Casting has started for feature film Red Rock Run, with the filmmakers and casting director Anousha Zarkesh looking to find the lead role of 10-year-old Lucy and other supporting roles out of Western Australia.
The family feature, which Screen Australia announced as receiving production funding last December, is set in 1978 and follows a young girl with dyslexia who dreams of winning her Vietnam veteran father’s love by setting out to win a 120 kilometre marathon race in the outback.
Some 550 kids have tested for roles so far, while a yet-to-be announced international star is attached to play Lucy’s grandmother, who helps her into the race.
Red Rock Run is the debut feature script of WA-based screenwriter Meg Shields, with Cathy Randall to direct and Miriam Stein of Tama Films producing. Production is slated to take place across Karratha and the Pilbara region later this year, following a 15 year journey to screen.
“I’m thrilled to see Red Rock Run head into production after running its own marathon from initial draft to financing,” said Shields, who first met Stein in 2009.
” The story is inspired by my experience in 1976 of running in the first kids’ team to enter the Black Rock Stakes, a 120 kilometre marathon relay race to push a barrow of iron ore from Goldsworthy to Port Hedland in the Pilbara of Western Australia. I’m excited to see the story of a young girl facing adversity and bravely undertaking a gruelling journey of self-discovery in one of the most unique and magnificent environments in the world.”
Stein recounts travelling with Shields to the Pilbara after reading her initial script.
“I was instantly blown away by the region’s beauty and the potential of sharing this uniquely Western Australian story, set in the cinematically spectacular Pilbara, with the rest of Australia and the world. Director, Cathy Randall and our team can’t wait to be based in Karratha and start shooting,” she said.
Screenwest, Lotterywest, the WA Regional Screen Fund, Spectrum Entertainment and Screen NSW have also supported the production. Icon Film Distribution will handle the domestic release, with international distribution from Parkland Pictures.
Interested actors are invited to email their photo and contact details to Zarkesh. Pilbara and other WA-based companies interested in supporting the film can contact Stein.