..TR>
 We love blood, guts, psychiatric asylums and gore, especially if there are one or two zombies involved. A new independent production company in Melbourne has launched into the genre with a clever marketing strategy and high hopes for the growth of the American DVD market. ...
Zombologist, Daniel Armstrong, has taken the leap from a marketing background to establish the company. Since the 1990s, Armstrong has written, produced and directed many short films. He was Line Producer of the feature film adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel The Beautiful and Damned, directed by R. Wolstencroft, and he operated the behind-the-scenes camera on the independent feature Damned by Dawn, directed by Brett Anstey.
Within his company, Strongman Pictures, Armstrong has varied roles including producer and director. "It is my job to find film projects (screenplays) that can be financed, made and sold to certain markets around the world. As Director I am called upon to shepherd the creative vision of a film through, from the pre-production phase to the end of post production.
"Comic books have been a big influence on me. Especially the psychedelic, tripped out work of Vaugh Bode, whose character designs influenced the 1970s animated film Wizards (one of my all time favs). I'm also a worshipper of Joss Whedon and his approach to storytelling. Shows like Buffy and Angel are some of the best TV you will ever see, and of course Firefly and the film Serenity. Whedon manages to capture something iconic with the worlds and characters he creates, which is a skill and talent I would dearly love to develop."
As a project-based business, the team expands and contracts depending on what work is currently on the go. For Strongman's debut feature, From Parts Unknown, the core production team included Armstrong as Director and Co-Producer, Joffa Hardy in a variety of roles including Producer, Line Producer, Unit Manager and First Assistant Director, G. Dante Sapienza as Concept Artist and Production Designer, making him responsible for the overall look of the film, and Anthony Moran, who acted as Executive Producer primarily managing the financial and many logistical demands of the project.
Sarah Howett, (actor) alias Viper from Channel 7's new TV series Gladiators). Photographer - G. Dante Sapienza © Strongman Pictures, March 2008.
Over eighty-five people have worked on the project. Cast and crew include Jenna Dwyer in the lead role of Charlie. She was a top fifty finalist on Australian Idol 2 years in a row, and is currently recording her debut album with producer and songwriter Marc Collis. Ross Ditcham plays the role of Frank, Josh Futcher as Mischa, (after a highly successful stint at the Hunchbacks theatre restaurant in Richmond) and Elke Osadnik plays the evil Roz. Also appearing in the film is Sarah Howett, a title-holding kick- boxer and Viper from Channel 7's new TV series Gladiators, and Mick Preston who starred in the US monster movie Godzilla: Final Wars.
The ambition of Strongman Pictures is what sets it apart from other independents struggling to get a feature up and running. The aim of the company is to produce low budget genre features for the North American DVD market. Armstrong says "at present we have just completed shooting our first such feature From Parts Unknown, and are now in the sales process that will prove or disprove our business model. We have half a dozen screenplays that we are also currently pitching for financial investment.
"For Strongman Pictures it began by identifying a market. There is a strong global demand for direct to DVD genre features, particularly horror features. From there it was a case of doing the appropriate research to determine the size of the market, the path to that market and the cost of producing the right product for that market. This research gave me the basic business model around which Strongman is built. With our business model we were able to find enough investors to finance a "test project", that is make a feature film for this market and prove (or otherwise) the business model by selling it. That is the stage we are at right now with From Parts Unknown."
Gaining finance involved approaching private investors with a business model. "It showed enough promise for them to give us barely enough backing to shoot a "test case" in order to prove the model sound. From here it is up to us to sell the film successfully and this will (in theory) open the doors required for the rest of the slate to obtain private backing.
"We have deliberately avoided approaching any government funding bodies as part of the business model. Our vision is to create a sustainable production company based on profitability in the commercial sector that is wholly privately funded. This is a better deal for investors and creates the right kind of motivation within the company to drive us toward markets with a range of products that make sense commercially. In this way we hope to avoid being reliant on passing through all the various red tape, assessment processes and complex financial structures required when funding comes through a government body."
Photographer - G. Dante Sapienza © Strongman Pictures, March 2008.
So why zombies for Strongman productions? "There are two reasons. One is that it makes sense for our business model. A 'zombie film' is a discreet genre that has an identifiable worldwide audience. They can be successful without the inclusion of international stars and can be produced well on a tight budget.
"The second reason is that I personally am a rabid zombie film fanatic. I can't get enough of them. They simply rule. They are genuinely horrific, funny, exciting, absurd, hilarious and awesome (not all of them, or any of them all at the same time of course). There you have it."
The vision for From Parts Unknown was to realise a distinctly comic book look and feel. Armstrong says that "stylistically this informed the cinematography, set design and costuming throughout the production. It was our ambition to create a low key fantasy comic book world for the screen, and we invented numerous rules to help us do so. For instance Dante decided that there would be very little metal in most sets. He would replace metal objects with coloured glass; so things like picture frames, candle sticks and the like were to be made of coloured glass not metal. The exception to this was the HQ of Corporation X, where shiny, silver metal objects prevailed. We also devised a distinct colour scheme for each set or location to enhance the fantasy, comic book feel of the world."
From Parts Unknown is currently in post production and negotiation with various sales agents. "The release date can not be confirmed. We're in no rush, we'll take the time to make the best film we can. We plan to have it out this year though."
As far as upcoming projects go Armstrong says that "it would be premature to announce anything, but we have two screenplays that are in the throes of financing right now. One involves zombies and mental patients... the other does not."
Cassie May |
..P>
3:07 PM
Powered by  |
| English |
| Albanian |
| Arabic |
| Bulgarian |
| Catalan |
| Chinese |
| Croatian |
| Czech |
| Danish |
| Dutch |
| Estonian |
| Filipino |
| Finnish |
| French |
| Galician |
| German |
| Greek |
| Hebrew |
| Hindi |
| Hungarian |
| Indonesian |
| Italian |
| Japanese |
| Korean |
| Latvian |
| Lithuanian |
| Maltese |
| Norwegian |
| Polish |
| Portuguese |
| Romanian |
| Russian |
| Serbian |
| Slovak |
| Slovenian |
| Spanish |
| Swedish |
| Thai |
| Turkish |
| Ukrainian |
| Vietnamese |