Screen Queensland (SQ) along with Screen Australia, is proud to support the feature film project Mr Cranky by creative heavyweights Queensland-based producer Chris Brown (The Railway Man, Daybreakers), award-winning novelist Chris Nyst (Gettin’ Square, Crooked Business) and director Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man, Churchill).
Principal photography is anticipated to commence in South East Queensland in early 2017.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk welcomed the opportunity for Mr Cranky to film in Queensland.
‘The creative team behind Mr Cranky has a record of success and follows on from Mr Brown and Mr Teplitzky’s previous partnership on the internationally acclaimed The Railway Man, which filmed on location in Ipswich and the Gold Coast in 2012,’ the Premier said.
‘Mr Cranky will inject over $5.1 million into the Queensland economy and create 50 jobs,’ Ms Palaszczuk said.
‘The Queensland government is committed to the long-term future of our State’s film industry and attracting Mr Cranky to Queensland is another example of how we can create jobs, upskill the workforce and grow the local screen economy.’
Screen Queensland CEO Tracey Vieira stated: ‘We are proud to be supporting and investing in Queensland’s award-winning and prolific producer Chris Brown, writer Chris Nyst, and the impressive Mr Cranky creative team.
‘SQ has supported this project from its early script stage and it’s exciting to see this well written script going into physical production in the new year.
‘Mr Cranky holds strong international appeal as it presents the full package with a passionate and driven producer / director team with a successful track record, and a quality script that will attract high-profile cast for a global audience.’
‘We are delighted to be welcoming Jonathan Teplitzky back to Australia following a period working in the UK directing high profile TV dramas Broadchurch and Indian Summers,‘ said Sally Caplan, Head of Production, Screen Australia.
‘This is the perfect welcome-home project, reuniting him with the creative team who together brought us the classic 2003 crime caper Gettin’ Square.’
Mr Cranky is the latest film from acclaimed, independent film producer Chris Brown and director Jonathan Teplitzky.
Chris Brown’s other Queensland-made films include the 2013 AACTA nominated The Railway Man for The Weinstein Company. Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky and starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, The Railway Man sits in the Top 50 Australian films of all time with a global box office of almost $7.3 million.
Jonathan Teplitzky is currently completing post production on Churchill starring Brian Cox, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery and James Purefoy.
‘It is wonderful to be working with Jonathan again and welcome him back to Queensland on a project that I believe is Australia’s next big comedy,’ Brown said. ‘Chris Nyst’s screenplay is a gem.’
Full post production services for Mr Cranky, including visual effects, will be provided by The Post Lounge who are also principal investors in the film.
The Post Lounge CEO Steve Cooper said, ‘We’re very excited to work with Chris Brown and his team again and we are all very much looking forward to the opportunity.’
About Mr Cranky:
When underworld debt collector Kevin Darcy’s deep-rooted anger issues get him embroiled in a vicious gangland war, his stripper ex-girlfriend is accidentally blown up, and he is saddled with her precocious seven-year-old daughter. Lying low on the glitzy Gold Coast, he staves off bikies, Lebanese hit men, a drug-addicted circus clown, and his New Age Laughing Circle therapist, struggling to become a better father, and a better man.
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All Screen Queensland media enquiries: media@screenqld.com.au | +61 7 3248 0500
