Kwanten mechanics
Friday, November 12, 2010
Patrick Hughes: They’re brilliant. It’s the perfect platform for film buffs and to get your film in front of film buffs. What I think it helps create is word of mouth and to spread the buzz. And obviously it’s a great way to sell your movie too (laughs).
MM: Is it a great opportunity to scout and attract other talent to your projects, as well and get them interested?
PH: Yeah, I think the whole thing is a really nice networking tool as well.
Ryan Kwanten: To be surrounded by like minded people-
PH: -yeah, and other filmmakers and other actors. I know Ryan and I had a great deal of fun in playing this at festivals since February at Berlin.
RK: Berlin, we went to Hawaii, Austin, Spain.
MM: Cool, so just like a holiday really?
RK: (Laughs) Not really.
MM: How did you guys feel about the response you got at Berlin?
PH: It was incredible. Ryan and I were both sort of-
RK: -I can’t say we weren’t nervous, because we were. . .
MM: Well, it’s a very prestigious festival.
RK: Yeah.
PH: Yes, it was a really huge deal, especially for our film. Especially under the circumstances -the fact that we had an incredible cast and crew involved and no distributor. To take it to Berlin and 48 hours later, after our first screening, to have pretty much sold it and of course Sony picking it up . . .if felt like that was the wonderful sort of stamp of approval.
RK: That we weren’t mad, that we weren’t the only ones that believed we had something to say. And that it wasn’t just an Aussie film, it crossed borders.
PH: Exactly.
MM: Ryan, this is the first Aussie project you’ve done in eight years. What was it about Red Hill (below) that made you decide this was the one you wanted to do?
RK: It was the script, it was Patrick and ultimately it was knowing that I'd be coming back to Australia. It was the cherry on an already pretty tasty cake. It was never about the money, this job, it was just playing a good, solid character and this is every young boy’s dream – to wield a gun and save a city from imminent death.
MM: Now that you’ve made it in the US-
RK: -I like to think of it as quite a few rungs to go.
MM: So, in the process of making that cake, how-
RK: (Laughs) Nicely done. You are a writer.
MM: (Laughs) So they say . . .With no offense intended, you sort of took a gamble with Patrick, who comes from a very prestigious short film background, but this was his debut feature. You were willing to take that gamble and trust he had the goods?
RK: Yeah. I don’t have an abundance of good qualities, but I like to think one that I do is the ability to pick the genuineness of people and it's a fairly apparent Aussie trait that a lot of us have. I picked that up not only that from Patrick, but this enormous amount of angst mixed with passion. It was the angst of trying to get his film made and it took so long getting that and, like you said, he had a really prestigious commercial and short film background, and then hearing the stories of how hard it was to get to this point. Hearing him say he mortgaged his house, that sort of spoke to his . . .what’s the trait? God, help me out Patrick.
PH: (Laughs)
RK: It spoke more than anything else.
MM: How much did it help you getting someone like Ryan onboard?
PH: We were in the position where I’d written the script and I’d raised the finance and the money to get film made and the next port of call was to find your lead. I really, really wanted to throw the script at Ryan. He was my first choice.
MM: You got your first choice, wow.
PH: Yep, and I got it incredibly quickly too. When you just have a script and you don’t have a studio behind you that can throw deals down and as a first time filmmaker it all comes down to the script. I remember my manager over there in Hollywood said `who do you want to get this in front of?’ I said `get it in front of Ryan’ and literally the next day Ryan called me and he’d read it and we really hit it off over the phone. As a first time filmmaker, like Ryan said, you have to sell your passion and I think that was something that really connected us. He was passionate about creating work and wanting to try and do something. I guess this film was an uphill battle and at that point when Ryan jumped on board I thought `wow, I’ve got a real movie now.’
RK: And it really had to be a connection for us immediately because we didn’t have the time on set to talk and get all moody with it and start talking about `what’s my motivation here?’ You just go in and do it. There’s no façade, there’s no bullshit, no egos, lets just get the job done. So there was no real rehearsal period. I came straight from Louisiana into Omni and straight into the first scene with Pat the first time. We went into the most emotional scene in the film. That’s how a film is done. That’s how we like to shoot.
PH: (Laughs) Originally it was like war film filmmaking. At the end of the day we’re here, we’ve got four weeks, lets just tell the story. It’s the kind of film that because of the scale of it, it was sort of epic in scope an scale – there’s hardly a scene where there’s not a shoot out or car chase with guns.
MM: They way it should be.
PH: Exactly right.
RK: We made a film that we would want to go and see.
PH: We want to see that on the big screen. We wanted to make a cinematic experience and visceral film. It’s the kind of film that unless you can get the incredible cast on board, because of the speed we were moving at . . .you know, to get Ryan, Steve Bisley and to get Tommy Lewis. I knew that each time I called action these guys were going to nail it.
MM: Could this be the return of the Australian Western, do you think? (Above, Patrick Hughes and Ryan Kwanten)
PH: Well, we’ve got a long history of them, but we like to call it a neo-western. It’s an outdoor thriller and potentially Die Hard in the high country. I guess if you look at the history of the country and the foundation of America, they’re not dissimilar. I felt like knowing that region and looking at the small country town, they’re all boom towns. It’s interesting you look at the old westerns and they’re all set in these towns and what is that town a hundred years later? It’s like a relic of its former self and you have these towns that are dying. Essentially that’s what Red Hill is about.
MM: Right, so what’s it like for you to be back in Australia now?
RK: With this?
MM: Yeah.
RK: It’s a week. It’s somewhat of a fleeting visit but I’ll take it. It’s been Melbourne, Brisbane and then my home town of Sydney.
MM: Have you had any time for family and friend visits?
RK: I tend to make time. On Saturday night I could have stayed at the hotel, but I stayed at Mum and Dad’s. I said I’ll come back and stay in the old single bed. I don’t think my room has changed at all.
MM: Take them your washing that kind of thing.
RK: (Laughs) You know it. Wait, what are you trying to say?
PH: (Laughs) Don’t get him in trouble.
MM: (Laughs) Now you have many roles with the film, you directed, wrote, produced and edited –
RK: He played the panther too by the way. You can see it in the close up.
MM: (Laughs) Good heavens. How does it feel to have it out there, you’re baby is out for public consumption?
PH: It’s wonderful. It’s fantastic. The film has been going incredibly since February and playing at festivals all around the world and having this incredible response. I think the biggest thing for us was, the high, was finishing it and having the world premiere at Berlin. And then selling it was then like `wow’. So certainly, you know, I got inspired by some of my favourite filmmakers who were frustrated trying to get films up in the past. I looked at all of my favourite filmmakers and realised they all had to crazy things and mortgage their houses to get their first film made.
MM: Fully, like Rodriguez.
PH: Yeah, Rodriguez, the Coen Brothers, George Miller, Christopher Nolan, every single one of them and I felt like I had done full circle. I mean, I shoot commercials with 10 times the budget of this film. It kind of went back to the days where I was making shorts in film school and high school. You had to take that mentality and go `right, we’re going to make a movie and shoot it on this day and you either jump onboard or you don’t.’ Fortunately for myself and for everybody involved we were lucky enough to get a terrific cast and crew.
MM: Now, from this role of Shane Cooper to Charles Manson in The Family, if feels like you are making a conscious decision to get as far away from Jason Stackhouse as possible. Is that what you’re setting out to do?
RK: I’m not really setting out to do it but I want to do what interests me. Nothing could be more uninspiring than playing another character like Jason. I love playing him for the six months that I do it, but when I’m not shooting it, I don’t want to . . .I know I’ve got more inside of me so why go and just rest on my laurels and do something that’s easy.
RK: The what?
PH: The internet?
MM: What is the weirdest thing that a fan lady has done?
RK: Oh . . .what target market is this?
MM: We’re a daily newspaper.
RK: Kids will be reading this?
MM: Well, yeah.
RK: Ok, then I can’t say that (laughs).
MM: No, you can, I just won’t print it.
RK: No, look, I have some very rabid fans who know more about me than I do and more about the characters than I do. But at the end of the day though, my mum has raised me very well and said `their the ones paying your bills Ryan so you’ve got to be respectful and time and give them, even if its just two minutes of your time.’
MM: Give them that lock of your hair . . .
RK: I’ve got thick hair so they can take it.
Other celebrity guests at the festival opening night included Phoebe Tonkin (Tomorrow, When The War Began), Martin Sacks (Blue Heelers) and John Jarratt (Wolf Creek). Complex Aussie thriller Wasted On The Young opened the six-day festival and was introduced by one of the film’s stars, Alex Russell (above). Russell said he was a `bit nervous’ about introducing the film, but was going to pass on a message from the director Ben C. Lucas.
For my exclusive video interviews with Samuel, Sacks and Jarratt, click 
After being homeschooled when he was younger, Lucas says a lot of the ideas in the film are based on his experiences when he started high school.
Wasted On The Young opens the 
Anime and manga fans have a chance to learn from the Japanese masters in a free workshop at the Gold Coast Film Festival next Thursday. The workshop will be conducted by three of the world's leading anime and manga filmmakers - Noritaka Kawaguchi, Jun Awazu and Ushio Tazawa. For Kawaguchi, it is his first time back on the Gold Coast since he and his team won the inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Award (APSA) for Best Animated Feature Film in 2007 for their film 5 Centimetres Per Second. The film, which was a huge success in its home country of Japan, will also be screening during the festival.
Kawaguchi is a producer of Japanese animation films and the CEO of CoMix Wave Films Incorporated which produces animated feature films by directors such as Shinkai and Jun Awazu. He said he is `extremely excited' about returning to the Gold Coast and taking part in the workshop.
Today marks one week until the Gold Coast Film Festival and from Hollywood and horror, to Adrian Grenier and Australiana, this year's event is shaping up to be huuuuuuge. There are 30 films screening across the six-day along with showcases, workshops and a free outdoor program.
Also screening is womantic comedy Jucy, which screened at Toronto and tells the story of two Brisbane girls working at a video store. The independent flick has been getting plenty of buzz from Hollywood with industry bible Variety listing it as one of the 15 must-see films for film executives. The international line-up at this year's Gold Coast Film Festival is fronted by Entourage star Adrian Grenier's documentary Teenage Paparazzo (above) which will have its Queensland premiere at the festival. Woody Harrelson's Oscar-nominated performance in The Messenger will play along with Agora, starring Rachel Weisz, and The Doors music documentary When You're Strange, narrated by Johnny Depp. Sci-fi flick Monsters and drama Main Street, starring Colin Firth and Orlando Bloom, will also play.
On Monday night I hosted a Q&A session with Nick Giannopoulos after a screening of The Kings Of Mykonos: Wog Boy 2 for the
After The Wog Boy took $13.4 million at the box office, the film's star, producer and writer Giannopoulos is back 10-years later with the bigger, brighter and ballsy sequel.
The Kings Of Mykonos: Wog Boy 2 is like your beloved Devo t-shirt; it is a little daggy and has a few holes in it, but that doesn't take away from its charm. It lacks the wit and social commentary of the first film, which took a tongue-in-cheek look at racism in Australia. Yet you can't help admire how Giannopoulos has tried to substitute that with exploring what it means to be `Aussie' and how we are perceived overseas. His explanation of Gallipoli is one of the more obvious attempts at this, but there are many more subtle hints throughout the film.
The Kings Of Mykonos: Wog Boy 2 opens in cinemas tomorrow.