WA Films Screen In Northbridge

16 March 2010

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Screenings - External

This Easter, something exciting is coming to Northbridge. Out of the desolate ghost towns of the micro budget feature film making industry, the muscle men of Perth’s self funded features emerge from the dust – Serge Sharrinovsky, Vincent Costanzo and Dave Bishop, their eyes squinted and scripts blazing.

For one night only these three underground bounty hunters of screen creativity, brutally serve up their own stylings of comedy, drama and zombie mockumentary. The showdown of the good the bad and the ugly side of Perth’s Indie feature film scene screens Easter weekend at the Northbridge Super Screen. It’s going to get very exciting.

6pm 3 Saturday April 2010

THE GOOD – 6pm
Making Love Written and directed by Serge Sharrinovsky

Matt Blonde was an aspiring Bollywood Producer. However, when he accepts money from the Bombay mafia to make a movie, they’re not happy with their return on investment. He leaves India in a hurry and ends up living in a cheap Australian apartment with Frank. A bored, down and out accountant who dreams of getting the girl who he last saw at school and just met again. Matt has an idea to get back on the road to Bollywood stardom and fix Frank’s love life at the same time. With everyone out to stop them, including: The manic Vice Detective, The Mobster who thinks they’re cutting in on his turf and The Judge who thinks they’re trying to impeach her. Along with a motley crew who have no idea about television. It all ends up going crazy in, Making Love.

Serge Sharrinovsky: Making Love was initially born out of the first television series I made for community television stations in Perth and Melbourne called the “Love Show”. The TV series was a lifestyle show similar to other popular lifestyle shows like Burke’s Backyard except it was designed to explore love and relationships instead of looking at houses and gardens. At the time I felt there was a need to develop an understanding of the topic of love, as from my experience is seemed to be one of the biggest motivational influences for human behavior, yet at the same time it seems to be the one that was least understood. I initially started to write the original script towards the end of 2003. After trying for about two years I came to the conclusion the only way I was going to turn my film into a reality was to make it myself, with whatever I had at my disposal. I realized that I needed somewhere I could have enough control and flexibility, so I decided to convert my house into a small sound stage. I also had to strip down the original script into something I knew I could afford to make. Initially I planned a much grander production. However, not having the budget to match my imagination, I was forced to consolidate them into whatever way possible to keep things in line with available resources. I decided to take on the lead acting role myself, as there was little chance I would walk out on my own movie. It took almost approximately 8 months in 2009 of editing, mixing and tweaking the film before I was truly happy with the final version of the movie.

THE BAD – 7:25pm
The Joe Manifesto Directed by Gregory Pakis, Produced by Vincent Costanzo.

Joe has a good job, financial stability and a supportive fiancé but he realises something is lacking in his life after meeting the outlandish partner swapping, Vee. Vee turns his life upside down by introducing him to her manifesto for life. She makes him question his relationships, career and values. Her charm is too strong to resist and when Joe realises his life is becoming a chaotic blur he is forced to rethink his choices and what is important in life. THE MANIFESTO: 1. Change any routine when you are feeling bored. 2. Be 100% honest. 3. Wear your heart on your sleeve. 4. Push people past their breaking point. 5. Never use alcohol or drugs to loosen up.

Julian Vincent Costanzo is an award winning filmmaker. He has produced and directed 3 music videos and 4 short films, including Jumping Jack which received official selection at four Australian festivals, won Runner Up Best Short at Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 08 and best film at BDYFF. For the last two years Julian has been production managing commercials, training under the wing of Australian Producer Jason Byrne. The Joe Manifesto due for festival release in 2011 will be Julian’s first feature as a Producer.

Gregory Pakis is the writer, director and producer of the multi award winning feature The Garth Method (2005), which has DVD distribution throughout Australia, New Zealand, USA, and Canada. He also starred in and produced Garth Goes Hitch-Hiking (2007), a documentary about him hitch-hiking from Melbourne to Cairns. He is currently documenting his experience about living in a van, the film is called Garth Lives in a Van.

AND THE UGLY – 9:20pm
I am Bish Written and directed by Dave Bishop

I am Bish is a comedy-horror with a cast of more than 300 zombies is a spoof of I am Legend, “It tells pretty much the classic “Omega Man”, last man alive story which is a premise that is just overflowing with comic potential, especially when you consider that in all likelihood the last man on earth would be a regular guy and not a heroic, Will Smith type figure” (Dave Bishop / Writer-Director) As yet there have been no big offers from Hollywood but even if there are Bishop isn’t going anywhere, “I started this to show that Aussie films can be every bit as cool as Hollywood films.

Dave Bishop, trained at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, his first short film (shot entirely by Bishop and his brother with no budget) became one of the first ever WA-made shorts to reach the finals of Tropfest. Bishop came 2nd in Project Greenlight Australia with his first feature screenplay, CASE, (set entirely in Perth). Bishop wrote his second feature screenplay, Vampires from Wagga (a horror comedy) made in Western Australia, which was nominated for the Monte Miller Award for Best Un-produced Screenplay by the Australian Writer’s Guild. After winning $10,000 in a short film competition he decided to turn his short film script into a full length feature. A year later and the result is one of the cheapest and certainly one of the most radical concept films you’re likely to see coming out of Australia. Starring himself as the lead and Siobhan Dow-Hall a fellow WAAPA graduate. I Am Bish has already scooped up its first award – a Silver Lei from the Honolulu International Film Festival.