Holmes skips Hollywood

By MARA PATTISON-SOWDEN
By MARA PATTISON-SOWDEN
WARBURTON has amazing talent in live theatre on the stage, but the town is slowly also becoming a haven for filmmakers.
What’s not to love, the locals would argue, it has the sights, the characters, and the creative talent.
Filmmaker Matthew Holmes is looking to develop a $3 million feature film that, if it is financed, will be entirely produced in Warburton for a massive 10-week shoot around the Yarra Ranges.
He’s had several big name actors express an interest in the film, called Territorial, including Wild Boys’ Daniel McPherson and Ian Bliss from The Matrix Reloaded.
Mr Holmes, 34, moved to Warburton in December with his fiancé, and will be a special guest at the Warburton Film Festival this month alongside his brother Darren Holmes who was the star of his first film, Twin Rivers.
Mr Holmes said he had “the Peter Jackson dream, that I don’t have to go to Hollywood and be there to make big international films”.
“I’d like to do that in Australia the way Jackson makes them in New Zealand,” he said.
Mr Holmes said there were so many talented people in Australia, but there was a mentality that Australians don’t make big international films.
“Everyone’s trying to improve film in Australia in one sense, to have the locations, the people, the facilities,” he said.
“In the end, it comes down to, not whether it’s Australian or not, but whether it’s emotionally resonant and well made.”
Mr Holmes spent six years making Twin Rivers with the help of friends and family back home in Adelaide.
“It was self-funded and done by volunteers in South Australia between 2001 and 2007,” he said.
Mr Holmes said the film resonated with people from regional areas, with the plot line about two people who become part of a small community and the audience watch their lives entwine in the community.
“It’s something about the landscape and lifestyle, people warm to it a lot more from regional areas,” he said.
But he said his latest script, Territorial, was “world’s apart” from Twin Rivers.
“Territorial is an action, horror, fantasy, adventure film, it’s a big departure from the period drama of Twin Rivers,” he said.
“It has a terrific professional film crew attached, and is being made in conjunction with
the Wurundjeri People of Victoria, as it has significant Indigenous content.
“It tells the story of a group of bushrangers and police in 1858 Australia that come face to face with a horrifying ‘Bunyip’ creature in a remote valley.”
Mr Holmes said he hoped to begin production this year and was seeking investment from both the private sector and government funding bodies.
The Warburton Film Festival will be shown in the state-of-the-art Mecca Theatre at Warburton’s Upper Yarra Arts Centre on Friday 15 June to Sunday 17 June.
The full program, tickets and booking information is available at www.warburtonfilmfestival.com.au, on 5966 4500 or in person at the arts centre, 3409 Warburton Highway, Warburton.