Sam Worthington’s Drift will employ 70 WA locals
Due to begin shooting next week, surf drama Drift, depicting the 1960s and ’70s surf communities that helped to create an international youth lifestyle will employ over 70 WA cast and crew.
Directed by Morgan O’Neill and Ben Nott, the film will star Myles Pollard (Wolverine, McLeod’s Daughters) and Zavier Samuel (Twilight Eclipse, The Loved Ones) as the Kelly Brothers alongside Sam Worthington (Avatar, Clash of the Titans, Terminator Salvation) as a travelling surf photographer and filmmaker.
Other cast include Ann Brandt (Memphis Beat), Robyn Malcolm (Outrageous Fortune), Steve Bastoni (Underbelly) and Aaron Glenane (The Black Balloon).
In a statement, co-directors O’Neill and Nott said “The story is about the birth of the relationship between Australian surf culture and global youth culture that still resonates around the globe today. The wandering surf lifestyle is now the mystical ‘dream life’ for many, but in the early days the quest for freedom was a perilous and uncertain journey.”
The six week shoot is spread across the rugged Western Australian coastline to visit famous surf towns Margaret River, Yallingup, Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin among other locations.
The screenplay is written by O’Neill from an original story by O’Neill and Tim Duffy who will also produce alongside Pollard and Michele Bennett (Chopper). It will be distributed by Hopscotch Films/Entertainment One.
A production by World Wide Mind Films, Drift is funded by Screen Australia, South West Development Corporation, ScreenWest, and Screen NSW with regional funding partners, the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, Shire of Busselton and Tourism Wa and Augusta Margaret River Tourism Association.
