Gongwood to become home to more Australian feature films targeting the international market

Illawarra-based production company Film Grit has been founded by two men who see the potential and want to grow the industry here.

Shooting will start on Film Grit’s first feature film within weeks and writer-director Corey Pearson and producer Peter Drinkwater want it to be the first of many made in Wollongong. 

They have been casting with the help of Greg Apps Casting and have secured some well-known Australian actors. 

Pre-production for Harmony is underway and shooting will start in lower Crown Street, Wollongong in early August.

It will then continue throughout the Illawarra and some Sydney locations. Film Grit’s focus is on high concept, low budget feature films and TV series for a global market.

Harmony is a supernatural thriller/romance. It is the story of a girl with the ability to absorb fear from those she touches. 

Her life changes when, for the first time, she develops feelings for someone who has no fear. 

Harmony explores the co-dependence of love and fear. 

Mr Pearson said the project touched on a subject he was very passionate about.

“Writing it has been an amazing journey and at times, quite confronting. We all experience fear in our lives, and often we let that fear consume us and govern our actions, which ultimately can prevent us from chasing our dreams,” he said.

Mr Pearson recently returned from Indonesia, where he wrote and directed a feature film called “Message Man”. Mr Drinkwater said the interest in Harmony at this early stage had exceeded their expectations.

“Our release strategy will include North America and we are aiming to get Harmony into the Tribeca Film Festival in New York next year.

‘’We listen to our audience and ‘Harmony’ has a clear female teenage target market. At a script level, we used the company Screen Audience Research Australia (SARA) to run focus groups at a table read with the audience and opened up discussion about characters, story, intrigue, pacing, delivery and marketing,” he said.

The movie-makers can’t believe how lucky they are to live in an area with so many great locations. They want to uncover more local talent and resources in the region. And they will have numerous opportunities for extras including one nightlife scene being shot very soon.

“Our focus is to build and expand our creative data base within the region for our future projects. We’re keen to capitalize on the innovation and fresh energy of the region, and to build a sustainable business model. We want to bring the magic of the Illawarra to the world,” Mr Drinkwater said.

The Film Grit co-founders had a meeting with Destination Wollongong’s Mark Sleigh about that this week. They want to achieve high production values while mainting as much local input as possible.

The new Wollongong production company is presently transforming an old bakery building in Woonona into a film studio. And Mr Pearson and Mr Drinkwater are keen for the community to get involved and are interested in hearing from people.

Harmony core cast

Harmony crew of 15 includes

Film Grit website http://film-grit.com/