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Feature: Loyalty
[Wed 08/09/2010 04:35:15]
By Amanda Diaz
Australians love criminals.
Or at least, we love to watch them on screen – as demonstrated by the popularity of films like Animal Kingdom and TV's Underbelly.
Is this a trend that's here to stay?
Jake Reedy certainly hopes so. As writer/director of local upcoming feature film, Loyalty, he hopes that his Reservoir Dogs-influenced film will appeal across the market.
"I think there's a bit of everything in it for everybody," he tells INSIDEFILM.
Set over 20 years into the future, the movie follows four low level criminals attempting to settle debts with the mob. Their task? To keep watch over a captive rival mob boss for 24 hours. But their captive is not all he appears and before long, a simple babysitting assignment escalates into a fight for survival.
Influenced by the visual style of comic books, anime and film noir, Reedy admits that while Loyalty is a violent film, "it's not just gore for gore's sake.
"I think it will definitely find its' audience," he says.
Loyalty was shot over four weeks in August 2009. Three of these weeks took place in a warehouse. Due to the number of big fight scenes, the cast and crew often found themselves working up to 18 hours a day.
"It was fairly intense," Reedy recalls. "But we had a great cast, a good crew and it really pulled together. You couldn't have asked for a better bunch of people."
The film received no funding from government funding bodies, relying on the support of private investors. Shooting on a tiny budget forced the the crew to get creative.
"I was surprised by what we could do without a lot of money," Reedy says. "It's a revelation what you can accomplish when you think outside the box. We used a few tricks."
These "tricks" included using toy guns purchased from Crazy Clint's, in addition to two real guns. After a few nifty adjustments involving balsa wood, even Reedy has trouble identifying which are the real guns on film.
"Which is what you want," he says.
With trailers and teasers up on YouTube, the movie has already drummed up a following. Loyalty's official page on Facebook has almost 2000 fans.
Reedy acknowledges that social media has become an important tool in the filmmaking process.
"It's not a way to sell your film, but it's a way to raise awareness," he says. "It's worked quite well in putting me in contact with some really great people."
The plan now is to wrap up post-production in time for a cast and crew screening in December. From there, Reedy hopes to enter Loyalty in a few film festivals and eventually find a distributor.
"I'll be shopping it around, seeing who bites," he says.
Although he's been living with the project for a long time now, Reedy remains passionate. Loyalty is, he says, "the most fun a boy can have."
But he's quick to add that as violent and bloody as it is, the film isn't just for blokes.
"It's tongue in cheek, there's a lot of black humour," he says. "There are a lot of strong female characters that I think girls will enjoy. The female characters are really kick arse."
An acceptable date movie then?
"Maybe not a first date," he jokes. "You won't get a second one after that. But if you've been dating a long time then definitely..."
Watch the Loyalty trailer here.
[Wed 08/09/2010 04:35:15]
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