Production commences on Now Add Honey
Production has commenced in Melbourne for Now Add Honey, a feature length comedy from production company Gristmill, the producers of ABC’s The Librarians and Upper Middle Bogan which begins on the ABC on August 15.
Now Add Honey is written and produced by Robyn Butler and stars Butler as well as Arrested Development actress Portia de Rossi, Hamish Blake, Packed to the Rafters’ Erik Thomson, Angus Sampson and Ben Lawson.
Wayne Hope will direct the film which will be distributed by Roadshow in Australia and New Zealand. The release date is yet to be announced. Butler, Hope and Louisa Kors are producing the film with Geoff Porz and Greg Sitch executive producers.
The premise of the comedy centres on Honey Halloway, a Hollywood teen star who returns home to Australia and finds her life crumbling into chaos when her mother is sent away and she is forced to stay with her aunt in the suburbs of Melbourne.
In a statement Butler said: “I’m delighted to be working with such an amazingly gifted crew, led by my favourite director.”
Meanwhile in Sydney, production is underway for The Little Death, the first film on the slate of Ticket to Ride, a newly created independent production and finance initiative founded by See Pictures’ Jamie Hilton and Michael Petroni and backed by the UK’s Head Gear Films.
The film marks Australian actor Josh Lawson’s directorial debut and is produced by Phil Hunt who joins the project as executive producer for Head Gear Films alongside Josh Pomeranz, Stephen Boyle and Viv Scanu. Matt Reeder will produce for See Pictures alongside Petroni and Hilton. Bankside Films will sell international rights to the film and Hopscotch/eONE will distribute in Australia.
In a statement, producer Hilton said the film will demonstrate the initiative’s finance structure and the organisation’s “ability to cash-flow low budget films without impacting on the very limited direct investment resources at Screen Australia and state government funding bodies.”
Drawing on a network of investors and supporters, Ticket to Ride aims to fully finance feature films up to $2m made viable through relationships with sales partner Bankside Films, local distributors, the Australian Producer Offset, cash-flow and equity from Head Gear Films, investment from Deluxe Australia and Red Apple Cameras, as well as above-the-line reinvestment. The company aims to produce up to three films at this budget level each year.
