The selective appeal of theatrical cinema and the emergence of Queensland as a production hotspot was on the agenda as children's content creatives came together on Monday for an AACTA Screenfest 2020 Spotlight event.
The launches last weekend of Gregor Jordan's 'Dirt Music' and Alister Grierson's 'Bloody Hell' underlined the challenges facing independent films in a theatrical market that is severely weakened by the Victorian shutdown, limits on seating capacity and the absence of Hollywood tentpoles.
"You know business is in bad shape when the documentary 'David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet' and a 'Star Wars' re-release are your top two films by a wide margin."
Exhibitors despaired as none of the new releases last weekend could catch the fourth frame of Warner Bros' 'Tenet' and no title cracked $1 million.
'Swimming for Gold' follows Claire Carpenter (Peyton List), a 17-year-old elite swimmer who is reluctantly sent to Australia to coach a boys’ swim team. On arrival in Australia, Claire finds herself face to face with long-time rival Mikayla Michaels (Lauren Esposito), and the news that the camp will close if the team loses the next meet. To save the camp, Claire must overcome her fears, put aside her differences with Mikayla and rediscover her passion.
Saskia Hampele and Liam McIntyre are starring in the romantic comedy 'This Little Love of Mine', one of the first feature films to roll in the post COVID-19 era.
This year's Gold Coast Film Festival will be bookended by two Aussie features, opening with Unjoo Moon's Helen Reddy biopic 'I Am Woman,' and closing with the locally shot comedic thriller 'Bloody Hell', directed by Alister Grierson.
Rosie Lourde is making her feature film directing debut on 'Romance on the Menu', a romantic comedy from the Steve Jaggi Company now shooting in Brisbane.