I
sat down with up and coming independent Australian filmmaker, Josh
Hannah, to talk about his film, Kill
Your Killer, A Spielbergian
Cold War Treasure Hunter Film, Revolving Around a Broken Family and a Coming of
Age Epic, which is hopefully due for release around Halloween.
How long was the original script (that you eventually cut down) ?
First draft was 2,000 pages. But we eventually cut it down to a “more logical" 187. If you know anything about Star Wars though, that’s exactly what Lucas did with the Original Trilogy. And so, that was our game plan. To copy the formula for Star Wars. To go back to every single Spaghetti Western, Samurai epic and Campbellian archetype that inspired it, and try and draw something new out. (Unless there are lawyers reading this, in which case I deny all knowledge of the things I just said).
What was the hardest process so far?
The hardest thing on this picture, on any picture, is simply waking up each day. Making a movie is like pushing a rock up a hill while the hill is on fire and also, the rock might leave randomly. But if at first you don’t succeed, order pizza. When we have pizza we have everything. And after all, “Tomorrow is Another Day”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-OoIvgtuzs)
How was the post-production process?
Entering post is like entering rehab. “You’re on your way out”. Everything becomes a lot easier, and while it’s a struggle for some, I honestly get such a rush from assembling all the pieces. On a picture this size though, we had to edit as we shot. We were shooting reshoots while we were shooting some other scenes for the first time. So…maybe I have no clear answer.
How much experience did you have when you started, compared to how much you had when you finished?
The only thing I had really shot before ‘Kill Your Killer’, was my HSC film, ‘The Ballad of Annie Oakes’. My 7 minute HSC cut got gutted with a 30% mark. And then it ironically won several festivals. Just as I had ironically been failing Film Studies at University while pitching and (fingers crossed) selling my film to a major studio. Odd. My entire career up to this point has just been a giant exercise in “Sticking it to the man”. That can’t be healthy...
What's some advice you can give to other filmmakers who want to get themselves out there and start their own projects?
The lengths we go to, the distances we travel, just to entertain a group of strangers in a darkened room with magnetic clicks and moving shadows, is insanity. But your work, your art, can and does mean something. Anyone who can hold a camera and dream a dream is capable of that. If we can get a man to The Moon with less technology than you hold in your phone, then anything is possible, no matter how unfeasible or where it begins. Just trust in yourself. Keep going and going. Your mistakes don't define you. And if you never chase your dreams you’ll never catch them.
So there you have it, we should all be pretty excited, not only is this film going to be an inspiring piece of work for anyone who's hoping to get anywhere in the industry, but also a little bit of hope that our own Australian filmmakers haven't completely died out yet.
