Back on the Block

Sarah Spillane’s low-budget feature, Around the Block, points to inventive business models as it seeks to capitalise on the success of indigenous films says Ed Gibbs.

Although noticeably absent during Encore’s set visit, the shadow of the film’s Hollywood star, Christina Ricci, can be felt in the two-storey house in Sydney’s inner west where production is underway for the micro-budget feature Around the Block.

Ricci, who declined to do any press ahead of the film’s release, agreed to sign on to the project after writer/director Sarah Spillane’s producers, Sue Armstrong and Brian Rosen of Tree Films, inked what’s becoming an increasingly popular deal for features from first time filmmakers.