Holden sponsors Rachel Griffiths’ directing debut
Australian actor Rachel Griffith’s feature length movie directing debut, Ride Like A Girl, will be supported by Holden alongside Racing Victoria and Tabcorp.
The movie, which tells the life story of female jockey and Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne, is currently under production in regional Victoria.
The film stars Teresa Palmer playing Michelle Payne and Sam Neill as her father, who raised Michelle and her nine siblings as a single parent.
Along with its commercial partners, the film has been supported by Film Victoria with Screen Australia as the project’s principal investor.
Sally Caplan, head of production at Screen Australia, said: “Ride Like a Girl is the first feature from the Gender Matters: Brilliant Stories project to go into production, and the excitement in the market place about the film is testament to the industry’s commercial confidence in Rachel’s directing and female-led, Australian stories.”
Griffiths was appointed as an ambassador to Holden’s Driver of Change program in February and the car company previously supported her 1997 short film project, Tulip.
In a media statement Griffiths said: “Ride Like a Girl aims to empower women and celebrate greater diversity and inclusion in a male-dominated industry, encouraging women’s aspirations to thrive in all kinds of workplaces.”
“This film is really about what women can do, when we have dreams, when we are resilient and when we are championed. That’s what Holden did for me in my first short film and to have their support again is really special.”
Holden’s director of communications, Anna Betts said the car brand is thrilled to partner with Ride Like a Girl as part of its support for creative thinkers and local talent.
“At Holden, we continue to look for opportunities to drive change and encourage greater diversity and inclusion – inside and outside of our organisation – focusing on gender, LGBT+, indigenous and disability.
“You can’t be what you can’t see. We are thrilled to be partnering with Ride Like a Girl and look forward to inspiring Australians from all walks of life and every generation in sharing Michelle – and her family’s – story.”
Ride Like a Girl commenced filming on April 16 and is set for a mid-2019 release.
