Closing roads for production purposes is not always easy, with filmmakers encountering varying amounts of red tape depending on where they are.
For Jacob Richardson, however, the matter was settled after a chance meeting at a cafe.
The writer/director wrapped shooting on independent film The Aegean this month, making use of locations on the Greek island of Kythira to tell the story of a widowed fisherman who undertakes a journey on the Aegean Sea with a resourceful and optimistic teenager.
He said once he got to the island, being in a community of less than 4,000 people worked to the production’s advantage.
“I remember one day I was a bit worried about closing some roads we’re shooting and the person we were speaking to was like, ‘We should just ask the chief of police, he’s in the cafe next door’,” he said.
“Then he came over and was like, ‘Yeah what roads do you need closed?’. That small town community feel really helped with our film because everyone was on board over there which made it a lot easier for us.”
The Aegean stars Costas Mandylor as Hector, a Greek fisherman who feels the weight of his age in a world that has started to forget him. However, that all changes when he meets Theodore, (Nicky Dune), a resourceful, sharp, and endlessly positive teenager, desperately seeking a saviour to rescue him from a dire situation.
United by their shared struggles, they embark on a voyage on the titular sea, leading to the discovery of a newfound purpose and a reason to carry on.
Richardson makes his feature debut with the privately funded film, which is based on interactions with his own grandfather and the impact of losing his grandmother on their relationship.
“We always used to see films together and after my grandmother died, he was like, ‘I’ll never go back to the cinema again’ and ‘I’ll never go traveling again’.
“At the time, I was experiencing this relationship with my granddad where he was closed off a little bit. Although we did get him back to see Top Gun: Maverick.”
He completed the script in three months at the end of last year on the back of his debut short Salt of the Earth premiering at the Adelaide Film Festival, receiving assistance from partner and Film Focus Productions co-owner Aida Vucic. The pair produced alongside Allisa Tsukimori and co-producer Georgina Stegman.
In choosing the location, Richardson said he was drawn to Kythira thematically as a “small remote island where most of the population leaves over the winter period, just leaving the elders of the community there”.
Prior to the five-week shoot, the creative team engaged with not only Greek screen agencies and the UNHCR in regards to the refugee crisis that has impacted the island.
While Kythira is not referenced specifically in the film, Richardson said they were able to make use of multiple connections to the area, including art director Penelope Comino.
“[Penelope’s] family’s from there and she’d been there the year before, so we had a really great insight into different locations it’d be good to shoot at,” he said.
“Also, when we were there, she had all those connections that really made like the locals get on board.”
When it came to casting, the producers initially had another actor in mind for Theodore, but were unable to secure him, something that Vucic said described as a blessing in disguise as it led them to Dune, an up-and-coming British actor who makes his feature debut.
“Nicky to the call out we had and his self tape just gave me goosebumps,” she said.
“He little bit older than we had anticipated originally, but it actually worked out really well.”
Also making his acting debut is Greek rapper Light, who charming, sinister businessman Khristos.
Richardson slid into the DMs of the musician, who has more than 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, after noticing one of the Greek casting agents was casting for one of his music videos.
“He was very nice,” he said.
“When we got over there, he said he had a bodyguard with him because there might be fans coming out to see him.
“We were like, ‘It’s a tiny island, is there really going to be that many people?’ but they would they would crowd these giant streets for him. It was quite remarkable how many people turned out on such a small island to get a look at him.”
With shooting now complete, The Aegean is completing post-production at Chop Shop Post in Brisbane.
Richardson is in the process of securing a distributor for the theatrical release, which he hopes will take place in the second half of next year after a festival run.
“This is such a beautiful international story that we’d love to see premiere at some of those big international film festivals, so that’s our focus at the moment,” he said.
“It’s on entering those and targeting those and then hopefully late next year, releasing in Australian cinemas.”