Peter Koevari, Greg Powell and Clinton Harn.
Sean Dennehy plays a scientist who partners with a weary cop to try to take down a seemingly untouchable Triad leader in Jiva, a sci-fi thriller now shooting in South-East Queensland.
It’s the first feature from producer/writer Peter Koevari’s GP2 Entertainment and actor/director Greg Powell after they collaborated on a bunch of short films including D-Evolution, Tick Tock, Mother’s Day and Ring Around a Rosie.
“Greg and I started speaking about some deep tones, feature-length ideas and came up with the idea of Jiva, which took shape after a lot of research about the soul as well as pre-planning development,” says Koevari, a novelist whose works include the dark fantasy series ‘Legends of Marithia’.
“I wanted to write something original that feels Hollywood in production quality, makes people think and want to watch the film multiple times.
“We want to make a globally distributed and marketable film that Australia can be proud of and do it with self-funds, with top quality performances and an epic story that could be graced as a Netflix Original. Grand goals, I give you, but we always aim high.”
Dennehy, whose credits include Don’t Tell, Rake, The Gods of Wheat Street and Secrets & Lies, leads the 35-strong cast. His character Julian is grief-stricken after the death of his lead researcher Doctor Lane (Vanessa Bristow) and continues his research despite the closure of Intech labs.
He makes a life-changing discovery which could provide a path to saving the souls of those he lost. Powell plays Shane and Martin Sta Ana is Zhang. The cast includes Winnie Mzembe, Bella Rose, Chantal Elyse and Wilhelmina Lyffyt.
The film’s title is a Sanskrit word for the living being or soul. The crew includes DOP Clinton Harn and costume designer Jen Hetherington.
The producer approached Screen Queensland on multiple occasions but says he found none of its programs fitted his genre film or level of experience.
“Currently we are self-funded and open to investments and sponsorships,” he says. “We do not yet have a distributor or sales agent and will be chasing both of those as soon as we cut a trailer.
“There have been some early inquiries on that front but nothing has yet proceeded. This will be a big focus for us as our short films head toward festivals and seek accreditation.”