Bob Morley leads the cast of US indie horror Another, produced by fellow Australian actor Artin John.
Currently shooting in LA, the film marks the debut feature of director Andy Chen, with whom John and fellow producer Kealani Kitaura are long-time collaborators.
Penned by Chen and Alexander Hernandez-Maxwell, Another follows Joey (British actress India de Beaufort), an author struggling to cope after her brilliant scientist husband, Ben (Morley), tragically dies. When Joey wakes one morning to find Ben making pancakes in their kitchen – as if nothing ever happened – her reality begins to fracture. The cast also includes YouTuber and comedian Anna Akana, genre icon Doug Jones and Nightmare on Elm Street star Heather Langenkamp.
It is the second time in as many years that Morley has played someone who has died and come back to haunt someone – the other being 2023 ABC comedy In Limbo, opposite Ryan Corr.
For John, who is also an actor – he just wrapped a role on a project on the Gold Coast – working with Morley is a full circle moment.
“I moved to LA in 2019 and have been here on and off since then. I was living in Vancouver before then since 2012 (I was 18 when I left Aus to pursue the dream in North America). Bob and I actually overlapped in Vancouver and share a few mutual connections there. In our first meeting for Another Bob asked me, “How come we’ve never met?’ And I said, well, funnily enough we have,” he tells IF.
“In 2013 when I was 19, I had just come off an acting role on Emily Owens M.D. (series was cancelled). I needed some pocket change so I took on some low key work as an extra on the 100… where I spent most of my time hiding from the director Bharat Nalluri – who is now funnily enough based in Australia – because Bharat had just directed me in Owens, and I didn’t want him to see me doing extra work. Twelve hours into the day I remember Bharat spotting me and being very confused as to what I was doing there. Bob and I chatted on that set. He was nice to me. 12 years later, I’m producing a feature he is starring in.”
John says the footage from Another is “looking spectacular”; they are editing as they go. He regards Chen as a “visionary rising director”. The project has been shepherded to screen by Range Media Partners, who rep Chen.
“It’s an honour to support his feature debut and produce this film from both a creative and logistical standpoint with Kealani Kitaura. I like to dream big and hop on the phone – that was the key to assembling this epic cast. It’s going to look and sound amazing. Our audience will be hooked and I’m confident there will be a bidding war,” he says.
John previously produced Chen’s viral short The Spider (which has 6.6 million views on YouTube), and on his slate is sci-fi feature Druuna and the hospitality workplace comedy series Zafs Catering, co-created and written with Christiaan Westerveld.
Chen’s other works include Gateway Drug, optioned by Jeff Robinov; and live-action horror short Fiona, inspired by DreamWorks characters.
The Another crew includes production designer Alen Stubbs, 1st AD Ronan Arthur, gaffer Mike Duong, AC Steph Vigil, and cinematographer Connor Myers.
Filming is taking place across multiple locations in LA including Andy Chen’s Cinepacks Studios in Burbank, the team’s HQ.