Tag Archives: Paul Kelly

Melbourne workshop & showcase for new theatrical work

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Look who dropped by our incredible theatre workshop last November…

We had a truly fantastic week and were well looked after by the folks at The Alex Theatre, in St Kilda Melbourne. We learned a lot, the work improved tremendously over the course of the week, and we had a great turn-out on Saturday (21/11) when we showed an hour of material from the show to Australian theatre movers and shakers (and friends & family of course). We’re now working hard to capitalise on that buzz as we move towards an out of town production somewhere in Australia (location TBC) in late 2016 or early 2017.

Huge thanks to Paul, Jonathan, Patrick, JR, Gemma, Nick, Missy, Amanda, Jeremy, Natalie, Dan, Mark, James, Toby, Josh & everyone else – too many to name – who helped make it happen!

I can’t wait to announce details about the project as we lock down the dates and location of our first public performances.

Stay tuned…

Me with Paul Kelly
Director Jonathan Alver (L) with Jeremy Stanford
Gemma Ashley Kaplan
JR Reyne (L) and James Freeman
Mark Bradley and Natalie Gamsu
Missy Higgins, Gemma Ashley Kaplan and JR Reyne, St. Kilda, Nov 2015
Missy Higgins, Nick Simpson-Deeks, Amanda Harrison, St Kilda Nov 2015
James Freeman with Paul Kelly, St Kilda 2015
Jeremy Stanford (front) with Dan Kelly, Mark Bradley & James Freeman (rear)
Missy Higgins
Jeremy Stanford and Natalie Gamsu
The cast, band & collaborators with Alan: New musical workshop, St Kilda, Melbourne, November 2015

It’s in the Can!

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Sigh… the road to hell is paved with good intentions about keeping this blog up-to-date… c’est la vie.

In news since December (date of my last post)

1. Eddie and I parted ways and the music was brilliantly done by Rhombus. They brought real creativity to the job and also an incredibly diligent, reliable and professional work ethic – thanks guys!

2. Lisa Chappell came in and post-synched some dialogue and recorded the vocals of our Paul Kelly song, Be careful what you pray for. Despite being knackered from a full-on theatre show (The Importance of Being Earnest) in which she played a leading role.

3. Matt Aickin, working out of Ant Nevison’s sound studio, did a truly awesome job of the sound design and sound mix. The whole project has been given a huge lift with the addition of music and sound FX, including foley, room background noise, etc, etc.

4. The titles and opening credits were finalised. Big ups to Brenton Cumberpatch for his work. Simple, but very effective titles!

5. The colour grade was done, tweaked, and tweaked again. Thanks to the invaulable input from Dan Wagner, DP, and of course to Paul Lear, the fantastic colourist working out of Images. Again, the often subtle work he did with colour, contrast, light, etc all added up. Taken together it really adds to the emotional impact of the film.

6. Having submitted ‘Be Careful…’ as a work-in-progress, I’ve officially missed out on being selected by the film festivals in Cannes, Edinburgh and London. (Including the Director’s Fortnight and the Critics Week in Cannes.) But I’ve been keeping busy stuffing envelopes and courier packs. I’m waiting to hear back from:

– Melbourne

– Dances with Films

– Palm Springs Short Film Fest

– DC Shorts

– The New Zealand International Film Fest (including the ‘Homegrown’ selections)

– Sidewalk Moving Picture Fest (Birmingham, Alabama)

– Hawaii International Film Fest

– Hollywood Film Fest

– St Louis International Film Fest

And will submit to more when I’ve run-off more of the locked-off copies of the film. Keeping fingers and toes crossed! 🙂

Next step is to lock down a date and venue for the cast, crew & friends screening!

Lisa Chappell will sing on our short film

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BREAKING INTO HOLLYWOOD WITH A SELF-FUNDED SHORT FILM? IMPOSSIBLE!!

Lisa Chappell

Lisa Chappell will showcase her impressive singing talents on the soundtrack of 'Be Careful...'

Lisa Chappell has kindly agreed to allow us to consider material from her debut solo album When Then Is Now for the soundtrack of ‘Be Careful…’
A copy of her CD is with the editor, Nic Smith, and we’ll try a few different tracks to see how they play under the images. I’m very excited about this idea as Lisa has an amazing voice and the idea of using one of her beautiful love songs as a sort of “siren song” (she plays a femme fatale, Fi) when she seduces our leading man is compelling.

But wait, there’s more!!

Now we’ve resolved the oustanding issues around the usage of Paul Kelly‘s song, Be Careful What You Pray For (see earlier post) I can announce that Lisa has agreed to perform lead vocals on this track, too!

This song was a major inspiration for the script. Getting our lead actress to sing it over the end credits would be truly awesome!

Watch for updates…

Paul Kelly’s original version is available on his Greatest Hits – Songs From the South Vol I & II, available at good stores everywhere (and even a few mediocre ones), including Amazon.com I can’t recommend this great double album highly enough.

Here’s a link where you can hear a sample of Be Careful What You Pray For – enjoy!



Paul Kelly’s Song for Our End Credits???

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BREAKING INTO HOLLYWOOD WITH A SELF-FUNDED SHORT FILM? IMPOSSIBLE!!

I think we might! (Get use of the song. We’ll have to see about breaking into Hollywood…)

Paul’s song “Be Careful What You Pray For (You Just Might Get it)” was part of the inspiration of “Be Careful…” As a card-carrying member (metaphorically speaking) of the Paul Kelly fan club, it’s long been my desire to play this song over the end credits. A sort of homage, if you will.

Well, 10 minutes ago I got an email from his management company saying “Paul wants to make this happen” along with a request for a DVD copy of the film when it’s finished!

I think this nearly makes up for the disappointment of not getting SIPF funding for the postproduction.

Paul Kelly, genius Aussie singer-songwriter

Paul Kelly, genius Aussie singer-songwriter