Carnifex producer Gena Helen Ashwell has responded to claims from author Matthew J. Barbeler that the upcoming film shares “striking similarities” with his 2016 novel of the same name, describing them as “confusing”.
Ashwell and Helen Leake are behind Sean Lahiff’s debut feature, which follows an aspiring documentary maker and two conservationists on a journey deep into the Australian outback to track and record native animals, only to come across a terrifying species that ends up tracking them.
After the South Australian Film Corporation posted the trailer for the film on Monday, Barbeler quoted the tweet, stating that he did not sell the rights to his novel, Carnifex: A Novel of Outback Terror, in which five tourists find themselves locked in a desperate struggle for survival in the outback after stumbling into the hunting grounds of a predator long thought extinct.
In a series of subsequent posts, the author asks his followers for recommendations of IP lawyers in Brisbane, notes the IMDB page for the film mentions his book, and makes clear that the film rights to his novel “are and always have been available for negotiation”, before calling on people not to harass those involved with the project.
In response to a query about how much the film resembles his own story, Barbeler wrote that while he had not seen the film, the similarities extended to the title, the setting, and the influence of Thylacoleo Carnifex, which was where the name of his novel originated.
Speaking to IF, Ashwell said the story for the Carnifex film had been borne out of a 2017/18 visit by her mum to Australia from the UK, during which she had been convinced about the existence of drop bears, adding that it was “confusing” as to what Barbelar was claiming.
“I went into the office and I said to my business partner, Helen, ‘This really does capture people’s imagination’, and I think it really gives us the opportunity to tell a story that is also a love letter to the Australian bush, which is very much what this film is.
“We didn’t go down the traditional route. I understand from Mr Barbeler’s Kickstarter campaign, which is the first time I’ve seen his novel, that he has gone down a completely different plot path, which is that tourists get attacked. Ours is very much from the scientific angle.”
Ashwell also noted that while the creature at the centre of film is inspired by the Thylacoleo Carnifex, it has a more ambiguous presence than the prehistoric animal, having been built especially for the project.
“The ‘Carnifex’ name means butcher, destroyer executioner, so we were very much using that take on the name rather than saying that the T. Carnifex that we know is a prehistoric creature is the kind that we see in the movie,” she said.
“We don’t actually say it’s definitely that creature – it could be a subspecies, it could be slightly different – because it gave us creative license to really explore it.
“It’s interesting because in [Barbeler’s] book, from what I can see, it is the marsupial lion. I’m only going on his Kickstarter campaign and a couple of images I have seen, but in the film, we are not being that direct.”
Barbeler offered his final thoughts on the matter on Tuesday morning, writing that it was “fantastic” if the filmmakers came to the idea themselves, while also saying he “can’t wait to watch the movie and see their interpretation of an absolutely magnificent and terrifying Australian beast that needs more love”.
Ashwell said she also looked forward to the author viewing the film in its entirety while hoping he was aware of how his claims could be read.
“If he wanted to watch the film to put his mind at rest, rather than making a judgment based on a trailer, we would be very open to that,” she said.
“He’s obviously doing this as a hobby and it’s something that he wants to get into.
“We support and train people and give them lots of opportunity, but the trouble is, there are also very serious legal implications to this kind of stuff, so we have to make him aware of that.
“It’s not something that we would want to do but making a film is a huge professional endeavour, and there are lots of obligations or responsibilities. It’s not something that we can take off the table, because groundless claims of copyright infringement under Section 202 are extremely serious.”
Carnifex will be released theatrically in Australia on December 1.