We were blown away when we were informed that London based high fashion and lifestyle publication The Bite Magazine not only reviewed two of our films - Friends, Foes & Fireworks and Daughter, but they also spotlighted the company. The article also discusses our move from narrative screenplays to improvised ones.
Check out our feature under the magazines The Film Review Directors Spotlight on page 128 of Issue 24 2019.
Huge news for Friends, Foes & Fireworks in Malta! The film will have a special singular event screening at Spazju Kreattiv, the premiere cultural space in Valletta, Malta, on May 9th. The screening will be followed by a discussion and Q&A with directors Sarah Jayne and Ivan Malekin.
Tickets are now on sale through the cinemas website, at regular cinema prices. Catch this award-winning, completely improvised drama exploring relationships, love, friendship, and the truths we try but fail to keep to ourselves on the big screen. Book your tickets today.
One of our favourite short films, El Western, is finally available to watch completely for FREE thanks to the all Australian streaming platform Ozflix.
Screening at multiple festivals around the world and winning Best Western Short at the Genre Celebration Film Festival as well as Bronze at Worldfest Houston, El Western is a silly send-up of spaghetti westerns from yesteryear featuring mismatched love, outrageous characters, guns, quips, whips, and, naturally, a high noon showdown.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH. …And while you are browsing the growing OzFlix library, take a look what is still selling on the main page - our improvised, single night feature Friends, Foes & Fireworks.
Sign up to www.Ozflix.tv today and enjoy a great range of Australian film.
New Year, new film in development.
That’s right, while on a break to visit family in Australia we spent most of our lead up to Christmas plotting and planning a double shoot day for our new improvised, experimental relationship drama titled To Hold the Moon.
To Hold the Moon is an indirect sequel to Friends, Foes & Fireworks with Whitney Harris and Asleen Mauthoor reprising their roles as Lucinda and Summer, as we follow the relationship two years on.
What we needed to capture while in Australia was several images for a proposed poster and some footage for a teaser video as we prep for pitching the project to potential investors in Malta and apply for funding.
The double shoot kicked off at Lightdrop Studios Kensington, where our photographer Kristian Pirotta and hair and makeup artist Mirjana Laferlita helped us to create the concept art director Sarah Jayne proposed around the theme “the relationship between the Sun and the Moon”. Our team, including our acting duo perfectly pulled off all the concept variations and we all walked out of the shoot content .
We finished off the day shooting way past sunset with commercial DOP Daomay Keo and our talent on Half Moon Bay Beach. The theme for this shoot was more of a dream like sequence made up of quick shots, as if dreamt up by the character of Summer showing her ideal oasis with her lover, Lucinda. A short but sweet and dreamlike sequence to introduce our characters and tease about the storyline.
For now we work on completing both of these two creative materials for the film, plus the written documents and then we must move on to applying for funding through the Malta Film Commission, which opens in February.
In the meantime, give our To Hold the Moon Facebook page a like to support the film and also you you can join us on this exciting journey of bringing the film to life.
This month writer/director/editor Ivan Malekin was featured as the Filmmaker Freedom guest blogger and his article about our improvised filmmaking technique, links back to our Udemy course and how we shot Friends, Foes & Fireworks in a single night, without a script.
Read the informative blog via the link here, which also includes a free chapter and a direct link to the course. Big thanks to Rob Hardy for letting NPG utilise the Filmmaker Freedom blog. Be sure to sign up the the Filmmaker Freedom newsletters, as we believe they are one of the best our there for indie filmmakers to learn the craft and get informed.
NPG received news recently that Friends, Foes & Fireworks has been selected to screen in competition at Oz International Film Festival. This is yet another step forward for the film, which continues to prove that the set formula of filmmaking and indie film producing can sometimes be turned on it’s head and totally surprising.
For those in Melbourne, Australia who want to see the film, but missed the cinema run, don’t miss your chance of seeing it on a big screen at St Kilda’s Alex Theatre on the 28th of November 2018, where the film headlines night 6 of the festival. Further details and ticket sales here.
After cinema screenings, an international DVD sale, various online VOD platform offers, finally comes a film screening at a festival. The filmmaking world works in mysterious ways, but hey, why question it!
This week on Maltese DownUnder Marlene and Mark catch up again with filmmaker Sarah Jayne, who featured in season 2. This time round Mark and Sarah will be chatting about NPG’s latest films, Friends, Foes & Fireworks and In Corpore.
The interview just happened to come about when SJ and Ivan were visiting Melbourne in March due to the Friends, Foes & Fireworks cinema run at the Classic Cinema. Both Mark and Marlene from the show and SJ and Ivan happened to be in Caroline Springs, messaging each other on FB, so they decided to meet up a couple of hours after and do a follow up interview on the spot!
WATCH what transpired that day, this Sunday 23rd of September on C31 Melbourne and Geelong (channel 44) @ 4pm with a repeat on Tuesday @2.30pm AND Friday @12.30pm! Viewers outside of Melbourne can watch the episode on Monday demand via the Maltese DownUnder YouTube Channel.
NPG thanks Marlene, Mark and the Maltese community in Melbourne and Malta for the support.
Image is the property of Mark Avellino
It is with much excitement that Nexus Production Group announces that a DVD version of Friends, Foes & Fireworks is coming. The film will be stocked through Barnes & Noble and Hoopla, available for order through Walmart and Best Buy, plus a few other DVD libraries and stores. It's already available to pre-order through Amazon and will be released on DVD come November 13th this year.
DVD is a wonderful way to present the film, making it perfect to gift for Christmas and to watch with friends and family in the comfort of your own home. Those who are not fond of NYE and all the hype surrounding the end of the year celebrations can spend the night watching the film and cheering on the characters as they stumble though a train-wreck of a NYE celebration.
Pre-order your copy now! You can even choose gift wrapping.
We have secured the first song for the In Corpore soundtrack - 'Flicker' by indie rock band Runtolife will be heard as part of Milana & Rosalie's story in Berlin.
To check out the video to the track watch on You Tube, where you can also subscribe to Runtolife ... Don't forget to also like the band's Facebook page and listen to their other killer tracks.
Stay tuned for a sneak peek of the film featuring Flicker soon.
Coming in at the end of July is a review from online Entertainment site Kewel World.
It was great to see that the reviewer actually did his research on the Mumblecore genre before watching a film style which was new territory for him. Always a bonus when people are reviewing your film which does not fit into the mainstream genres that reviewers are accustomed to, which is often the case for Mumblecore or improvised films.
We thank Kewel World for the 7/10 score and the honest feedback. Give the review a read here or on the Kewel World Facebook page.
After filming Friends, Foes & Fireworks in a single night on New Years Eve, completely improvised, co-producers/co-directors Sarah Jayne and Ivan Malekin were approached by Alex Ferrari of Indie Film Hustle about the potential he saw in their style of filmmaking.
Alex interviewed Ivan for Indie Film Hustle's podcast earlier this year and then the discussion about how NPG could take their improvised filmmaking process and share their knowledge in an education capacity transpired.
Indie Film Hustle is all about educating and informing indie filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers about the biz. Tthe site Alex has built is an online bible of sorts for filmmakers. Everything from interviews, courses, resources and podcasts plus much more can be found on the Indie Film Hustle website and it is a showcase of Alex's passion as well as a testament to his 20 years in the industry.
NPG teamed up with Alex to produce a video titleed "How to Shoot an Improvised Feature Film in 24 Hours" through online educational site, Udemy. With Alex's assistance and four days of shooting, plus a few months editing and a weekend in sound design the final product is here.
Read MoreOur gritty black and white feature film, Choir Girl, directed by John Fraser and starring with Peter D Flaherty with Sarah Timm and Krista Vendy, has been signed to Blairwood Entertainment. A boutique agency with carefully selected titles, Blairwood is headed by Hollywood FAME award recipient James Dudelson, a 30+ year veteran in the entertainment industry.
We look forward to working with James and the team at Blairwood to bring Choir Girl to the world. First stop for the feature film was the Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes.
Thanks to James and the team of Innuendo, (who are also signed to Blairwood) for sending NPG some snaps of the Choir Girl promo material on display at the festival. We look forward to hearing all about the festival once James returns home after the hard work he has put in to work on promoting the film.
