–What has been the greatest difficulty you faced in producing your project?

“Remnant” was a challenging production from the beginning. Firstly, financing it independently without studio backing. While it is great to be independent, it still has its drawback as the producers must raise the money from other sources. In the case of “Remnant”, we fully self-funded the film, with our own money. We also ran a successful crowdfunding campaign which contributed to the postproduction budget.
The production schedule for “Remnant” was impacted by several delays due to the COVID pandemic.
We originally wanted to shoot in the latter part of 2021, but it became apparent that we would have
to delay production indefinitely due to lockdown restrictions. This resulted in a significant amount of
preproduction, including auditions and casting, to be carried out on Zoom. But it also enabled us to
further flesh out character arcs and work closely with the actors.
The biggest obstacle came from having to change the location of the finale. In the original script I had
written it to take place in an abandoned shopping centre. We had that particular location locked in
but it changed ownership while we were in pre-production and we eventually lost out. There was a
lot of going back and forth but we finally secured an amazing 1920’s Art Deco movie theatre in
Mudgee NSW to shoot in. That meant that I had to rewrite the ending with that set piece in mind and
it changed the whole dynamic of the film. On the flip side of that, we now had a real gothic location
at our disposal, and I wrote extra scenes to take advantage of this. It was a lot of work to rewrite the
script, but the film turned out much better for it.

–Do you think the film industry today has been damaged by political correctness?

Yes, I think political correctness has definitely got out of control. It stifles a filmmaker’s creativity by
putting in requirements and restrictions which can completely change the intent or direction of the
production.

-What was the greatest source of inspiration for creating your project?

The two main inspirations for ‘Remnant” were Dario Argento and John Carpenter. From the very
beginning I was inspired by the famous Italian movement, Giallo of the 70’s, and the works of Dario
Argento and his films “Deep Red” and “Suspiria”, with their vivid colour palette and distinctive look.
They are both stories that really unfold as you watch them. Dario Argento was very good at giving the right amount of information while at the same time, leaving things open to interpretation. For my film, I wanted the audience to be taken into the world that the characters are in and be with them as they try to make sense of the what’s happening. The character of Grace is trying to figure out what’s happening to her and in a sense, she is reflecting what the audience is thinking and feeling as well.

-If you could ask a question to a great director from the past, who would you like to talk to and what would you ask them?

I’d choose Stanley Kubrick, one of the most influential filmmakers in history. My passion for filmmaking ignited at very young age, fuelled by the sci-fi and horror classics of the 50s and 60s. I vividly recall watching 2001: A Space Odyssey on my ninth birthday. Though I didn’t fully grasp the story, I was completely captivated by the visuals. It’s a groundbreaking work that redefined the science fiction genre, and its special effects remain unparalleled even with today’s CGI.
If I had the chance to talk to Kubrick, I’d love to ask him about his creative choices in 2001.
Specifically, I’m curious about why he chose to eschew traditional cinematic and narrative techniques, instead minimizing dialogue and employing long, music-driven sequences.

-What do you think of the Wild Filmmaker platform?

The Wild Filmmaking platform loves the history of cinema, and that shows, especially how they foster
support for independent filmmakers. With my lifelong love of cinema and its history, this really
resonates with me. I’m honoured to be a part of Wild Filmmaker Platform, and the amazing talented
filmmakers it supports.