Urbancinefile.com.au:
WANTED:
BOYS WITH BALLS
Where are the upcoming actors with machismo and enough
balls to make them heroes and lovers of our fantasies? Australian
casting agents and producers are asking the question, says Sandy
George, in the wake of her report for Screen International on Australia’s
Stars of Tomorrow (published last week).
“No men with balls are coming
out of acting schools. I am continually looking for masculinity.
It is why Russell Crowe is such a big star.” So says producer
Amanda Higgs and it is a widely-held view. The many casting consultants
interviewed for Screen International’s Australian Stars of
Tomorrow feature were quick to reel off the names of young women
with the “it” factor but stumbled over the men. Higgs
adds: “An actor has to appeal to men and women. Men have to
want to be him, or be his best mate and the women have to want to
sleep with him.”
Higgs is developing The Glasshouse with Alice Addison, the only
100% writer included in Screen’s list of 30 Stars of Tomorrow, but
is better known for creating highly regarded television series. With
only 15-20 films made per year no-one builds a name or makes a living
from feature films alone. Television is a crucial training and testing
ground.
Another theme
that emerged in Screen International’s research
is how many actors said that their film heroes behind and in
front of the camera were English and that the diversity of work there
was more attractive than Hollywood can offer.
Compiled after weeks of research and given the front cover treatment,
the Stars of Tomorrow list includes some 30 actors, writers and
producers, including several indigenous filmmakers.
The stories are unique: just add training.
The most interesting
films to come out of Australia in the next few years will be from
indigenous writer/directors. This prediction, heard time and time
again, flows from their intriguing and unique life experiences never
seen on the big screen from the inside out. “I have read many short film scripts in the last
few years and the indigenous ones are always the most interesting,” says
emerging producer Kath Shelper. “They have a tradition of storytelling
and there are thousands of different indigenous nations and languages.”
Says writer/director/cinematographer Warwick Thornton, who is also
on the Stars of Tomorrow list, points to a second factor: “We
have learnt a lot more about storytelling and the craft than other
filmmakers because of government initiatives. Australia is notorious
for funding features by someone who has made just one short.”
The Australian Film Commission is holding a workshop in August, modelled
on the Sundance Lab and part of the “Long Black” feature initiative.
Three of the five projects made through the previous “Dramatically Black” half-hour
drama initiative, Green Bush, Plains Empty and The Djarn Djarns, have made
quite a splash at festivals this year.
After indigenous branch manager Sally Riley got 18 responses to her call for
treatments/first drafts, development assistance was provided to Thornton, Beck
Cole, Wayne Blair, Darlene Johnson, Rachel Perkins and Richard Frankland. Most
were considered as Stars of Tomorrow.
“Even for me, coming from an indigenous background, there is something
new in all these stories,” says Riley. “They are not rehashed three-act
structure Hollywood films. Also, we have been doing targeted development for
five years. These people have not popped up from nowhere.”
She hopes more indigenous actors will emerge as a result of Long Black: “Deborah
Mailman and Aaron Pedersen should have broken through. I can’t believe
Deb has not won a major role since Radiance because she can do anything. The
mainstream industry isn’t writing vehicles for these actors.”
“We are at an interesting crossroad,” said
one indigenous Stars of Tomorrow, Catriona McKenzie: “I am
an indigenous filmmaker but part of me just wants to be seen as a
good filmmaker.”
Thanks, Lo S
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