Hot Spots: Richard Gray makes his MIFF debut

Friday 30 July 2010, 4:58 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events

With the Melbourne International Film Festival raising the curtain last week, the delicious stench of popcorn already hangs heavy in the air and the choc top cravings have well and truly kicked in.

Hot Spots caught up with director Richard Gray, whose first feature film, Summer Coda, is debuting at this year’s festival.

 We can’t wait to see the film. Can you tell us a little bit about it.

I can’t wait to see it on the big screen too! Long time coming. Summer Coda is a romantic drama starring Rachael Taylor, Alex Dimitraides, Susie Porter, Angus Sampson, Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath and Jacki Weaver. Phew! It’s a big cast, but boiled right down it’s about a young woman, Heidi (played by Rachael Taylor), who comes home to Australia seeking some family closure, which doesn’t go to plan. And that’s when the adventure begins.

She meets an orange farmer, Michael (Dimitraides), and decides to hang around in Oz – fruit-picking with a bunch of crazy pickers, all the while falling love with Michael. But like any good story, things are never quite that simple – there are secrets, twists and turns along the way.

 How did Summer Coda evolve into a film project?

I wrote the first draft soon after completing film school at the VCA. The screenplay was Runner Up in Project Greenlight, which gave us a great kick along. To begin with I had an image of a girl busking and hitchhiking her way home, after growing up in the US. It always intrigued me and I could never shake it.

Next step was to find a great location. We found Mildura. It’s such a romantic setting with the orange groves, vineyards and the Murray River. We filmed there for six weeks, plus two weeks in California.

Summer Coda is your first feature film. It must feel pretty amazing to wrap that up! Was it difficult to get it off the ground?

Very challenging! They say your first film is always the hardest, and I really hope that’s true because it was hardcore. The financial crisis didn’t help us much either, but where there’s a will there’s a way! We never gave up and assembled a team of absolute champions who never gave up hope. The script had a great response from the actors, and once we attached the cast everyone started jumping aboard.

Do you think Australian-made films are instantly recognisable?

Usually, yeah. But maybe that’s just to us – ‘cause we know the locations and the actors so well. The key is to make a film that has international appeal. A story that will work wherever it plays.

What have you been enjoying at MIFF?

I love MIFF. I grew up in Box Hill and used to come into the festival on the train. It’s such a special time, running from cinema to bar to cinema in the cold.  I can’t wait to check out Red Hill and catch up on a few fine docos too.  

Where will you be heading post-screening?

Summer Coda is screening at ACMI, so Movida Next Door is nice and close –but there are so many options! I also love The Toff, Gin Palace and Siglo.

Summer Coda is screening at MIFF on Wednesday 4 August. Book your ticket here.  

LINKS:

Melbourne International Film Festival
Summer Coda
Project Greenlight
Red Hill

Hot Spots: MATERIALBYPRODUCT

Wednesday 21 July 2010, 11:05 AM
By The Team | Posted in Events

Fashion label MATERIALBYPRODUCT has joined the State of Design Festival this year with a free public event, Performance: Lace by Design. The pair behind MATERIALBYPRODUCT, Susan Dimasi and Chantal Kirby, have taken lace as their inspiration, creating a performance exploring the use of this delicate and seductive fabric.

The pair is also fascinated by the concept of a portable fashion house. Want to know what that entails? So did Hot Spots. So we went and asked them about their latest adventures.

 What is your approach to garment-making?

There are two fundamental approaches to shaping cloth for the body. One approach is to pick it up and wrap or hang it around the body, known as draping. The other approach is to cut and join it into shapes to clad the body, known as tailoring.

MATERIALBYPRODUCT fuses both approaches, producing a new silhouette for the 21st century.

What inspired your current Ballchain Chandelier collection?

A love of historical chandeliers, as well as the industrial ball chain that’s commonly found on household blinds.

Your collections are very much about the exploration of everyday objects. What kind of materials do you most like to work with?

We like to work with silk and have been inspired particularly by curtains.

For MATERIALBYPRODUCT, the curtain forms reference antiquity, a period when the same piece of cloth could be worn as a draped garment, used as a blanket to sleep under at night, or hung as a curtain or partition. As a modular outcome, curtain pieces have the potential to reduce the amount of product designed, produced and consumed – while not denying the sense of enrichment well-designed fashion, interiors and architectures provide.

Other materials we have worked with include the industrial ball chains – and, in the past, wood paneling.

What can we expect from your State of Design event, Performance: Lace by Design?

A reflection and examples of MATERIALBYPRODUCT’s work that references lace in innovative ways.

Tell us about the portable fashion house concept.

MATERIALBYPRODUCT has always identified with the famous European fashion houses and, as a result, we have interpreted the modern and relevant version of a fashion house today a portable fashion house.

Our portable fashion house also denotes MATERIALBYPRODUCT geographical distance from these traditional houses. The notion of a portable fashion house is playful and fun but it also contextualizes the rigor and design language embedded in the MATERIALBYPRODUCT brand. The exploration of the portable fashion house has allowed us to harness ambiguous moments in the design process.

What’s next for MATERIALBYPRODUCT?

More fashion luxury and ease embedded in great design.

LINKS

MATERIALBYPRODUCT
State of Design Festival
Performance: Lace by Design

Hot Spots News: The Roast Collection

Wednesday 9 June 2010, 5:26 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events

We bet you thought you’d had your last mouthful of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival way back in March. But don’t throw in the napkin yet! You’ll be coming back for seconds with the festival’s juicy June calendar of events celebrating Put Victoria on Your Table – The Roast Collection.

A league of Victoria’s finest restaurants, wineries and producers are channelling your Nan’s house on a Sunday to bring you their take on the winter favourite – the roast. From ‘freak of nature’ feasts to a feisty French game-off, DIY roasting workshops to inner city pork alchemy (this Thursday 10 June!), there’s something for everyone and every wallet.

Book your spot at the table or it’ll be like the time you slept through Christmas and the dog ate your turkey leg.

Links:
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival – June events
Put Victoria on Your Table – The Roast Collection