Departure Lounge

It has been a busy few months.

At the tail end of a reconnaissance trip out to Winton, for our Waltzing Matilda movie,  the producer’s wife had a tragic horse accident and was airlifted/evacuated to Townsville General Hospital, with a broken pelvis and femur bone. Eight weeks in the hospital bed without movement was the doctor’s order. What would Bill the Producer do for that time while he tended to his wife Karen? Make a short Bollywood film, what else?

Bill’s long time friend and fellow producer of BENEATH HILL 60 (also shot in Townsville) had a short film idea and laid down an offer to make it in the same 8 weeks it would take for Karen to recover enough to get on a plane back to Sydney.  Pre Production soon kicked into gear for a “short” rom-com production, to be called DEPARTURE LOUNGE.

Set in Townsville Airport, with the support of the good guys from Alliance Airlines as well as the beautiful lady, Jill Brix, from airport security, this high energy Bollywood style 20-minute RomCom is about a young Fly in Fly out miner, Mel, tracking down her Fly in Fly out lover, Charlie – before they depart to two different mines. Today her pursuit leads her onto a path of walking slapstick disasters and our young heroine encounters dramas that would leave even the most determined, defeated.

Luckily, Mel meets a cheerful taxi driver, Jonny, who encourages her to persist and even teaches her a thing or two about Bollywood dance-offs in a bid to win back Charlie’s love.  The highly infectious tune ‘Oye Boy Charlie’ from the Indian movie Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola leads the colourful Bollywood dance sequence in DEPARTURE LOUNGE.

The film was shot over 7 nights, with some shoots consisting of almost 100 cast and crew including some great support from the Griffith Film School students.  James Cook University medical students made up the entire Indian cast and more, all filming together in the graveyard hours, after the last flights flew out from Townsville Airport.

It was an action-packed principal photography phase, directed by Paul Andersen, shot by Steve Arnold and produced by Bill with Ross Thomas as EP.  Great friendships were made between the Townsville locals and the Sydney/Cairns/Brisbane crews. There is not enough love for every individual who contributed to the production of this film and for that, the production is grateful!

We are now well and truly in post production phase, with editing in Melbourne by Sara Edwards.  Other post activities like graphics, CGI, sound mix and design are being done in association with Griffith Uni.  We look forward to premiering the film in Townsville in late 2014.

EP Ross Thomas and Bill Leimbach caught up with ABC Far North QLD and chatted about their reunion on this film since Beneath Hill 60.

Listen here.

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