releasing the film on Nov 25, can you share some insight about the challenge of getting distributors on board?
AC: We were reliant on securing one in order to find completion finance for the film - we’d only raised enough money for the shoot itself - so we were relieved to get Arclight for international sales and Transmission for Australian release. However, when we later showed it to Sony, they were in a position to give it the wider release, by then in keeping with the film’s prospects, so the change was made quickly and amicably.
LM: There is a strong American element to the film - the music, the filmic influences, Ryan's profile in the US is huge - please discuss the battle to make an Aussie film that will appeal in the US.
AC: The western is one of the defining genres of American cinema, so this is hardly surprising. But our landscapes are different, as is our sensibility, so one hopes that the film’s idiosyncrasies are evident too. We were thinking more about doing something completely distinctive in that realm - and if America liked it that would be fine too.
LM: You've been making top notch Australian films for many years, if you had to talk about one of your best filmmaking experiences, what comes to mind and why?
AC: Although I sometimes wish that making movies were easier, it’s the ones that break all the rules in the middle of nowhere – “Priscilla” and “Red Hill” being prime examples – that most excite me. I don’t see filmmaking as a domesticated medium with familiar comforts, but as an adventure you set out on that must be completed before anybody gets to go home.
LM: What advice would you give to young Aussie talent that's trying to get noticed and their stories into production?
AC: Pay attention – a motto for life, really – and identify what’s unique about your project. To flourish in a crowded marketplace, you must have something people want.
LM: Your past projects range from '1984' to 'Priscilla Queen of The Desert' to 'Chopper' and 'Blessed' - do you prefer to walk on the dark side?
AC: I prefer to walk on the interesting side – with whatever illumination it comes.
LM: To finish, what makes a great film pitch? Feel free to simply share a story about a great pitch you've heard.
AC: I’ve only done one really good pitch, so it may as well be that one. To a distributor in Cannes before we started “Chopper”, I said: “It’s about a guy who thinks he’s in ‘Good Fellas” but he’s really in ‘The King of Comedy’”. He understood the film completely and immediately.
For more info check out the website: www.Redhillmovie.com.au
