Danielle Cormack (Photo: Darren Tieste).
Production has kicked off today on digital series Patricia Moore from Sydney-based Cobbstar Productions and France’s Black Sheep Films.
The 10 x 10 minute series has been commissioned for French streaming app Blackpills – set to launch in Australia next year – which specialises in short-form content. The platform came on board with the project after it was selected for the Digital Short Form Series Pitch at MIPTV in April.
A coming-of-age story about a family of cannibals, Patricia Moore will star Danielle Cormack (Wentworth, Underbelly, Rake) Les Hill (Underbelly, Rescue Special Op’s, Wonderland), Marlo Kelly (Home and Away), Jack Ruwald (The School) and Joe Klocek (Nowhere Boys, Neighbours), along with Jeanette Cronin (Janet King, Crownies). The shoot will take place around the outskirts of Sydney, as well as in Lithgow and Glen Davis.
Kelly will play 16-year-old Patricia (Kelly) whose Mum (Cormack), uncle (Hill) and brother (Ruwald) have been on the run for eight years from a cult of cannibals responsible for their insatiable addiction. The family travel through the outback in a custom-made bus with a freezer to keep their ‘meat’ fresh, trying to avoid unnecessary human contact. However, when the vehicle breaks down, they are forced to anchor down in a nearby town where they get hungry and need to eat.
Written and directed by Blake Fraser, Patricia Moore will be produced by Chris Thompson and EP’d by Brian Cobb and Mathieu Van de Velde. The project has been supported by Screen Australia’s online production program.
Fraser describes Patricia Moore as a “coming of age horror that looks at the politics of a family living in a vice-like situation; a family who are wholesome on the outside but are rotten underneath by an insatiable hunger for human meat.
“Patricia begins to uncover secrets about her own family that shakes up her relationship and causes her to break away from their rules of survival, challenging the theme that no matter how we might feel about the actions of family, we are tied to them for life”.
EP Van de Velde said Patricia Moore was an extraordinary story from a new generation of talent. “I absolutely believe in the tremendous added value of pooling Australian and European skills and Patricia Moore is the perfect illustration of premium original content created locally with a global audience in mind, paving the way for many more Australian and international projects together.
Patricia Moore will wrap in late October, with an exclusive release with Blackpills slated for March 2018.