Festival time! and a big 2011

Pic 1#  Ricky at Mad Max pub in Silverton (I became a member, don't ask how)

Pic #2 Ricky with mini inceptor. (Silverton's like 30mins out of Broken Hill)

Pic #3 Ricky in Bhutan! That's the Tigers Nest in the BG.

Hello friends,

Happy New Year!   Well, almost. Love this time of year.

Had a fabulous last couple of months with trips to Bendigo, Broken Hill (see fun pics above), Perth and Sydney again.  Not to mention BHUTAN! I filmed an episode of ABC series Cheese Slices there. Absolutely spectacular... and I can recommend the Yak's cheese. ...Kinda.

Screening at the Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) was the bomb! Outdoor auditorium that holds 1,100 people.  Something about watching Summer Coda in deck chairs with a brewski or bottle of vino really works! Funny that, probably because that's how the film was written!

Ricky also attended the Access Film Festival in Sydney, a beautiful event promoting access to cinema for all. Totally lovely to sit in a cinema with blind people experiencing the film.  The festival had organised an audio track that describes the actions of the characters around the dialogue, so everyone gets the full experience.  I was asked why a blind person would want to come to the cinema? Silly question when you've experienced it! Nothing really compares to the atmosphere of a cinema, whether you can see the screen or not. Ah, and lets not forget the popcorn and choc-tops (plus cider where available).

Don't get me started on Broken Hill!  Film lovers paradise. Drink at the hotel were they filmed Priscilla AND THEN drink at the pub where Mad Max II, Razorback, A Town Like Alice and Dirty Deeds were filmed! Or maybe take a tour of the brand new Mad Max 4: Fury Road studios! Amazing. I can especially recommend "becoming a member" at the Silverton Pub. It involves sticking a large red funnel down your pants. Nuff said. Thanks very much to Lyndall Roberts for setting up such a fabulous tour!

Next stop PALM SPRINGS!  Summer Coda has just been selected for the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). Very excited. We're heading over on Jan 5th. ...And so begins our international sales campaign. We've signed on with Entertainment One (E1) as our sales agent, whose recent Aussie films include Animal Kingdom, so we're in super duper hands. The next 6 months is all about getting seen in as many new territories as we can and hopefully Ricky can score a few freebie plane tix too! Nothing better than watching your film OS at a film festival. nothing better in the world!

What else is news? I've started a new production company with a bunch of other film crazed champions and we're basing ourselves in LA (just leased an office!) as well as Oz. We have a simple mantra, passed down by the king himself:  The best thing young filmmakers should do is to get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all. ~ Stanley Kubrick 

Sounds good doesn't it? We have a fabulous slate of brilliant screenplays and we're gonna do exactly what the great man suggests. Make films.  Pronto.  We're gonna do more for less. 

I was very interested to read about and watch Ed Burn's new film Nice Guy Johnny.  Made for $25k. 3 man crew, unknown actors (but for Ed himself). Everyone on profit share.  Released straight to iTunes -- no cinema release. It's doing incredibly well and it's a distribution strategy that's looking more and more appetising for Indie filmmakers.  Now Ricky is always gonna want to play at the cinema, and our next films are quite a bit bigger, but a great little flick like Nice Guy Johnny provides fantastic perspective. Write a great script, get out and make your movie! 

Massive shout out to all you wonderful supporters. What a fabulous year.  Onwards and upwards my friends!

If you're in or around LA we're screening at Palm Springs on the 13th and 15th of Jan. You can pick up tix through their website: http://www.psfilmfest.org/

We'll also be having an "Australians In Film"  Summer Coda screening in LA on Feb 24th -- more info on that bad boy soon. Come along and say...     Cider!

Lots of love,

Ricky 

PS. For Summer Coda's Facebook site with all the info click here  ...LIKE US! and you can follow Ricky on twitter here.