Maeve Dermody, Penelope Mitchell and Damien Garvey have been cast in The Fear of Darkness, a supernatural thriller from writer-director Chris Fitchett which starts shooting March 6 on the Gold Coast.
Dermody (Serangoon Road, Griff the Invisible) will play a brilliant young psychiatrist who is forced to confront the dark creature that dwells deep within her when she investigates the disappearance of a female university student.
Mitchell, who was a regular in the US TV series Hemlock Grove and appears in The Vampire Diaries, plays a patient in a psychiatric clinic who is accused of a gruesome crime.
Damien Garvey (Rake, Network Ten’s upcoming Secrets & Lies) will portray a cop who investigates the disappearance. Casting of two other key roles is due to be confirmed shortly.
The project was developed through Screen Queensland’s low budget feature film initiative. The producer is Mark Overett (Iron Sky, Separation City, Unfinished Sky) and the DoP is Jason Hargreaves. Cutting Edge will provide visual effects and post production services.
The funding is a mix of production investment from Screen Queensland, private investment, the producer offset and a sales guarantee from Arclight Films. Michael Wrenn’s Greenlight Releasing is the Australian distributor.
Overett first pitched the project at SPAAMart in Melbourne in 2012, Wrenn responded enthusiastically and he alerted Hamilton, who came on board at the American Film Market last year.
Fitchett hasn’t directed a feature since Desolation Angels in 1982 but his producer credits include Blurred, Under the Radar and A Heartbeat Away. He was project manager and deputy director of Film Victoria; CEO of the Commercial Television Production Fund, which invested $60 million in more than 20 projects; and the CEO of the Australian Film Commission until it was merged into the Film Finance Corp.
His “day job” is teaching film and TV at Bond University. The film will shoot at the Village Roadshow Studios and on the Bond University campus.