Interview with Writer/ Director Dan Macarthur with Caroline Russo
HUSH HUSH recently sat down with Australian Director Dan Macarthur to talk about his upcoming feature film Nice Package.
It’s safe to say the Australian film industry is in a dark state of mind. Over the years Australia has given us films like The Burning Man, Blessed, Animal Kingdom, Jindabyne and Lantana and despite the critically lauded status of the aforementioned and the recent success of last years The Sapphires and 2011’s Red Dog, the laughs are at a low. Enter Australian Writer/Director Dan Macarthur who is at the helm of the heist comedy Nice Package. “There’s a lot of serious films out there in the world…and I think if a team can find a good formula for a comedy, they should do it.”
Nice Package follows the story of an amateur thief, his gay best friend, a female hostage, and a group of very Australian looking thugs all vying for a mystery package. The cast includes Dwayne Cameron, newcomer Isabelle Tannock and Leon Cain who is a well-known theatre actor from Brisbane who looks to be in scene stealing form as Cameron’s gay best friend.
Macarthur says the idea for Nice Package came about at about 3.00 in the morning, “Like most of my ideas,” he adds. The result looks to be a fast paced riot full of colourful characters, razor sharp dialogue with a dash of Tarantino and more than a whiff of Cohen brothers’ chaos.
Dan who cites Joel and Ethan Coen as well as Terry Gilliam as his influences, is known for his work as a Director Of Photography. He recently served as DOP on the Bollywood film Go Goa Gone, Absolute Deception, starring Cuba Gooding Jnr and Australian gangster flick Blood Money.
Nice Package is just one of many scripts and concepts Dan and his producer Melanie Poole (and co-writer of Nice Package) are currently developing. Next up for Dan is a film in India, where he will be away for 6 months shooting a big budget action flick. Later this year he will add the finishing touches to Nice Package. For now he’s quietly excited about the audience reaction. “We tried to stand out in the crowd with this film. Not many people are making comedies.” Right he is. Out of curiosity I ask him for his opinion on the current state of our industry at the moment. “It’s a difficult situation in Australia. We have so many talented filmmakers but such a small audience.”
We look forward to seeing the film premier in July.
To view the trailer just follow the link
