Press Release - 15 August 2011
CHRIS O'DOWD JOINS THE CAST OF THE SAPPHIRES
Goalpost Film has announced that Chris O'Dowd, star of the international box office hit Bridesmaids, has joined the cast of the new Australian film THE SAPPHIRES. THE SAPPHIRES, which is also being financed by Singapore-based IFS Capital Limited, begins filming later this month in Australia and Vietnam, and is an adaptation of the hugely successful Australian stage musical of the same name.
Adapted by Keith Thompson (Clubland aka Introducing The Dwights) and Tony Briggs, THE SAPPHIRES will be directed by acclaimed actor and theatre director Wayne Blair and produced by Goalpost Pictures Australia's Rosemary Blight and Kylie du Fresne. Director of Photography is Warwick Thornton, winner of the Caméra d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 for his directorial debut Samson & Delilah.
The film will be sold internationally by Goalpost Film UK's Tristan Whalley and will be made in association with Screen Australia, Screen NSW, the Melbourne International Film Festival Premiere Fund, IFS Capital Limited, E-Film Australia and eOne's Hopscotch Films.
Chris O'Dowd will star alongside AFI Award winning actress Deborah Mailman, one of Australia's top recording stars Jessica Mauboy, and newcomers Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell who play the all-girl singing group The Sapphires.
Director Wayne Blair said: "I couldn't be happier. The stars have aligned to make it possible for Chris to be part of THE SAPPHIRES as Dave, the Irish roustabout who sees the light through four young Aboriginal women. I've been a big fan of Chris' since The IT Crowd and, of course, in Bridesmaids. He's been very generous with his enthusiasm and support for our story and I feel fortunate him being part of our already talented team."
Set in the heady days of 1968, the film is inspired by a remarkable true story. Four talented singers, from a remote Australian Aboriginal mission, are discovered by an unlikely talent scout (O'Dowd). Plucked from obscurity and branded as Australia's answer to The Supremes, The Sapphires grasp the chance of a lifetime when they're offered their first real gig - entertaining the troops in Vietnam. For the girls, a whole new world of sex, war, politics and soul opens before them.
Wayne Blair won an Australian Writers Guild Award for his work on The Circuit and the Crystal Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival for his short film The Djarn Djarns, and has been acclaimed as a theatre director for productions including The Removalists and Romeo and Juliet for the Sydney Theatre Company andReuben Guthrie and Jesus Hopped the A Train for Belvoir St Theatre. As an actor, Wayne starred in True West directed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Steven Soderbergh's The Mystery Project, both for the Sydney Theatre Company.
COMPANY DETAILS:
Goalpost Film:
International sales agent Goalpost Film is a worldwide sales, financing and marketing company headed up by Tristan Whalley, which executive produces and enables independent feature films. Recent titles include Michael Winterbottom's The Trip starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, which opened in June to critical acclaim and box office success in the US (IFC), France (Ad Vitam), Australia (Madman) and beyond, as well as Sundance hits The Escapist from Rupert Wyatt (Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) starring Brian Cox, Joe Fiennes, Dominic Copper, and Cherie Nowlan's Clubland starring Brenda Blethyn.
IFS Capital:
IFS is an established financial institution involved in commercial and structured finance, private equity investments and credit insurance and guarantees. Incorporated in Singapore in 1987, the company was listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange in July 1993. IFS also has operations in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. IFS provides credit insurance, bonds and guarantees via its wholly-owned insurance subsidiary ECICS Ltd. IFS has a track record of producing capital and credit solutions to growing businesses in Singapore. Several of its clients have since grown to be major companies.
Goalpost Pictures Australia:
Goalpost Pictures is one of Australia's leading independent production companies with credits including the Julien Temple-directed The Eternity Man, the 2007 Sundance Film Festival hit Clubland, starring Golden Globe winner Brenda Blethyn, the BAFTA nominated television series for the BBC and the Nine Network Lockie Leonard and the Cannes Film Festival Closing Night film (2010) The Tree (as Executive Producer), starring Charlotte Gainsbourg. The company also produced Wayne Blair's short films The Djarns Djarns and Black Talk, winner of the Dendy Award for Best Fiction under 15 Minutes at The Sydney Film Festival.
Media enquiries:
Tracey Mair, TM Publicity
For Goalpost Pictures Australia
Ph: + 61 419 221 493
E: traceym@tmpublicity.com