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Lou: it doesn’t Hurt to ask

Lily Bell-Tindley is LouSometimes, to get a film noticed, you need to recruit some serious talent. Micah Chua spoke with the creators of Lou, Belinda Chayko and Helen Bowden, about how British legend John Hurt ended up being part of their family drama.

Lou is the second feature film by Belinda Chayko after City Loop, produced by Matchbox Pictures’ Tony Ayres, Helen Bowden, Michael McMahon and executive producer Liz Watts (Porchlight Films).
The film tells the story of Lou, the daughter in a struggling family living in rural NSW trying desperately to make ends meet. The family bond is tested when Alzheimer’s patient and Lou’s grandfather Doyle is dumped under their care.
Lou evolved from a script that Chayko wrote as a master’s degree project at the University of Western Sydney, but the process was not an easy one.

A HAND DOESN’T HURT
The film was always intended to be a low-budget project at under $2m with an all-domestic cast, but it was apparent from the start that funding would be an issue after the now defunct Australian Film Commission program IndiVision failed to make the script a reality.
After trying unsuccessfully to secure the film’s funding privately, the team realised they would need to take the government funding route and attach an actor of international standing to get the film financed; a difficult task considering the film had a 12-year-old girl in the lead and a relatively fresh director at the reigns.
Industry connections helped in getting John Hurt on board. Prominent London-based casting director Gary Davy was contacted through friends, McMahon and Ayres and a copy of the script was sent to five different actors, amongst of which was the esteemed actor John Hurt.
“And to our great pleasure,’ said producer Helen Bowden, “he read the script and then got back in touch to say he would do it.”
With Hurt on board, the film’s production was secured.

“It was a very well written script for a start,” Hurt told Encore, “and I thought it was a very neat little film.”
John Hurt lent his talents to play the role of Doyle, Lou’s Alzheimer-suffering grandfather.
“It was a very interesting part to play, well understood and well defined.”
Despite Hurt’s talents as a character actor being commonly lent to big-budget studio films such as Harry Potter and Hellboy, Hurt still makes a point to appear in the independent sector.
“The work that I’ll be known for, apart from Alien and a few others, would basically be independent,” he said.
While Hurt’s involvement in the production took a considerable portion of the budget, it was all part of the creative team’s plan.
“The important thing to remember is that what we get back in terms of marketing by having him on the film is well-worth what you pay for an actor of his calibre,” explained Chayko.
Once Hurt became involved, the funds come rolling in. The film secured an international sales agent, Bankside Pictures, and gained the attention of a variety of financiers procuring funds from Screen NSW through their production investment program, Screen Australia, Film Victoria and the South Australia Film Corporation. Kojo Pictures signed on as distributor.

While the film was shot in northern NSW, other territories had a stake in the project as well. Melbourne-based producers McMahon and Ayres secured post-production funding from Film Victoria, while South Australia’s Kojo Pictures drew the funding from the SAFC.
While the beneficial effects of Hurt’s involvement were mainly financial, having him on set reaped some other benefits.
“Everybody lifts their game when they’re working with someone like John Hurt. Our days had to be very short and focused, and John was an additional benefit there, and that’s certainly the case for me. I’m not mucking around when I’m working with someone like John Hurt,” admitted Chayko.
Hurt’s opinion on working on an Australian set, having worked on one before with John Hillcoat’s AFI-winning The Proposition, echoed a similar sentiment, “In Australia there isn’t room for a bullshit crew; it would be found out and wouldn’t be able to work because they can’t afford that sort of nonsense.”
GETTING THE WORD OUT
Getting seen is the next battle for Lou. With the target audience identified as women aged 30-45+, it’s now the not-so-simple matter of getting the word out there.
Lou premiered at the Dungog Film Festival, and social networking sites are also being used to promote the film, with a Twitter account and Facebook page accounting for 589 followers at press time. The poster was created by Jeremy Saunders and the trailer, by The Solid State.
The film is scheduled for a limited cinema release on June 17 to 15 screens nationally (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Byron Bay, Murwillumbah and Tasmania).
“We’re really hoping we can just hang in the cinemas for long enough to get some good word of mouth and audience numbers,” said Chayko.
After Lou, Chayko will once again team up with Matchbox Pictures, for the horror film The Carrier. The project will provide a new set of challenges for her, having never worked in genre before; it will start production in 2011.

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