Promising Griff, fading Heartbeat
The performance of last week’s three Australian limited releases ranged from promising to disappointing.
Griff the Invisible (Transmission) grossed $66,344 from 21 screens (average $3,159.23); The Reef (Pinnacle) earned $58,196 from 38 screens (average $1,531.47) – most of them in regional areas. A Heartbeat Away (Hoyts), which received mostly negative reviews, made $44,204 from 73 screens (average $605.53).
Griff‘s performance was good enough for Cinema Nova to expand sessions of the film from March 24.
In comparison, the number one film Battle: Los Angeles (Sony), supported by a strong marketing campaign, impressive visual effects and the usually successful theme of an alien invasion, had a screen average of $7,838.07.
Hold on…if a Heartbeat Away has gotten nothing but negative reviews, with one review saying that the film should never have been made, how did this script get $7million and how did it get past the phalanx of indifference at Screen Australia and get made? Could somebody at Screen Australia call a press conference and tell us how this film, which one review here says: “That plot is so similar to Brassed Off it borders on plagiarism.”…
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewe.....beat-away/
This is getting beyond a joke..is it a joke? If so could we be told the punchline of how a film like this gets a $7million dollar budget and how much of this $7million was taxpayer funded? If the whole development board at Screen Australia was working for a private company they’d be sacked..am I the only one who thinks we need to inject some friggin common sense and accountability into what has become a sad sad joke on the whole industry.
I say to all the filmmakers out there who care, its time we began to brew up a storm using social media and applying political pressure to stop this shocking waste of funds that could be better distributed to support multiple film making careers across a variety of disciplines..especially the much neglected craft of screenwriting. Its time to get angry and force change with radical ideas and put an end to this lazy cynical film making that does nothing more than try and piggy back on old worn out narratives that tick all the required boxes that lead us down the path to mediocrity and audience apathy
PS: I watched the trailer and felt no need to see the film..the whole narrative seemed condensed into two minutes..so what could have been a short became a $7million dollar flop?
Lets all kick back and listen to the rationalization on this one…or the usual wall of smug muted silence
Enough really is enough…this isn’t a joke, its a nightmare
They would tell you that film is a very collaborative medium and there are so many factors that it’s impossible to predict how the final film is going to turn out.
They’d say the script and the execution of said script are two different things, so they could not anticipate that the script they approved (where they saw the potential of the project) would not deliver the results they expected.
Because it’s a $7m project, it is eligible for the Producer Offset, so that’s 40 percent or $2.8m they got back (in reality it works out to be a little less than 40%, but still).
There was money from Screen Australia and Screen Queensland (PFTC).
There was money from Hoyts (ouch!).
It would be interesting to read the original ‘Heartbeat’ script to see what it was that got the money flowing. I saw the shorts and cringed (most cliches ever in the least amount of screen time?).
‘Brassed Off’ was an OK film, but it’s not something anyone sensible would choose to reproduce in order to make money. They should have copied ‘Avatar’ instead.
And a $7M budget. WTF?
Oh..okay now I see how this works..
“Chris Fitchett was CEO of the Australian Film Commission from 2006 until its merger with the Film Finance Corporation and Film Australia to form Screen Australia. He was the Executive Director of Production Support & Investment at Screen Australia until early December 2008 when he returned to the industry as an independent filmmaker.”
taken from: http://www.aheartbeatawaymovie.com/chris-fitchett/
So now we get some transparency about how these things work..thanks to Google
I was thinking that screenplays and film concepts were funded on a merit system based around the quality of the concept and the screenplay in question…silly silly me. Now I realize that you have to have worked in the industry, hopefully serving on a few of the funding boards, so you can then steal an idea from an existing film, in this case “Brassed Off” and then flog if off as your own so you can dip into the public trough..I was under the misguided concept that Screen Australia was here to help support Australian film makers, now I realize its here to support those who understand some strange secret handshake…a little like the Freemasons, but without the goat riding..in this case the film itself is the goat..that nobody now wants to ride. If we understand that this is an Industry that Nobody Knows Anything…why do we persist in handing out money to those that don’t know? Maybe its because those that are giving the Greenlight to this stolen rubbish, don’t know either. So if nobody knows anything…lets maybe look at employing some people that do.
Map my Summer: I’m Simply disgusted..
The whole “Film is collaborative” and that “scripts evolve” is a tired tired argument and one I am utterly sick to death of. How can we fix what is so broken if people come to the platform with cynical, stolen, mediocre concepts and push past everybody else and muzzle their way towards funding? WTF is going on…I know it’s a crazy industry but this just isn’t funny, it wasn’t funny when The Tender Hook bombed and it seriously isn’t funny now that this $7Million dollar flop has landed on our lap. Heads should roll because of this, in what other industry can you continue to fund mediocrity and remain in a position of further influence…based on what? What was the target market for this film? Some lost tribe who’s never understood the meaning of mediocrity? Who would this film appeal to? If it landed on my desk within five minutes I’d say “what a rip-off” and “who wants to see this bollocks? and then it would have been shredded. So how did anybody read this and go..”I see it.. not only do I see it I see the audience salivating to see it”
A shocking shocking waste!!
From last year’s Australian Films 2010-2011 booklet:
Target Audience: Primary – All people 39+ years
39+…I ‘d say burn that booklet or stop listening to the advice that thought that target market would respond to such tosh. Maybe a little respect for their audience’s collective intelligence might be required..what a joke
Dolly, why are you so angry all the time? Sometimes movies just don’t work, no matter how hard people have tried.
If having an passionate opinion is somehow angry, I seriously need some industrial medication. I’m just one of many passionate film makers who feels we could do better as an industry and have a local audience that has some remote respect for what we do. Films don’t just suddenly appear, they go through an enormous amount of collaborative scrutiny, or so you would think. When a $7 million dollar film just bombs, in this country its a big deal and should be, especially when you see so many other film makers struggling. Isn’t there always another path, another approach , another way of looking at something? To pose the question that everything I’m saying is just misdirected anger is an attempt to trivialize what I’m/we are saying, I get that..fine. But if what I’m doing is an attempt to stimulate the argument for change, the same argument championed by large amounts of people here and across the industry..is that a band thing? An angry thing? I don’t think so..its a passionate opinion expressed. I don’t like seeing films bomb at the tax payers/filmmakers expense. I’m sure a lot of hard work went into this film, but I also don’t like seeing creative people struggle while others seem to get rewarded without merit..I think as a creative industry we’ve evolved to the point whereby criticism is a good thing.. debate is a healthy part of the creative process, its how we stumble across fresh perspectives and radical ideas. When we shrug our shoulders and say” Oh well its just a bomb, it just didn’t work” that’s an attempt to live in denial and to brush away what could lead to a new perspective and more success.
Now where did I put those angry pills?
PS..I’m retiring that’s my last post..over and out!
Dolly, you’re absolutely right. And Belle, although I’m sure your intentions are honourable, it’s partly this prevailing attitude of “before all else we must be gentle with each other” that has allowed the current parlous state of the industry to evolve over the last twenty years. We need impassioned and, yes, heated debate, and we need to be honest and brutal with each other. And if we can’t take it, then we should be getting the hell out of the studio because, over and above everything, we need filmmakers who BELIEVE PASSIONATELY IN THEIR VISION, THEIR PROJECTS AND THEMSELVES and will fight tooth and nail to deliver dynamic films.
When an ex CEO of the Australian Film Commission delivers a $7Million bomb that is a complete rip-off of another film and every reviewer in the country is bewildered by this production and even Andrew friggin Bolt writes an article and I’m inclined to agree with him, you know that the industry is really in some serious dysfunctional disarray. I mean there has to be some accountability about this. Screen Australia must call an open mic and be scrutinized as to how and why such a turkey could go into production and why we think that wasting public funds on one very obviously flawed project is how we are going to build a diverse and robust film industry. Calling Dolly angry and suggesting some films just fail to connect is lazy and apathetic and suggests we have no hope of being able to predict the narrative and entertainment potential of a project in development. $7 Million dollars split between screenwriters and producers developing a range of concepts must and has to be a better option than just pooling everything into a cynical rip-off. The film might aspire to be feel good, but the ethos is just uninspired and cynical film making. How can anybody have any faith in Screen Australia or the powers that be when this shocking example of the inherent nepotism that rules this industry is on display…and this is all it can produce. A cliche riddled mess.
If I was Ruth Harley, I’d be calling a crisis meeting…today.
We are an industry in crisis
I read the script of Only a Heart Beat Away and with some reluctance auditioned for the part of the father.The flaws of the script were screamingly obvious from a first skim through.You just hope that the actors and director can bang it into some shape. Something is very wrong somewhere.
Andrew S Gilbert…and there you have it..from an actor who auditioned for a part…screamingly obvious flaws in the screenplay
“According to Fitchett, the film is aimed at an audience ranging from 12 to 70,”
http://www.encoremagazine.com......pirit-7254
Honestly could somebody at Screen Australia, in the development department write a piece here and explain how somebody could walk into the offices of SA and pitch this:
Producers:
“The story is about an aspiring rock guitarist (Sebastian Gregory) who is forced to take over the direction of his father’s (William Zappa) marching band four weeks before a major competition. If they lose, they will not only relive the traumatic defeat they suffered 20 years ago; they will also lose the town’s community hall to a greedy developer.”
Screen Australia:
Whats the target market?
Producers:
12-70
Screen Australia:
That’s a wide demographic…how much money do you want?
Producers
$7-8million
Screen Australia:
Hmmm…
Is this how it goes…walk us through it
12-70, eh?
I was the only person in the cinema audience under sixty.
By a good 25 years…
All I will add to this is “I TOLD YOU SO!!!”. I remember the days when I would be flogged for going against Screen Australia when they were ripping tax payers, great writers and passionate directors and producers off. Now I sit back and watch how far Screen Australia will go to hide what we as filmmakers have known for years.
So Ruth, don’t you think it’s time you stand up like a real man and tell us all what the hell is going on in your rabbit hole??? I think it’s pretty obvious with all the discussion going on here on Encore forum that more and more filmmakers are asking WHY?!?!?!
On a more positive note, my company Wingman Pictures have plans to bring two American features to this Oceanic region in the next 12 months. Why am I having to support Australian industry casts and crews but you can’t? I’m doing it with American money, you’re doing it with tax payers money?
Screen Australia???? I SAY SCREAM AUSTRALIA. I don’t think they hear you yet!!
I think a letter needs to be drawn up and sent to the federal minister for the arts..this is utterly outrageous, the more I think about it, the more I just think there needs to be some accountability. How many Tender Hooks and A Hearbeat Away’s do we need to produce that offer no return. What precautions and checks and balances were drawn up in an effort to insure that A Hearbeat Away wasn’t given the kind of reviews that call it “Cliche Riddled, A Rip Off and Should Never have been made”. This isn’t the kind of reviewing that is a little harsh, it is blanket reviewing across the board that says in bright pulsating neon THIS IS CRAP..so how did this get the green light? Who green-lighted it? Are they still working at Screen Australia and what else are they about to put into production? Why? Why? Why?
Interesting to note ‘Insidious’ (from the SAW guys) has already raked in over 13 million in the US against a budget of less than 1 mil.
I’m also curious about Hoyts… did they come in first with a distribution guarantee? What were they THINKING? It’s not like they’re massively supportive of Australian films to start with, they’re supportive of Hollywood films, full stop. I mean, I can see why this got money if Chris Fitchett was the one handing it out, to himself, but Hoyts??? This could possibly be an indicator of what happens when there is basically ONE person who makes all the acquisitions decisions in a company. Just a thought.
We’ve had nothing in terms of a statement from Screen Australia as to how and why A Heartbeat Away was given support..nothing. And this just stinks..it really does, it sends a clear message to all those aspiring and hardworking local filmmakers out there ‘tough luck getting your own film realized, but if you’re in the club (ie: an ex CEO of the AFC) and you aspire to cynical derivative film making(lets call it what it is) dressed up with the false ribbon of feel good nonsense, then you can access funding”..if you tick the boxes on all this criteria you get the greenlight. Screen Australia and others are simply waiting until this storm blows over and its forgotten..just like Tender Hook. Well I think the filmmakers of this country have had enough of this bullshit. I mean if this is what Chris Fitchett considers great innovative cinema..I really do wonder how many potential films of real innovative talent he gave the thumbs down to in his tenure as CEO of the AFC. No accountability and no transparency..from a tax payer funded organization built to support filmmakers, not the other way around… a process of denial that nobody gains from. I think its time for change..real and radical change.