Former Inverell Times journo turned filmmaker Dane Millerd is keeping busy with his company Local Legends Entertainment.
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Working with StartFast Productions owner and operator Adam Enslow, the Forbes-based filmmaker has two horror films on the slate, both due for release in late 2018.
For Dane, the past year has been the culmination of nearly 20 years of chipping away in the local film industry, which is as difficult to make a living from as it is to find distributors and investors for feature films.
“Less than five per cent of the Australian film industry is in active work at any one time so it's not easy despite what others may think.”
“My first film, There's Something In The Pilliga (Half Human in North America) took nine years to make and only 23 days all told were spent on a film set. That experience and process though has opened up doors for me and now Adam to produce films like Death's Waiting Room and Are You Scared Yet?,” Dane said.
At the editing stage, Death's Waiting Room is the eerie tale of a female English backpacker named Delilah (Leoni Leaver) who is offered a role as a maid at a haunted mansion called Wren's Nest by the psychotic owner Kit Fisk (Brendan Byrne). After a whirlwind romance, things go awry between Delilah and Kit, culminating in a deadly game of survival.
While Death's Waiting Room lent heavily on recognised Australian talent such as Roger Ward (Mad Max, Turkey Shoot), Brendan Byrne (There's Something In The Pilliga, Wyrmwood) and acclaimed singer Roshani Priddis, it is Are You Scared Yet? that is really attracting international attention for the filmmaking duo. The clown based horror has been green lit to film in the US with some of the most recognisable names in the genre.
Based on actual events, Are You Scared Yet? is written by Dane and Adam. The film tells the tale of a mysterious couple with unknown dark intentions that pay an unwelcome visit to a wealthy family at a remote lake house in Southern California.
So far the film has a who's who of the horror genre attached, from Doug Hutchison (The Green Mile, X Files), Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects, Halloween), Mia Talerico (Good Luck Charlie - Disney Channel), Courtney Stodden (Big Brother USA), Roger Ward (Mad Max, Boar), Sean Patrick Flaherty (To Topple An Empire, Not Your Time), Victoria Ferrara (Houso's vs Authority, Beast No More) and Basil Hoffman (The Artist, Ordinary People). The film will be scored by Jason Turbin who did Ouija: Origin of Evil.
"We have more casting announcements to come that will blow people away," said Dane.
"Can't wait to tell you all more and share in the excitement!"
This article originally appeared in the Forbes Advocate.