Director John Polson announces Sydney I Love You
Following in line with features, Paris Je T’Aime and New York, I Love You, John Polson has announced he, with Gary Hamilton (Arclight Films), will produce Sydney, I Love You – a collection of short films by some of Australia’s finest established and up and coming feature directors.
Speaking to Encore from New York, Polson said “the feature will involve 12 films, each eight to ten minutes long put together as one feature project.”
“With some of the best talent Australia has to offer,” said Polson, “the plan is to put together some of the best Australian directors and build the stories and from there find the best actors, shooting it in 2012 with a late 2012 – early 2013 release date. We haven’t got anyone yet but I’ve had some phone calls from very interested people – I know a number of directors who have had a short film idea for some years now but never had the chance to make it.”
One of the challenges with a program like this, explains Polson “is to not make it seem like 12 short films, because frankly, while that has its place, I’m not sure if it will feel like a cohesive feature film, which I’m hoping this will feel like.
“There will be things tying them together – obviously they will all be shot in Sydney; each of the 12 films will take place in a different month of the year; and with a thematic point of view they’ll all have some reference to love – they’ll all have something to say about love, whether it’s in a lighter way or a serious way, that will be the common theme. I’ve also toyed with the idea that say, the first film will finish in Bondi and second film will start in Bondi then finish in Parramatta, and the third film begins in Parramatta, so there’s a geographic connection. But I’m not looking for these directors to be part of a bigger whole, I’m really looking for them to have their own voice and vision while sitting in a family of films.
In the past films, both Paris and New York, the stories were intimate, personal stories. Polson is aware of presenting Sydney as more than just the Bridge and Opera House. “Frankly the Opera House is overdone. I’ve lived here for over ten years now and it’s the only thing you ever see on TV whether Oprah or the Olympics – anyone who has lived there knows it’s so much more than that. It would be much more about the fabric of the city. I’d love to think that someone sitting in Sweden can watch this movie and get an intimate understanding of the city as well as the characters.”
So while Polson is confident these directors, most of whom are working fulltime overseas, are still connected to modern day Sydney, “and the stories will be universal with Sydney as a backdrop, you don’t have to be from Sydney to understand it.”
For all the great work Polson has done for up and coming short filmmakers he acknowledges this is not a springboard for them. “I’m not sure I will have someone who hasn’t made a feature. It’s not really that project. I’ve done a lot of giving people a break through Tropfest. This is about making a really exciting list of people who’ve had success in features – Having said that, there will be directors who have made twenty films and others that will have made one or two. This is not a springboard, it’s for people who have been around the block a couple of times.”
Interesting to see how this plays out. Life Lessons with Nick Nolte and Martin Scorcese was a great short, one of the best I’ve seen. Francis Ford Coppola’s Life without Zoe, rates as one of the most annoying films of all time.. Woody Allen wasn’t too bad. Good on John Polson for constantly throwing up ideas and projects, we need more like him. I just hope a short like Animal Beatbox doesn’t get a look in, I’m still recovering from a mild viewing of that. Most of the Directors are working fulltime overseas..very telling.
Best of luck.
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Interesting too see who becomes attached.
RUSSELL CROWE to make his directorial debut?
Reckon Polson would make an exception to his own rule if Rusty wanted to get behind the camera…
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Sad that John Polson has not got more going on than a rehash of a rehashed idea.
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John Polson has a pretty busy schedule directing US television these days, not to mention Tropfest. I imagined this to be good news, bringing 12 proven directors back to Australia to make 12 short films with an ensemble cast, allowing local talent to work on the productions and highlighting the work of the city’s industry to an international audience and industry who might think to bring their productions down here. Just a thought.
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We all know that Polson will chose all his mates [comment edited]. No doubt Nash will be on his list, Michod too. Hell I could put money on it that Rachel Ward is also on the list.
Polson is Polson and a Polson film opportunity needs a boys club backing so i’m sure Screen Australia have already funded it!! What a joke that this even got publicity.
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Polson is the producer, so why wouldn’t he pick mates and people he likes working with?
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“and the stories will be *universal* with Sydney as a backdrop, you don’t have to be from Sydney to [shoot it.]” Paris Je T’Aime & New York, I Love You, by contrast, didn’t feel the cringey need to select French and US directors (respectively) only: get the best directors for the gig. if they happen to be Australian lovely, but if not, who cares…just make something amazing!
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LOL. That’s Hell’s Gate bridge in New York behind the director and not the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is twice the size.
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Oh Nicholas! Good eyes – they fooled us! Well I guess Polson’s staying true to his word, no bridge and opera house.
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Gosh, won’t it be nice to see some a film that is about love and not about incest and murder and crime and toilets and crocodiles and sharks and and and…
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Hey, I wish Polson a ton of luck with the project. Hope he makes something kick ass. Just one teensy observation. Who’s writing it? The directors will ‘build the stories’? Can we at least call it writing? So that people who actually write for screen feel that the world notices they actually do something.
Without a script, isn’t it just theatresports + camera?
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