Former Big Brother presenter Mike Goldman wrote, co-produced and stars in Shooting Goldman, a hoax feature-length documentary.
Filmed over four years and produced and directed by Tony Prescott, the film follows Goldman as he struggles to break out of the reality TV show shadow and pursues his ambition to become a film actor.
His delusion escalates till he isn’t sure what is and isn’t real anymore. He becomes increasingly unsure of himself and begins to think his family and friends are actors.
Mike’s father Grant, a radio veteran who hosts the breakfast show on Sydney’s 2SM, appears in the film, leading to some emotional scenes.
Last week Australians in Film hosted a premiere in Los Angeles at the Paramount Studios attended by producers, agents, managers and talent. “It was a capacity screening and the reaction was phenomenal,” Goldman tells IF.
Shooting Goldman has already screened at the Audience Now New York Film Festival and the Sanctuary Film Festival on the Gold Coast.
“Distribution was difficult after running the film festival gauntlet,” he says. “Despite great reviews we weren’t impressed by the offers from independent distributors. It was actually going to cost us in some cases. The best thing we have done is put our film on Vimeo in HD for all to enjoy.”
Prescott has since produced, written and directed The Pretend One on a west Queensland cotton farm. David Field stars in the drama as a stoic cotton farmer whose daughter (Geraldine Hakewill) grew up with an imaginary friend (Michael Whalley), whom she invented after a traumatic event.
“The shoot was nearly entirely self-funded so now we're broke and looking for post funding from Screen Australia to complete the film,” Prescott tells IF. “We're just about to do the dance with distributors and sales agents.”