SYDNEY, July 12 2010…Australia’s most talked about thriller, The Tunnel, will commence filming late July 2010. Set in and amongst Sydney’s underground tunnels, The Tunnel has already attracted international and local attention for its unconventional funding and release model.
Distracted Media’s Australian producers, Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey, are choosing to break with the traditional movie channel release model and will distribute the locally producer thriller through controversial internet piracy networks in a bid to reach out to the increasingly dominant online audience.
The movie follows a news film crews’ journey into Sydney’s underground hunting for a story, until the story starts hunting them. It is directed by Award-winning film director, Carlo Ledesma – this will be his feature debut. Ledesma will be directing recent Tropfest Best Actress award-winner Bel Deliá. She will star opposite Black Water’s Andy Rodoreda.
“We are thrilled to commence shooting on this project. We have had such an overwhelming response from Australia, Canada, UK and the US with our web traffic to date showing interest from over 99 countries. We have scouted some of the best locations throughout Sydney that will really set the scene and complement the film’s genre” said Julian Harvey.
Their unique plan to fund the project is already resonating with Andrew Denton’s Australian production company, Zapruder’s other films.
“We’ve worked with Enzo and Julian for the last two years. They are extremely motivated and focused, qualities we value. Their plan to fund and distribute The Tunnel is smart and exciting and may yet prove to be ground-breaking” said Andrew Denton. “At Zapruder’s, we love that these guys are backing their own talent to succeed in a way no-one has achieved before.”
The movie’s website launched in June 2010 at www.thetunnelmovie.net and the innovative plan is to raise the movie’s cash budget of $135,000 by selling a frame of the movie for $1 to the internet audience (the concept is based on a 90-minute film consisting of 135,000 individual frames). Slated for release later this year, the movie will be made available online worldwide, for free.
The online environment has embraced the concept with frames being purchased during the testing phase as it spread onto social media before the site was even officially launched.
Enzo Tedeschi’s last film, controversial feature documentary Food Matters set a precedent for breaking the conventions of film distribution. Rather than seek out a theatrical release, the team opted instead for an approach direct to their market niche online. It has been a resounding success, having sold over 120,000 DVDs and streams around the world. It’s still breaking into new territories 2 years on from its first release.
DLSHS Agency’s Ahmed Salama has also come on board for the project – acclaimed for work on online campaigns including “Free Hugs”, – they have provided the web experience that has turned the $135K concept into a reality and will be helming viral marketing for the film, which the campaign will seek to rely solely on to draw in audiences.
“We believe that if we stop fighting the peer to peer networks and find a way to work with them, they could become the biggest revolution in the way we connect with an audience,” said Enzo Tedeschi.
www.thetunnelmovie.net