Last Ride flickering away in the dark...

I can almost smell the popcorn.

Hugo creating Kev

At The Movies with David and Margret

Extended interviews Hugo and Me here and here...

And release...

Last Ride is released into the cinemas today. I never thought I would ever say this but I think the film is ready to be out there. I feel we have done everything possible to try and make the film, and it's release as good as it can be.

As much as I have fussed and fretted over every detail over the last year and half it's now time to cut the apron strings and ease the film out into the world. I think it's strong enough to look after itself.

It's a weird feeling, I can feel myself detaching from it, not that I care any less, I just know there is little more I or anyone else can do. It now just needs to be out there in cinemas so people can go and see and discuss and love or hate or what ever it is they want to do with it.

Regardless of success or failure from critics or the box office, personally I am so proud of the film and everyone who helped make it.

The last 5 years of development and in particular the last year or so where I have been on the film full time has been the most exciting, anxious, creative, stressful, inspiring, exhausting, humbling, terrifying, satisfying and ultimately the most privileged time of my life.

Every minute of it (even the really bad ones) has been a dream come true.

Behind The Scenes

Fold Out Flyer...

7 Most Epic Road Trips. Ever.

I’ve had some great road trips in my life, and making the film sent me on a few more. The idea that that Last Ride was a ‘road movie’ never really kicked in until I began the long search for locations throughout the deserts of South Australia. During pre-production I clocked up over 20,000 kms just sitting in the passenger seat watching the most inspiring landscape pass before me. And then of course we approached the making of our ‘road movie’ as a road trip ourselves, taking the cast and crew on an epic 5000 km journey through that same inspiring landscape.

In celebration of the road trip I have made a list of what I reckon could be the 7 MOST EPIC ROAD TRIPS. EVER.

So whether you are planning a road trip, by car, motorcycle, bicycle or hitching, the most important thing to remember, as we all know, is that it’s the journey, not the destination that makes a great road trip.

1. The Alaskan Highway (2,237 KM)

The Alaskan Highway, stretches from Dawson Creek to Delta Junction, Alaska and Yukon. It was built during World War II and is one of the most well known roads in the world. You can read the full history about the road on wiki. This road trip is epic for two reasons. Weather conditions & long distance between each town. Prepare for cold weather and a lot of driving. So unless you feel like eating road kill you should stock up on some substantial snacks for the long and beautiful drive. Along the trip you can expect a lot of forest views and with a slight detour you can check out Liard Hot Springs and take a quick dip the temperature is around 42°-52°C (107°-126°F). Next up is Sign Forest at Watson Lake with over 45,000 sign posts that you can check out.

You can also expect to see a lot of wildlife like elk, grizzly bears, marmots and moose alongside the road. And if want to see some reindeer then make a quick stop in Yukon.
Check out the free GPS Maps
Photo Source

2. Route 66: Chicago to California (3,945 KM)

The mother of all roads, Route 66 is not for the faint hearted. It’s a long, long drive so do it in comfort not style. Route 66 was built in 1925 and starts in Chicago and heads through, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California and ends in Las Angeles. This is as epic as it gets.

Although the road was decommissioned in 1985 for the Interstate 40, this road is the ultimate road trip. There’s seriously a lot to see and do in 3945 KM so here’s a summary of some places to stop at.

• Dixie Truckers Home (McClean, Illinios) – The oldest truck stop on Route 66 around 70 years old.

• Devil’s Elbow (Missouri)

• Oklahoma City and a few numerous towns (Oklahoma)

• Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, Texas)

• Blue Swallow Motel (Tucumcari, New Mexico) – The oldest motel on the Route 66

• Grand Canyon (Flagstaff, Arizona) – It’s the Grand Canyon!

• Sitgreaves Pass (Arizona) – Windy and dangerous roads with magnificent views

• Santa Monica Pier (Santa Monica, California)

Check out the free GPS Maps

Photo Source (1) (2) (3) (4)

3. Drive New Zealand's South Island (440KM)

Not one of the longest drives but the scenery you get to see is simply amazing. You should take at least 7 days to complete the south island drive, or long enough to soak up its truly magnificent views. The road starts in Milford Sound and takes you south then back north ending at Wanaka. With plenty to see, touch and do from the jagged Fiordland mountains, rugged southern coast and sandy beaches. There are plenty of rolling green pastures and forestry, including mountain ranges with spectacular views that might remind you of Frodo’s epic journey in Lord of The Rings. New Zealand’s has some of the most exotic wild plants and birds in the world along with some of the best national parks, marine life, and natural blowholes. The best thing about this trip is that you can see almost every scene from inside your. But stop often and get out amongst it.

I did this road trip in a campervan a few years back, but I would love to go back and do it by bike.

Photo Source

4. The Great Ocean Road: Geelong to Warnambool, Australia (300KM)

Possibly one of the world’s most spectacular scenic routes in the world with amazing coastal views, towering rock edges, plenty of surfing hotspots, lush forests and long beaches. The route starts in Torquay and ends at Allansford. You could finish the trip in one day however take a few days to enjoy some of the more notable attractions.

• Twelve Apostles – Famous rock formations

• London Arch Port Campbell National Park

• The Great Otway National Park –Bushing walking & wildlife

• The Great Ocean Walk, Apollo Bay

• Bells Beach – Patrolled beaches for swimming and surfing

• Warrnambool, Logans Beach – Whale watching

• Portland – Fishing, colonial / historical buildings & maritime museums

Photos (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

5. Ring Road, Iceland (1,330KM)

The Ring Road of Iceland looks nothing short of amazing. With 1330KM between start and finish this road trip will truly satisfy anyone looking for a truly epic drive. Iceland is filled with wide range of natural phenomenon. Some of the most notable attractions include:

• The Blue lagoon – Geothermal heated waters

• Pingvellir National Park

• Gullfoss – Waterfall

• Haukadalur – Biggest gaysers Strokkur and Geysir

• Reykjavik – Laugerdaslaug Pool, thermal baths and pools

• Husavik (Lundeyor Heimaey Island) – Whale watching / Puffin Spotting

Photos (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

6. Africa’s N2 Route 62 (850KM)

Also known as the world’s longest wine route (Garden Route) it is one heck of a drive especially tailored to the wine drinker. Bring it! Cape Route 62 is also known for its Mountain routes with twisty roads spanning for hours on end. Some of the main attractions on this route includes:

• Bloukrans Bridge, Plettenberg Bay

• Local Wineries – 69 wine farms, 11 brandy cellers, 20 port selling estates

• God’s Window Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve

Photos (1) (2) (3)

7. Amalfi Coast, Italy 64KM

Italy is my favourite country in the world and this is one of the shortest but most beautiful road trips to take. The Amalfi Coast also the scene of many movies including James Bond, consists of beautiful and narrow coastal roads with an endless array of cliff hugging highways overlooking the blue Mediterranean sea. In the city itself there are many historical buildings, churches and amazing cuisine.

• The Emerald Grotto – Cave

• Villa Rufolo (Ravello) – Historic Site

• Villa Cimbrone (Ravello) – Look out point

• Torre a Mare – Medieval Towers

• Scavi di Pompei

Photos (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

BONUS: Flinders Rangers

Australia has already contributed to this list with the Great Ocean Road. But the Flinders Ranges deserve a special mention all of their own. Last year I clocked up around 25 000 km’s around this part of South Australia making the film. It truly is an inspiring place and I seriously cant wait to get back there again.

It proved to be the ultimate stage for our road movie to play out on, with so much variation and accessibility. We could be shooting in lush towering forest in the morning and be surrounded by treeless mountains in the afternoon.

The really special thing about the Finders is that it’s not really on the way to anywhere, you have to go their specifically. The real beauty starts just outside Port Augusta (about 3 hours north of Adelaide) and then you can choose your own adventure. I would recommend heading up through Quorn and into Wilpena Pound. From here there are countless roads and dirt tracks to explore. Heading through the middle of the range, cut through one of the stunning Gorges to Parachilna and up as far up as Leigh Creek gets you right out into the deserts and beyond, big mountains, big skies. There is no place like it on earth like it.

Hans Heysen is one of Australias most well known painters. When he first visited the Flinders Ranges in the 40's -50's his whole style and approach to painting was effected. He felt a deep love for the ranges and you can see it in his paintings from that period.

I can relate to that in many ways. It's really cool how geographic locations can have strong emotional and physical effects on you.

Have you got a road trip to suggest? I want to consider it!

Meet the Press (pt 1)

The last couple of weeks Hugo and I have been on the press tour. It's been a pretty intense but interesting time. Kinda tiring getting asked the same questions over and over, but the interviews that are the best are the ones where you really get to talk about not only the film, but cinema as a whole. Or even better they don't feel like interviews, but more like really inspiring conversations.

Highlight for me so far was my interview with Margaret from At The Movies. I've watched that show religiously for years, so I found it quite surreal to be seated in front of a camera and under lights and hearing her voice (and that laugh!) coming out of the darkness in front of me. Nervous and excited about when the film is reviewed on the show on the 1st of July, the day before the film is released.

Still another two weeks of press, Word Of Mouth screenings, Q&A's and jumping around from city to city. Pretty cool time!

Last Ride Exhibition

With so much visual material generated during the making of the film, we have been looking at different ways to utilize some of it.

So to coincide with the release of the film we are having an exhibition of photos at Cinema Nova in Melbourne and the Palace Verona in Sydney. I'm really excited about the selection of images, they looked beautiful when I went and saw them at the lab the other day.

Some of the prints will be given away afterwards. If you are keen I'm sure there will be info at the cinemas. Or I'll post details here later. The photographs will be on display at the Nova from the 23rd of June. And at the at the Verona soon after.

I have always taken photographs, and part of my need to get into film years ago was a real desire to see the photos I was taking 'move' and come to life. But over the last few years (and perhaps with the emergence of increasingly good and very affordable digital cameras) it's something I am being drawn back to more and more.

Hidden Treasures

I updated the Behind The Scenes section of the website with a short clip - quickly cut from a tape from 'Tom's Camera'. As part of his school activities while on set he was given the task to shoot and edit a little behind the scenes film of his time on the movie.

It's quite a cool little insight into some of the things that he observed that others might not have noticed. The worlds is an amazing place to a 10 year old. Anyway, while spooling through the tape, (which in a funny way felt like looking through some else's diary) I found this really cool section of Tom and his acting coach Loren (who is also a great actor and stars as Lilly in one my favorite fun films ever) killing time singing songs together.

It really shows what Tom is like, just a regular down to earth kid, and it also reveals the warmth and friendship that was formed between Tom and Loren over the course of the production. Although I'm sure both Loren and Tom would have stories to contrast this. (In fact Loren still might have one or two bruises on her shins as evidence of this.)

Book > Film > Book

I have been up in Sydney for the Sydney Film Festival over the last week and it was nice to be wondering along King Street Newtown and see the re-release of Denise's book on display in the window as the staff pick! Very cool to see the book which has been out of print given a new cover, a new title (sans The) and hopefully a new life.

The screening in Sydney went really well. Had a good Q and A afterwards in which Denise participated in briefly to a warm round of applause. I have done a quick interview with Denise and it's now up on the 'News and Press' section of the film website. I think it's a nice follow up from her blog article I linked to a while back.

Behind the Salt

Weekly updates to the Behind The Scenes section of the website will be posted over the next month or so. A snippet from the Salt Lake has just been put up. Apologies that all the BTS clips so far seem to feature me and in particular me sitting in the drivers seat of a car at some point. Some different perspectives coming up, I promise. I'm not sure about 'behind the scenes' in general though. As a fan-boy, I'm really into them, I love what they reveal and what you can learn from them. I remember watching some Aniversery Edition of the The Wizard Of Oz when I was a 14, and even though it was a VHS tape, it had a little featurette (not the actually footage I'm writing about, but similar) of some scratchy Super 8 that was shot on set of people in tree costumes waving their arms so the 'branches' moved and IT TOTALLY BLEW MY MIND! It wasn't just seeing behind the scenes, it was like peeling back the absolute veneer of make believe to the point where the film and most importantly the story, just fell apart infront of me. It was a little like finding out about Santa or the toothfairy not existing.

So I'm not crazy about seeing any BTS before I see a film. Because the last thing I want when I'm watching a film and totally engrossed in the drama, is to be reminded mid-scene about what was going on behind the scenes.

While I can see the benefit of sharing clips to tease and provide interest in the film pre-release, we have tried to cut and select clips that a) dont give anything away about the story, and b) doesn't reveal to much about the scene that you are seeing behind. And therefore jerking you out of the film when and if you see it. The clips are more about process and little access to the reality in which the film was made in.

Larger Than Life

I first met Hugo to talk about the script in a cafe near his house in Sydney (March 2007). The first thing I noticed was how 'big' he was. I'm pretty tall at 6'2", and I don't think he is much taller. But he just appears bigger. Quite the opposite to many actors you meet or see in 'real life' where they are much shorter than you think. Hugo is larger in life and on screen. (I think that GW cover might be close to actual size :)

ps: Cool that the mag used a shot of Hugo in character as Kev, bloody wound above the eye and all! Although, Hugo always had a thing about Kev not making eye contact, especially in a photo.

Print it!

As an ex-graphic designer, I find hard-copy printed material very stressful, especially when designing things for yourself. It's one of the things I love about the web, it's always liquid (the ink never dries), so you can always go back and fix and refine details, but with print, once it's signed off that's it. It's on the press, to be printed X amount of times, over and over, mistakes and all! I had a few print bungles when I was a designer, can you tell...? : )

Thats said, I've been very excited about the printed material for the release campaign. The poster looks great, (thanks Marcus ! I'm sure I drove you a bit nuts, but I appreciate your fine work!). Also I'm very pleased that Madman printed the posters 'double sided', which means the colours and print will be more solid and saturated once in the light boxes. Geeky I know, but so much thought, time and effort goes into making these items, it's cool to know they will be presented as best they can be. I'm sure it makes an impact on the public even if it's on a subconscious level.

Along with the regular A5 flyers, we have also designed some beautiful 'limited edition' fold out poster/flyers, that should be in your favorite cinema, cafe, bookshop etc very soon...

Behind The Scenes

My friends Jono and Tim who shot all of the behind the scenes footage and are now neck deep in over 40 hours or so of footage that once cut down will eventually make it onto the DVD etc. They have been doing a great job (at making me look like a dill).

"235" as in an Arri 235, one of the most compact 35mm film cameras. It's light-ish (you couldn't really hold it like that picture shows for too long...) and portable, but it's not a synch camera which means you can't shoot and record sound at the same time, unless you want the sound of the camera whirring away in the back ground.

"M.O.S" stands for 'Mit Out Sound'. Deriving from an old Hollywood story where a German director asked for a shot to filmed 'Mit Out Sound', without sound, and the camera assistant complying and writing M.O.S on the slate.

We shot quite a few sequences of the film like this. "235 MOS" meant we could strip right back and work as a (even) smaller team, usually just 3 or 4 people, and work very quickly. I love shooting this way, it really frees you up. Depending on the set-up and what the scene requires what might normally take a 3-4 hours, might take an hour. Of course you can't shoot with synch sound, which means it will have to be created later in po$t.

Apart from just saving time though, I find it creates a far more direct and intimate shooting situation. And this above everything else is what I crave.