AWD REVIEW 23 8

XMAS BOOKS 8

A long time between drinks, but I'm back to remind you it's Christmas time again and my amateur sleuth, Belinda Lawrence reminds me that her adventures make ideal gifts, as well as perfect holiday reading.  Merry Christmas to All...

Books to Kill for🗡

AMAZON LINKS: viewauthor.at/BrianKavanaghClassic

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Brian+Kavanagh

Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/yat735hs

AUTHOR: http://beekayvic.tripod.com

 

In1980 I produced an Australian feature film, MAYBE THIS TIME from an award winning script by Anne Brooksbank and Bob Ellis. It has been called a flop by various film sites and appeared to sink without a trace. But there is more to the story than that.

Christmas 1979 while at Colorfilm Laboratories annual party, I was approached by filmmaker Michael Thornhill and asked would I be interested in producing a film; the title was Letters To A Friend. Interested, I followed up the suggestion and read the script which I liked very much. I knew Anne and had worked with her previously during the early days of the South Australian Film Corporation where I produced two pilot episodes for a children’s TV series, Stacey’s Gym.

The New South Wales Film Corporation had in production a number of low budget feature films, including  STIR, THE JOURNALIST. My film had a title change to become MAYBE THIS TIME.  Starting on production I had a budget limited to $460,000. The director was already attached to the project, as were actors Bill Hunter, Ken Shorter, and Director of Photography, Russell Boyd. I read recently the project had been turned down by various producers, but at that time I was unaware of it. The female lead had not been cast and it was my choice to offer the role to Judy Morris, whose work I knew and admired. Fortunately, Judy agreed. I also cast Jill Perryman as the mother. The director and I searched for the leading man. It has been claimed Jack Thompson was approached, but I knew at the time Jack was not available and we finally offered the role to Mike Preston, after seeing him in The Last of The Knucklemen. The remaining cast were chosen by the Director.

The film was completed with Editor Wayne Close and composer Bruce Smeaton.

The project was partly financed by NSWFC and a local distributor, but midway through production the distributor withdrew funds, meaning the NSWFC picked up the complete tag.

The film was completed without a distributor which meant the Corporation had full control of the film and distribution.

There was a four week screening at the Longford Cinema in Melbourne with extremely good Box Office returns.  

Soon after, I was summonsed to the Corporation’s offices to be told they were withdrawing the film from any distribution and not spending any more on it.

The Australian Film Institute annual awards were upon us, and MAYBE THIS TIME received six nominations including Best Film and Best Actress, Three Supporting Actresses, and Music. That was the year that BREAKER MORANT won most awards, deservedly so (thirteen Nominations, Ten Wins). MTT won Best Supporting Actress for Jill Perryman. The script also won the Australian Writer’s Guild award for Best Script of that year.

Enjoy the Video Trailer.

Shortly after, I was advised that the NSWFC had entered into an agreement with the Pepper Distribution Inc for a package of Australian films, including MTT, giving the rights to all films in perpetuity. There was an enquiry some time later.

“The ICAC investigated the terms and conditions of marketing agreements entered into between the New South Wales Film Corporation and an American distribution company, Pepper Distribution Inc.

Issues canvassed in the investigation included the Corporation's failure to consult those who made the films about the terms on which they were licensed to Pepper and the employment of a former public official with a company with which that person had considerable dealings in his former role.”

Soon after, the NSWFC was disbanded  and a new State Film body formed. They subsequently, many years later, were able to have the films returned, and the rights to the film assigned to me as Producer.

I hope that clears up any misunderstanding as to why the film wasn’t successful. It was never given the chance.

However, the film is now available on DVD and ON DEMAND.

DVD

https://www.umbrellaent.com.au/movies/4696-maybe-this-time-1981.html?#search_query=maybe+this+time&results=5

ON DEMAND

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/maybethistime1981/363706413

I think it is a fine film with a great cast and deserves viewing. Subject matter is as valid now as it was then. The short pitch in the Cinema Papers' production survey, Feb/March 1980 ran: The focus is on a modern woman turning 30. Overall the film concerns, hopefully and humorously, the rising cost of emotional freedom in modern times, and the mixed bag of qualities that go to make up the Australian male.

Please let me know if you view the film and your reaction to it. Happy viewing,

Brian Kavanagh

https://filmmaker2.webs.com

 

It's been a long time between drinks and for my New Year 2021 project I revisit a novel I began writing some years ago. My Belinda Lawrence murder mysteries took precedence, but now I plan to have the new work published later this year. 

Titled THE PASSING BELL, it relates to a sister and her brother meeting again after years apart, reviewing their  independent lives, assessing each other, and coming to terms with their mortality.

I'll update as the work progresses.

Keep safe....BK

Film article and interview

I am indebted to Jason Quirk for this article and interview, in which he very kindly reviews the years of my film work, from editing to producing and directing. My thanks to Jason.

The interview covers three films, 

A CITY'S CHILD 

DOUBLE DEAL 

DEPARTURE

Read, and any questions you have, please leave them here and I'll respond as soon as I can. Enjoy the show! BK

https://cultfilmalley.com.au/2020/09/07/the-cult-movies-of-director-brian-kavanagh/

Interview:

https://cultfilmalley.com.au/2020/09/08/director-brian-kavanagh-on-his-cult-movies-a-citys-child-and-double-deal/

A CITY'S CHILD

https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0M2CZEHXEN88RIU2PKG3UJJN5Y/ref=atv_sr_def_c_unkc__1_1_1?sr=1-1&pageTypeIdSource=ASIN&pageTypeId=B07YQ5JRH4&qid=1599986192

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/acityschild1971

https://www.umbrellaent.com.au/on-demand/4377-citys-child-a-1971-vod-only.html?#search_query=a+city%27s+child&results=22

MAYBE THIS TIME

https://www.umbrellaent.com.au/on-demand/4379-maybe-this-time-1981-vod-only.html?#search_query=MAYBE+THIS+TIME&results=5

 

A nostalgic glimpse of life in the mid 1960's  with the successful and popular pop group of the time, The Twilights.
The film was made as a pilot to sell the series to a TV Network, and was never intended to be screened. Made on virtually nothing, it follows the stylistic approach that was used in The Beatles films.
Sadly, the Network didn't see the value in this local production proposal,  and the series never took off. But it was fun to make, and I think the Twilights give passable performances, given that there was virtually no rehearsal  prior to filming and they were dropped into the  deep end. Mary Hardy was known to Australian TV and theatre audiences as a great comedian and also a strong dramatic actress. Madeline Orr also was a talented actress, and created the original Madge Alsop in Barry Humphries productions. It is interesting  to speculate IF the series had been commissioned, how it would have looked and if it would have been successful.
Enjoy ONCE UPON A TWILIGHT.

Now on DVD.

WHEN IS A FILM NOT A FILM?

For today’s filmmakers it might seems strange that film distribution was ever difficult; streaming, downloading, DVD’s provide endless outlets for viewers to see one’s work. But nothing really equates to viewing a film in a cinema with all the ambiance created by a million screenings of a million films.

Let me tell you a story, a story of distribution of my film A CITY’S CHILD. The film was first off the rank after Liberal PM John Gorton decided the industry needed some support. The Experimental Film Fund was the first to receive funding and $6000 of that went towards production of A CITY’S CHILD.

It’s conception and realisation I’ll leave for another time, but I take you back to 1971; the film had completed and went on to screen at various film festivals around the world. That is also another story for another time; I’m dealing now with a year or so later when John Fraser, who at that time was with Greater Union a film distributor in Australia.

John, who supported and believed in Australian films, fought valiantly to have GU screen the film and eventually won, but it was a hollow victory.

GU, not wanting the film, decided to claim it as invalid under the quality clause of the New South Wales Film Quota Act.

“The Film Quota Act, full title the New South Wales Cinematograph Films (Australian Quota) Act was an act of legislation passed in September 1935 that came into force on 1 January 1936. Under the Act it was compulsory that in the first year of operation 5 per cent, of the films distributed in New South Wales must be Australian productions, the percentage to increase yearly for five years when it becomes 15 per cent.”

This despite being produced in Melbourne with an all Australian cast and crew, with Federal Government Investment (it was not initially a grant). Media reports on this forced GU to relinquish their claim and reluctantly they agreed to distribute the film. After a very limited release in suburban cinemas, the film was withdrawn. My eternal thanks to John Fraser for his efforts (he also helped Brian Trenchard Smith with the release of The Man from Hong Kong).

To achieve the cinema release, the Australian Film Development Fund allotted $5000 towards costs for the blowup from 16mm to 35mm; ColourFilm deferred payment of $5000 for lab work. The total $10,000 I personally paid back. I also personally funded the 16mm prints and freight to the various international film festivals, which then required a physical print. There was no Government funding for this.

I suppose if A CITY’S CHILD  were to be made today it may obtain distribution through the Art House cinemas, and I can understand the business heads at GU at the time not wishing to take the film, which they probably believed to be noncommercial, but their claim it was not Australian as a devious way to not screen local product, revealed who their masters were at the time. “Hooray For Hollywood”.

https://vimeo.com/363749594

However, now the film is available online, so you have a chance to evaluate it. I hope you enjoy it, if only for Monica Maughan great performance. Enjoy!

PRIME VIDEO https://tinyurl.com/yy7qlnl2
UMBRELLA ENTERTAINMENT https://www.umbrellaent.com.au/on-demand/4377-citys-child-a-1971-vod-only.html
VIMEO https://vimeo.com/ondemand/acityschild1971

From the Sydney Film Festival:

The best and most mature of the Australian features is "A City's Child" produced and directed by Brian Kavanagh.

Set in a middle class suburb of Melbourne, the film, written by Don Battye, treats the loneliness of a thirtyish spinster who, following the death of her carping, invalid mother, builds a world of fantasy out of solitude and frustration.

Too often the director appears uncertain of what to do next with a resultant loss of dramatic tension and is prone to that all-Australian failing, the hammer-heavy delineation of obvious symbolism. But on the whole Kavanagh achieves an admirable blend of narrative elements and layman's sociology.

The subtle, knowing performance of Monica Maughan as the central character is a further asset. Miss Maughan constructs a cautious portrait of internal pain, of a woman alive but incapable of living.

Kavanagh's website also quotes this mention arising from the London Film Festival:

And Brian Kavanagh's intense view of a lonely spinster in Sydney, finding kinky consolation in the collection of dolls, " A City's Child," creates an errie atmosphere which remained with me long after most of the festival's other films had been and gone. Eric Shorter, London Daily Telegraph, December 1st 1971.

And this notice by Ken Quinnell in Nation magazine on 22nd January 1972:

There can be no mistaking Brian Kavanagh's exceptional talent as a director. Throughout, the precision of his camera placements, the flow of movement within the frame, and the exacting performances serve perfectly the underlying ambiguity of events and produce a masterpiece in miniature.

https://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/downunderclub/citys-child#downunderclub