A New Year's message from David Gould

The past year was no sleeper for filmmaker David Gould, head of Gold Coast film house David Gould Studios. Having worked with Peter Jackson on The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and King Kong, the visual effects guru found success with his own short film Awaken, which competed in the Cannes film festival Short Film Corner contest earlier this year. But the New Year is set to be one of the biggest yet for Gould, who is currently in New Zealand with wife Agnes working on two highly anticipated blockbusters.
``In 2011 we look forward to embracing the truly global nature of filmmaking,'' he said.
``We start work on the films Rise Of The Apes and Peter Jackon's The Hobbit in New Zealand.''

While the former stars James Franco and is a prequel to the Planet Of The Apes, the latter sees Gould return to Middle Earth for The Lord Of The Rings prequel. Both see him reunite with Jackson's cutting edge company Weta Digital. But big things are happening for the studio back home too.

After a successful pitch at the American Film Market in November where staff met producers to discuss feature projects, David Gould Studios will begin production on their own feature films in 2011.
``We hope to shoot our own action/thriller Stolen Senses in New Orleans, USA,'' Gould said.
``We will also be scouting locations in Chile for one of our thrillers.
``We will face many challenges filming around the world, but relish the opportunities that exposure to different cultures and languages will bring.''

For my previous stories on Gould click here, here and here.

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Byrne, baby Byrne

Despite a disappointing weekend at the Australian box office, I still reckon The Loved Ones is one of the best Aussie flicks you will see this year and so, I shall continue to harp on about it. This time that harping comes in the form of an exclusive chat with writer/director/producer extraordinaire Sean Byrne. As you can see from the interview, he is quite the lovely chap and definitely a director who is going to tackle a lot of genres with gusto. But what stood out to me most about Byrne is his sheer passion for movies and that, my dears, is something we can all relate to. Judge for yourself below.

Movie Mazzupial: Firstly, where did you come up with this idea? Did you have a really bad experience at your formal?
Sean Byrne: (Laughs) No, it was remarkably normal. Maybe that’s why I had to think of something crazy. It stemmed from desperation really, I had written a couple of screenplays that were too offbeat so I thought I’d have a crack at a horror film because I knew they sold internationally. There’s also a lot of mediocre horror out there, so I thought I could make something good with characterisations that make it stand out from the horror pack.

MM: And the characters, you have created some truly demented ones, particularly Lola and her daddy. It feels like they could go down as iconic horror characters like Freddy Krueger, Mike Myers or Mick Taylor, is that what you set out to do?
SB: These films thrive on the marketability of the villains. I was really looking for some kind of signature and I’ve never seen a father daughter torture team. I wanted to cut through the clutter and the thought of pink satin would be so vibrant and arresting. My 5-year-old niece was going through that stage of development where she’s thinking her prince will come and is obsessed with glitter and tiaras. I thought it would be interesting to take that innocence and mesh it with the awkwardness of being a teenager and raging hormones. Then when it came to her father, I did a lot of research on Ed Gein and Jeffrey Dahmer. Especially Ed Gein, he’s the psychological profile behind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho and Silence of the Lambs. Dahmer now isn’t someone that has been tapped into which is unusual given all the horror films out there and some of the things he did with the head drilling.

MM: Now, speaking of head drilling, that scene was a particularly . . .I’m not sure memorable is the right word, but it stays with you.
SB: It’s one of my favourite parts of the film because there’s no safety net. I love watching it with an audience because they have no idea what’s coming. With the film we had one foot in commercial territory and one foot dangling over a cliff, and that’s the cliff part. I was looking to write a horror film and what finally sat me down to write it was the idea of `what if I merged Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead, with Carrie and brought the prom to a cabin in the woods?’ I studied Misery too. Princess has Carrie’s vulnerability, Annie Wilkes’ from Misery’s sadism and the spoilt quality of Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s a horror film, but it’s not an ordeal for the audience. It’s a rock `n’ roll horror film with a sense of humour.

MM: (Laughs) That’s quite a combination. It looks like you went into the shoot very prepared.
SB: Yes, I came up with 250 page scrap book which had film references, case studies and palette references. I think Kathy Bates’ performance is so brilliant as she’s a woman who’s obsessed with a guy and even though he’s polite when he knocks back her advances, she goes off the deep end. I also looked at the females in films like Carrie, Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures, Natural Born Killers, Single White Female, and got a lot of ideas from that.

MM: The casting process, what was that like? You manage to draw out some incredible performances, Robin McLeavy and John Brumpton in particular, but Xavier Samuel too is fantastic and despite only having a few lines of dialogue, he’s someone that you’re really rooting for to escape.
SB: I was really happy with the casting, we just went through the traditional process. I tried not to go in with too many preconceptions. There’s a point when the writer has to let go and the responsibility goes to the actors who walk in the room and elevate it beyond what you expect. If you don’t care, then you don’t scare. I was adamant in casting actors who understood the craft and I’m really proud of everyone that’s in the film. We talked a lot about not treating this as a horror film, because so often it’s considered disposable. The situation is on the page and by treating it with the integrity of a drama . . . it doesn’t matter what type of film you’re making it comes down to the authenticity of the performance.MM: In the film, there’s both nail-biting suspense and cringe-worthy gore, how important was it to find that balance as opposed to just having another torture porn film?
SB: It was vital. The key word is fun and I wanted it to be a fun, freaky, midnight rollercoaster ride. The audience need to be able to take a breath and have a laugh and prepare for the next white-knuckle onslaught. I could push the extreme nature of the film if it was minced with a jet black comedy sensibility. It becomes deliciously warped.

MM: This is your first feature, it has gone on to be select at over 20 international film festivals, won a swag of prestigious awards and the critics are frothing over it, could you have ever expected a response like this?
SB: I didn’t expect it, but I was definitely aiming for it. I was meticulous in my preparation; we didn’t have a lot of time to shoot and, like most Australian films, not a giant budget. It’s really rewarding to see audiences responding to the beats that had been planned. I was trying to never to be a slave to the horror formula and instead study horror films and be inspired by the work of Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and Sam Raimi and Disney. We shot in 27 days on a budget just under the 4 million mark, which isn’t too bad, but I wanted a beautiful candy-coloured slick look to it. I’m big fan of Bruckheimer films, I think they have a lot of integrity to them because they say `I’m here to entertain’. The have such a perfect sheen to them that I want to get out of my seat and lick the screen. I think it would taste really sweat. Having that Hollywood glossiness to it helped pushed the horror a bit.

MM: How much of that sheen and glossiness can be attributed to your background in commercials and short filmmaking?
SB: Yeah, definitely, a lot of it.MM: When a debut film gets the response like this has, the Hollywood offers come flying in. Is that the situation you’re in at the moment or have you been batting them off to work on another one of your own projects?
SB: I’m right in the middle of writing another project, but this film has opened a lot of doors for me, both in Australia and in Hollywood. I’ve been sent a lot of scripts and I’m attached to quite a few projects. It’s very difficult to get money for a film, so I need to have a few going at the same time. I’m more interested in material. The next original thing of mine I’m working on is a bent home invasion thriller. That’s the great thing about genre, because it affords filmmakers a great luxury. There’s already an audience and they know the formula, so you’re able to bend it.

MM: Just before I started speaking to you I was reading an article that described you as the `new voice in Aussie horror’. How do you respond to something like that?
SB: I just love cinema and I feel like I’ve got a good range as a director. I want to work in all genres. Horror is a great way to start because so many of my heroes have started in horror, like Spielberg, Coppola, Raimi and Jackson who really got to stamp their own personal style on the genre. I just wanted to create something fresh.

MM: Since Saw and Wolf Creek, there seems to have been a real rebirth of Australian horror, is that something you consciously wanted to be part of?
SB: I wrote the first draft of The Loved Ones before Saw came out, that’s how long it takes to make these things. I knew Wolf Creek opened doors for Australian horror filmmakers because it proved that well-crafted Aussie horror has an audience. But we’re very different films. Wolf Creek was based on a building sense of dread, while we’re a glam horror film. We’re mirror balls and they’re the desert.The Loves Ones is out now.

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Give a Mazzupial a bone

Okay, look, there’s no need to get all sensy at me just because I haven’t been the most attentive blogger of late. My excuse? I’ve been doing that dream-chasing thing again which I’m sure you care nil about. BUT the good news is I’ve had the opportunity to attend some amazing events which Movie Mazzupial wouldn’t get to go to otherwise, namely THE AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE OF THE LOVELY BONES!

It’s hard to believe I actually got to see the finished product of The Lovely Bones on Thrusday night, I’ve literally waiting with baited breath for two-years since I first heard Peter Jackson was adapting the amazing novel.

Speaking of legendary director Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings etc), can I divert your attention to the photograph below, which is me (squeal) with (squeal) friggin PETER JACKSON! IN A PHOTO!

Above: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

I was amongst the media throng doing red carpet interviews and after admitting this was an incredibly nerdy request, Jackson was more than willing to be in a quick happy (very happy) snap. He had this to say about The Lovely Bones;

MM: What was it like to adapt such a complex novel?

PJ: You have to make it your personal choice, you read the book just like anyone else does and then when it comes time to figure out what to leave in, what to take out and what to focus on, it’s based on your intuition really. There’s no rules, you can’t make a carbon copy of the book so you probably choose that you’ve got to shorten it and leave lots out otherwise the film would be fix or six hours.

On his decision to gloss over some of the graphic descriptions of violence in the novel:

Any violence in the movie would overwhelm the film and that’s not the point. I wanted to make a film that young adults and teenagers could see that’s got a lot of positive, uplifting things in it. Whenever you make any film with violence like that it, one; it completely stigmatises the movie, and secondly; it’s not something I’d want to make.

Just as lovely as Jackson was Irish lass Saoirse Ronan, who plays the murdered Susie, looking down on her grieving family from Jackson’s Dali-esque version of heaven. She’s seriously so sweet and in her stylish, red jumpsuit I was quite taken back at how frail she is (I was tempted to pull her in to the Hungry Jacks next door and hand her a Whopper but I figured she mightn’t answer my questions if I did that). Anywho, after her Oscar nominated turn in Atonement, Ronan is no stranger to meaty roles and told Movie Mazz she tried not to think of Susie as a “dead girl”.

“She’s someone whose body is dead but her soul is still alive and that’s what’s so great about her.

“It was challenging, it was difficult and I had to go to some very dark places sometimes.

“Other times I got to do a lot of humour, it was great.”

And of course, with my future husband Mark Wahlberg playing her father in the film I had to ask her what it was like to call him `daddy’. Er, well, kind of.

MM: What was it like to have Mark Wahlberg play your father in the film?

SR: It was great, I was really surprised that Mark isn’t offered more movie roles as a dad really because it’s more a natural thing for him I think. And he’s got a sense of humour. I was very comfortable being his daughter and he’s really nice.

After giving me a hug (sweet girl) and moving on to chat with the rest of the press, next up was the big one *drum roll * Susan Sarandon aka my favourite female actress. Seriously, for a 63-year-old the woman is a fox! She rocked up in a flattering, low-cut pink dress, comfortable as ever showing off her impressive collection of tatts; particularly a barbwire wristband and tribal symbol running from the top of her neck down the spine. Like the Hollywood vet she is, Susan was more fan-orientated on the red carpet heading over to sign The Lovely Bones posters and the odd The Rocky Horror Show DVD, before coming to say howdy.

Sarandon lived up to her playful reputation when I asked her what it was like to work with Jackson, quickly looking over her shoulder then whispering “he’s just there you know”.

“No, it was really fun, he’s very collaborative,” she said.

“There’s a lot of physical humour and we had fun doing that, and coming up with all the montage stuff.”

The Oscar winner was happy to be back in Australia where everyone is “always nice” and excited to talk about the role for which Jackson said she was the “one and only choice”.

“I didn’t register it as being that big a deal that she’s such a strange grandmother,” she said.

“She’s not a `granny’ grandmother and I’m old enough to be a grandmother.

“I chatted to my kids about what they would like to see in a really good grandparent and they said most grandparents don’t smoke.”

“I don’t really drink or smoke like her, I certainly think she’s a lot of fun and I would hope that I could come in and help out in such a horrible house.

“I think she’s very strong and has an excellent sense of humour.”

After fulfilling a considerable amount of my `wildest dream come true’ I then headed into the cinema to take a seat, wait 45 minutes and then be treated to an introduction by none other than Jackson, Sarandon and Ronan themselves.

Then IT started . . . .and to be honest, as much as I had tried to resist the temptation of reading early overseas reviews I had peeked at this one from the Sneak and i09, which pretty much said it’s amazing. And it was. Truly. Combining the whimsical afterlife with the bleak reality of life for those below, Jackson shifts between the two with jarring effect as their individual significance can only be fully compared side by side. Wahlberg is spellbinding as the grieving father, Ronan powerful as the victim, Kiwi newcomer Rose McIver in a star-making turn, Sarandon scene-stealing, Weiz a bit flat but Stanley Tucci . . .wooo! Tucci is brilliant, BRILLIANT, as the resident kiddie fiddler/serial killer and at the very least deserves an Oscar nod for best supporting actor. It’s almost impossible to believe he’s the same person who played the gay stylist in The Devil Wears Prada.

Anywho, I don’t want to continue preaching about it so I’ll conclude with this; see it, see it and make up your own mind but remember it has my glowing recommendation.

Now bring the Oscars and don’t let this be another The Dark Knight oversight please.

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Why YOU should know David Gould

Above: A still from Awaken

After working alongside Peter Jackson on the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and King Kong, filmmaker David Gould has big plans for the Gold Coast.
In fact, the world class director, animator, producer and screenwriter wants to build an empire on the coast, similar to how Jackson has made Wellington a base for major international blockbusters.
With his new animated short film, Awaken gaining momentum overseas and locally through the Gold Coast Film Fantastic, Gould is preparing to head to the American Film Market in a few weeks to pitch three feature film projects, all to be made at his Burleigh Heads studio.
The projects will be live-action, a combination of actors working with computer animated imagery, with sets being built in his studio and exterior's shot at various Gold Coast locations.
``The three feature film projects we will be presenting over there are different genres and different styles, but always with the main focus to make mainstream international films,'' said Gould.
``We don't make Australian films, we make international films for a mass audience but we want to shoot it all on the Gold Coast.
``You can go from the beach to the mountains, the suburbs to the city really quickly and what you can't do externally, you can build.''

Above: A still from Awaken

Gould and his team built a prison set at the studio for his short film Inseparable Coil, which he said is an "appetizer'' for the feature film that looks at the relationship between twin brothers and the events that test their bond.
The film screened at the 29th Breckenridge Festival of Film in Colorado and featured in Digital Media World magazine for its cutting edge technology.
``The film was set in Boston, but we shot it all here on the Gold Coast and you really couldn't tell the difference,'' said Gould.
``That's what we want to do with a lot of out films.
``There's a lot of potential for films in Australia and we need to attract the talent here.
``It's important to have a base, whether we shoot a film in Malaysia and do all the post production here or do the whole process from here.''

Below: David Gould

With over 15-years in visual effects and computer graphics, Gould has worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation and Peter Jackson's company Weta Digital, where he was the senior technical director on King Kong and 3D lighting technical director on Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers and Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King.
Working with Jackson, arguably one of the most successful filmmakers of all time, Gould said he learnt a lot about running his own studio.
``Peter is in many ways inspirational because it's not so long ago he was working on his first film, taking four years to shoot it on the weekends and with his friends as the actors.
``He comes from a low budget film making background and has built his empire, so to speak.
``There's two sides to him, he's known as this guy-next-door-type and he would roll up to work in a jacket with duct tape on it, board shorts and no shoes and just rock in and tell us what to do.
``But at the same time, with King Kong he was the highest paid director getting $32 million to do it.
``Now he can build his whole production in Wellington from the script all the way to shooting it.
``When he took on Lord Of The Rings they wanted him to shoot in L.A, but he said `no' and made them shoot in New Zealand which was great for the sweeping landscapes and tourism.
``We could do something similar here if we perfect our production on the Gold Coast.''
Gould writes, produces, directs and does the post production on his films, and his wife also helps produce.

Above: A still from Awaken

Awaken, his latest short film has been getting all sorts of buzz, and not just from animation enthusiast like myself.
About a robot soldier that learns how precious life is when he inadvertently raises a small bird, the film shares a trait with Pixar Oscar winner Wall E; it has no dialogue.
“The idea is effectively about him coming to terms with the world around him, and the importance of life.
“There’s no dialogue at all, a lot of the emotions are all told through facial expression.
“Everyone was amazed how emotive the characters were as the robot is very simple in design, he’s just a mouth that opens and closes.
“Like a mechanical puppet in a way.
“It comes down to how he holds his head and how we position the camera.
“The fact he doesn’t speak in the movie makes the movie very personal, because the audience makes up their own mind’s about what he's thinking.
“A lot of people interpret the ending in a different way, and that’s why the film is getting a lot of great responses.
“There’s no right or wrong interpretation, I love hearing people’s thoughts on that.”

Above: A still from Awaken

Quite the interesting guy, no? You can find out more about Gould, his projects, films, past work and David Gould Studios by heading over to his website here. The biography is particularly impressive and hopefully he goes on to make as much as an impression with his cutting-edge films' as Jackson has. Fingers crossed.

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It's oh so lovely

OHMIGOD!OHMIGOD!OHMIGOD!OHMIGOD!OHMIGOD!OHMIGOD!
OHMIGOD!
Yesterday I wrote a post about how the trailer of a trailer for The Lovely Bones was driving me nuts with anticipation. TODAY I come to you with the OFFICIAL (squeal) FULL LENGTH (squeal) TRAILER (cue three minutes of squealing)!
Watch it HERE!
Or HERE!
And HEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEE!
Heck, it doesn't actually matter which link you click as it all directs to the same trailer complete with an introduction from a trim Peter Jackson. You don't understand how ecstatic I am, I have been waiting for this trailer for years! Seriously, years, since I first heard the novel was being adapted.
It's a perfect trailer. For a perfect movie and I think the Oscar buzz is warranted. I hope you enjoy the trailer as much as I do because lord knows I will be watching this puppy all night y'all.
The Lovely Bones opens on boxing day here in Australia and its release is eclipsing Christmas in my mind.
Thoughts???

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Give a blog a bone

(Below) Mark Wahlberg and Saorise Ronan in a scene from Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones

So what if I'm a day late in posting this footage. Take the Tyson approach and bite me.

Entertainment Tonight screened an exclusive first look at footage from the film I'm most looking forward to this year - The Lovely Bones.

For some shiteous reason I was unable to let you view what is essentially a trailer of a trailer on this page. However, you can view it here.

In fact, you MUST view it here.

Sure, it's such a painfully short teaser you want to scream in frustration but it's like I always say "a little bit of chocolate is better than no chocolate at all".

For the record, the tiny clip gave me goosebumps. Visually it looks so ridiculously accurate to the images I imagined in my head whilst reading the book I'm kind of freaked out.

Other than that, I'll be frank and admit I'm feeling like a lazy blogger tonight. I do not want to write anymore soooooo I suggest you read these former posts to learn more about the film.

• Boner anyone?
• A bone to pick
• 51 film Movie Mazzupial is looking forward to in `09
• Wahlberg taking no Prisoners in `09

(Above) Saorise Ronan and the brilliant Susan Sarandon in a scene from the movie

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A bone to pick . . .

I said I’d keep you updated on the filming of The Lovely Bones but unfortunately since my last post there hasn’t been much to report. The only recent snippet from the Peter Jackson camp was shooting has been progressing ahead of schedule. THIS JUST IN! Clearly enough of the movie has been filmed to throw together a trailer and the press in London were treated to an exclusive screening last week. A contributor from online movie and video games bible Ain’t It Cool News had this to say:
“Finally we got to see the trailer for lovely bones – have not read the book myself but my girlfriend ensures me that from the footage I described the film should be a massive hit. Trailer is very upsetting but in my mind give away WAY too much of the plot.”
Hmmm. . . well the subject of the entire book is quite upsetting so I’ll overlook that comment. I mean, honestly, a novel about a 14-year-old girl who is raped and murdered isn’t exactly going to draw fans from the The Devil Wears Prada and Memoirs of a Geisha crowd. Frankly, if the film wasn’t upsetting then I’d be calling Jackson a sell out for steering away from Alice Sebold’s original material. I hope not too much of the plot is revealed because although audiences will want to know in detail what the movie is about (in 2 to 3 minutes mind you) they still need to want to know more to go and see it.

I just hope they post the trailer on YouTube soon.

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Six on the beach

For no other reason besides the fact I can, I’ve complied a list of my top six favourite directors. If I provided explanations behind my choices this post would probably end up three times the size of `The Power of Levitt-ation’ and nobody wants to go through that. The following are in no particularly order and I’ve also included a few notable mentions of directors I love but not as much as those featured in the top six. Some, like Ben Affleck and Rian Johnson still have to prove themselves but from their debut directorial offerings I’m a fan.

Movie Mazzupial’s Top Six Favourite Directors

Robert Rodriguez

Tim Burton
Hayao Miyazaki Terrence Malick Quentin Tarantino
Ang Lee

Honourable mentions: Guillermo del Toro, Clint Eastwood, Brad Bird, Wes Craven, Chris Nolan, Alfred Hitchcock, Peter Jackson, Rian Johnson, Tim Robbins and Ben Affleck.

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Boner anyone?

By nature I’m a very excitable person and considering new movies come out every week, it’s a miracle I haven’t exploded in to a glittery ball of joy by now. Alas, I’m still standing (or skipping rather). What is the one movie I’m most excited about you ask?
It’s none other than, drum roll please, THE LOVELY BONES

One of my favourite books of all time is being made in to a movie! Rejoice! This project has been common knowledge for a good year or two now, however, since I’ve only had a blog for three days this is the first chance I’ve had to write about it. The novel is a multi-genre piece written by Alice Sebold and was a number one best seller throughout the world. Why? I’ll tell you why young grasshoppers-because it’s beautifully written and beautifully tragic. The Lovely Bones tells the story of Susie Salmon who is raped and murdered when she’s 14 while walking home from school. From heaven, Susie watches down on her loved ones and how they cope with her gruesome murder. She watches her killer, how her classmates are affected by her death and the police involved in trying to solve the case. Interesting idea, which could have fallen on its arse if it wasn’t for Sebold’s execution. So the talented writer decides to sell the rights to her book to colossal talent Peter Jackson and his Lord of the Rings writing buddy Fran Walsh at WingNut films. The trio chat over coffee, have a few donuts, write a screenplay and Jackson adds the final tick in the best-way-to-adapt-a-novel-ever column by directing the movie. “But who shall star in such a potentially awesome movie?” pondered Jackson one night. “Uh-huh!” he said. “I’ll assemble the most awesome cast ever.” Okay `most awesome cast ever’ may be a bit melodramatic but for myself personally I couldn’t think of a more interesting combination or actors. With a dash of Mark Wahlberg, a pinch of Rachel Weisz and a sprinkling of Susan Sarandon as the three main leads Jackson stirs together a stellar dramatic cocktail. Did I mention 13-year-old Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan (of Atonement fame) is dead gal Susie Salmon? No? Silly me.
Unfortunately this puppy has an October 16, 2009 release date meaning it will be out in Australian cinemas a few days later. The films completion is still a long way off but be sure to stay posted for plenty more updates on the progress of The Lovely Bones movie. It’s currently being filmed in New Zealand.

PS: Ryan Gosling was originally down to play the role of Susie’s father and even gained a belly and beard for the character. Two days before filming he pulled out and was replaced by my husband-to-be Mark Wahlberg who had just finished shooting the financial and critical flop The Happening in Pennsylvania. Apparently the last minute bail was because Gosling and Jackson had `creative differences’. I think it’s because Gosling’s “if I’m a bird you’re a bird” bullshit was no match for the power of Dirk Diggler baby.

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