FANGORIA INTERVIEW: Thunder from Down Under – Part 1 & 2

Part 1

Part 2

 

FANGORIA Posted by Tony Timpone Jun 16, 2011

You won’t find the genre’s busiest screenwriting duo typing away in some bungalow in Malibu, but in a quiet town in Australia. Meet co-writer Shayne Armstrong and co-writer/director S.P. Krause, whose debut effort 18 (see exclusive pics here), marks just the tip of a deadly iceberg filled with upcoming fright flicks from this Aussie duo. Part one of our chat with the boys (pictured below; Krause on left) looks at the their haunted house movie 18, while in part two tomorrow the filmmakers spill the beans on 6 MIRANDA DRIVE—their movie for WOLF CREEK director Greg McLean and Lionsgate—and several other upcoming projects. All accompanied by exclusive pics and artwork, natch.

 

EXCLUSIVE SPOOKY “18” PICS – fangoria

Fangoria article here

Who’s the ghost with the most? The new Aussie haunted house chiller 18 may actually be a contender. Fango scared up some exclusive pics (many of the gnarly-lookin’ spooks themelves!) from the film, which comes from ACOLYTES screenwriters Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause (the latter also making his directorial debut on the film) and features makeup FX by DAYBREAKERS Fango Chainsaw nominee Steven Boyle. The producers describe 18 as “THE ORPHANAGE meets PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.

“18 is independent and largely funded by the filmmakers themselves,” says Boyle, who also toiled on BLACK SHEEP, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and UNDER THE MOUNTAIN, and recently designed the shark and makeup effects for BAIT 3D. “And although I’m sure they won’t have difficulty finding a distributor, there is (to my knowledge) no one onboard as of yet. It’s rare that I do such a low budget project that I have this much faith in, but I really do like what I’ve seen so far. It’s one of the most exciting projects I’ve done in a while. And the creature/ghost effects are some of the most disturbing I’ve ever done. They are more of the physical THIRTEEN GHOSTS-type.”

Production on 18 took place between two short films, HUGE and RARER MONSTERS, also directed by Krause. Armstrong and Krause first met the star of 18, Robyn Moore, on the set of the children’s sci-fi series K9, based on the character from BBC’s DOCTOR WHO. 18 began principal photography in late 2010 in Queensland and wrapped this year. Armstrong and Krause are a Brisbane-based screenwriting partnership with several other scary screenplays currently in development, including 6 MIRANDA DRIVE (recently greenlit by Lionsgate) for WOLF CREEK’s Greg McLean. The duo also rewrote the $30 million shark movie BAIT 3D and penned a Gothic Western, A MURDER OF CROWS, for producers Michael Robertson (BLACK WATER, THE REEF, Fango’s ROAD KILL) and Murray Pope. The busy scripters are also adapting the horror manga THE DREAMING for Tokyopop and Odin’s Eye, plus writing both the English language remake of the Swedish horror-thriller NEXT DOOR and an original horror-action screenplay called BLACK ECHOES.

On-set scriptwriting – Disney sitcom

We’ve returned from the Disney sitcom rehearsals.

Six new drafts in four days – not too shabby. Very nice and novel to a) be invited to a set, b) allowed to stay there and c) be pleaded with to stay longer. As always, very surreal to see characters we’ve written come “alive” before your eyes.

Lionsgate OKs 3 microbudget films – ‘6 Miranda Drive’ greenlighted

Lionsgate OKs 3 microbudget films

‘Rapturepalooza,’ ‘Gay Dude,’ ‘6 Miranda Drive’ greenlighted

LINK HERE

By DAVE MCNARY

Lionsgate has named the first three titles to be produced under its new microbudget production initiative for films with budgets under $2 million.The projects are “Rapturepalooza,” a post-apocalyptic comedy; “Gay Dude,” a coming-of-age comedy with a twist; and supernatural thriller “6 Miranda Drive.” (written by Armstrong & Krause). Announcement was made Wednesday by Joe Drake, president of the motion picture group. 

Lionsgate Makes a ‘Microbudget’ Deal With the Antichrist

‘Wolf Creek”s Greg Mclean is tackling ‘6 Miranda Drive, written by Armstrong & Krause.  It’s another supernatural/haunted-house flick that threatens to tear a family apart. Mclean’s characterization is stronger than a lot of the so-called torture-porn film directors he gets lumped in with, and he has a penchant for atmospheric visuals.

LINK HERE

SCREEN AUSTRALIA – FEATURES IN DEVELOPMENT

Friday 25 March 2011

LINK HERE

Screen Australia today announced investment in the development of five feature films as well as in the production of three short films through the Springboard Program specifically designed to act as calling cards to feature film proposals.

Two thriller genre features, A Murder of Crows and Black Echoes, from Shayne Armstrong and Shane Krause, the writing duo of Bait, with producers Michael Robertson and Murray Pope, will also receive development investment.

FEATURES IN DEVELOPMENT

BLACK ECHOES
Producers Michael Robertson, Murray Pope
Writers Shayne Armstrong, Shane Krause
Synopsis A group of international tourists are taken off the beaten path to an isolated village deep in the Vietnamese countryside. They are promised a Viet Cong tunnel crawl experience that makes the famous Cu Chi Tunnels seem like a playground… Tighter, more claustrophobic, scarier – they get their money’s worth and then some.

A MURDER OF CROWS
Producers Murray Pope, Michael Robertson
Writers Shayne Armstrong, Shane Krause
Director Nick Robertson
Synopsis Lost love brought him there, cold-blooded murder kept him there, now dark vengeance takes flight.

Streaming from “18” (find it on FACEBOOK; “18 Movie”

Streaming

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/7212772

Mulcahy out as Bait shoot finally gets underway

By Patrick Frater

Film Business Asia

Mon, 11 October 2010, 08:15 AM (HKT)

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Production News

Kimble Rendall has replaced Russell Mulcahy as director on Bait the long-awaited 3-D sharks in a supermarket film. Production is now underway on the film that is the first official co-production between Australia and Singapore.

Start of production, previously announced for July and again for August, has been repeatedly pushed back. Veteran producer Michael Lake, former executive VP feature production for Village Roadshow, has now been brought on board to join Todd Fellman, Gary Hamilton and Ian Maycock.

Mulcahy, director of Highlander (see poster), had been credited as a scriptwriter on the film, alongside Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong.

The story of a freak tsunami which traps shoppers and a pack of sharks in a flooded supermarket, the picture will now film in the Warner Roadshow studios in Gold Coast, Queensland.

Production is through Pictures in Paradise, Story Bridge Films and Arclight Films with Singapore’s Blackmagic Design taking an equity position and providing post-production. Singapore’s Widescreen Media is handling 3-D technology.

Finance is by Screen Queensland, Screen Australia and Singapore’s Media Development Authority. The bude was previously reported by Screen Australia at A$30 million.

Arclight is handling international rights sales and has previously reported striking more than 24 pre-sales deals with overseas distributors.

Link here

‘THE WITNESS TREE’ JUDGED A WINNER

THE WITNESS TREE JUDGED A WINNER

AWG NEWSLETTER

Congratulations to AWG Associate Member Jacqueline Cook, whose psychological thriller (with a supernatural twist) and 2008 Monte Miller nominated entry, The Witness Tree, was voted almost unanimously one of six best projects pitched at Melbourne’s 37South film market over the weekend from a pool of nearly 80 producers.

The Witness Tree will now be taken to Abu Dhabi to be pitched to the world’s biggest sales agents and distributors at The Circle, an international film market in October, with intense interest in the project already being shown by several distributors. Jacqueline also acknowledges the valuable and insightful contributions made by AWG Full Members and current John Hinde Award holders, S.P.Krause and Shayne Armstrong, who assisted with The Witness Tree to get the mechanics of the genre right.

Dread Central: Aussie Native Jesse Spencer Becomes Bait for Russell Mulcahy

www.dreadcentral.com

Though great whites usually get all the love in movies about killer sharks, director Russell Mulcahy is looking to remind audiences that tiger sharks are pretty nasty mothers, too, in his new flick Bait 3D.

Bloody Disgusting just landed the first bit of casting news for the project. According to the site Aussie local Jesse Spencer has been signed on for a role in the bloody thriller penned by Mulcahy, Shane Krause, and Shayne Armstrong.

Bloody Disgusting: Aussie Native Becomes Tiger Shark ‘Bait’

www.bloody-disgusting.com

Bloody Disgusting is told that there has been a name attached to Russell Mulcahy’s 3-D shark flick Bait 3D. Aussie local Jesse Spencer has been signed on for a role in the bloody thriller penned by Mulcahy, Shane Krause, and Shayne Armstrong.

Bait to begin production in July

www.encoremagazine.com.au

Principal photography of 3D shark thriller Bait will begin in July at the Warner Roadshow Studios in Queensland.

The film is the first feature to be made under the Australia-Singapore co-production treaty, by Arclight Film, Story Bridge Films and Pictures in Paradise, in association with Blackmagic Design.

Both countries’ governments have also supported Bait, with funding from Screen Australia and Screen Queensland, as well as the Media Development Authority of Singapore’s International Film Fund.

Written and directed by Russell Mulcahy, Bait is about a tsunami that hits a seaside town, trapping local shoppers and tourists in a flooded underground supermarket and car park filled with a pack of hungry sharks. Additional drafts of the screenplay were written by Shayne Armstrong and S.P.Krause.

Singapore’s Widescreen Media will be in charge of the 3D elements, and post-production will be done by Blackmagic Design in the city-state.

The project has been pre-sold to 24 territories, and will be distributed next year in Australia and other countries by Paramount.