DAY / NIGHT

Safe Harbour location exploration.

FEELS LIKE HOME

Occasionally in advertising on a project comes along that is really special. Over the past 8 months I directed a campaign for QANTAS focusing on two stories of loved ones being reunited via QANTAS's new 'Dreamliner'. 

As the cast in the films are 'real people', from my point of view the whole campaign was about establishing authenticity, but still create a story that has a guaranteed emotional payoff.  

The most important part of this process was the casting of the family and the young couple who feature in the films. This was perhaps the most intense casting I have been involved in as the 'cast' in the films are all non-actors and were the result of a casting call that took in all of Australia and alot of Europe. The search ultimately landed with the Charlton family in Fremantle, W.A and with Imogen and Michael based in London.

Below is a photo I took of Anna on the first day we met. Weirdly, Anna's Mum, Jackie who lives in England was the first person I interviewed on Skype at the beginning of a long week of intensive casting via Skype. 

We were very lucky to discover Anna and her family. Such cool people whom I'm so glad to have met.

Imogen and Michael (below) had been living apart for almost a year. All of the surprises and reunions in the films were captured for real as they happened. Needless to say a lot of 'secrets' were juggled throughout production so as to keep actions and reactions fresh and the emotional responses behind moments real and unfiltered. The whole production was a little like shooting a documentary, but with a full crew and two cameras!

I loved shooting in both Perth and London. Both have such unique light and geography, providing a beautifully natural visual contrast between the two countries. 

I was also super lucky to be working with two of my favorite cinematographers. Germain McMicking (above) and Sam Chiplin (below). Double the beauty!

My producer and friend Karen Sproul (below) celebrating her birthday while scouting London in the freezing cold. 

I wish all commercial work was as enjoyable and emotionally satisfying as this was...!

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER

7 TYPES OF PORTRAIT

During production of Seven Types of Ambiguity I created a portrait of each actor in an attempt to discover some the mystery or ambiguity of their character. This became a process of exploring the character's 'tone' in a single image and then distilling some of this into their performance and presence onscreen. Each of these images became a touchstone in creating the look and feel of the series. 

THE WEST END

Saturday night fever

NIGHT LIGHT

7 TYPES TEASER

First teaser for Seven Types Of Ambiguity. A series I set up and directed the first two episodes of last year for Matchbox and ABCTV. The series is unique in that each episode is a different character's perspective of a person involved in the disappearance of a child. I was lucky enough to work with Alex Dimitriades and Hugo Weaving as the first two characters. Such generous and wonderful actors. I'll write more on the production soon...  

PRE-PRE

Busy week falling into early pre-production on my new project SAFE HARBOUR. Monday and Tuesday was spent doing some initial exploring of Brisbane where the 4 x 1 hour mini-series will be shot from mid May 2017.

COMING UP NEXT

Had a great chat to Alistair Marks who hosts the podcast Coming Up Next, which focuses on 'creative careers'. Spoke about everything from the moment I decided to be a filmmaker through to some of my current projects both big and small. 

Those that know, know.

Executive Production Runner and good vibe facilitator, Chris Lee. 

BIGGER THINGS

How amazing it would be to live by the ocean. Perched on the edge of a rock, remonded daily of the epic scale and proportion of nature and the beautiful world we live in. I hope I'd never grow tired of the ever changing spectacle that roll out every single day and night. I think this would be similar if living amongst giant mountains. Surely having so much big stuff around you helps you put the small stuff into perspective. 

I took the below photos about 20 minutes apart, from the balcony of a friends house in South Coogee. I stood and watched that huge cloud tumble over us and out to sea and then the 'wolf moon' floated up from behind the horizon, all blood red and stunning. The cloud and the moon helped put a few things into perspective. 

SUMMERSTORMS

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Tamworth, N.S.W.