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Loonatoona: Australian Surreal Absurd Fantasy Comedy Screenplay by Shockadelic
Loonatoona : Surreal, Schizo, Strayan (and a little Sex) What if Monty Python had made Muriel's Wedding? Hello....
Thursday 19 October 2017
Wednesday 6 September 2017
2017 Genre Celebration Festival: Best Feature Screenplay
My
screenplay Loonatoona is the Winner of Best Feature Screenplay in the 2017 Genre Celebration Festival.
Wednesday 14 June 2017
Wednesday 17 May 2017
2017 Short Stop International Film Festival, 2nd Runner Up, Best Screenplay (Written)
My screenplay Loonatoona is 2nd Runner Up, Best Screenplay (Written) (i.e. 3rd) in the 2017 Short Stop International Film Festival.
Child abuse PSA PIF Public service announcement
I have made two simple,
first person sympathetic messages for abused children (not their
abuser), not made to win design awards.
The words are
easily understood and 3 main elements are repeated:
1. The abusive
parent is "broken". Even very young children know "broken" things can't magically fix themselves. Children hope the
situation will change. They need to know it won't, not without help.
2. The child is
not to blame, it's not their fault.
3. They can tell
someone.
Sunday 14 May 2017
Amsterdam Film Festival: First Time Screenwriter Competition, Second Place
My screenplay Loonatoona is a Winner (Second Place) in the First Time Screenwriter Competition of the 2017 Amsterdam Film Festival
Wednesday 3 May 2017
Saturday 29 April 2017
Loonatoona 1.8 Kim Wilde Chequered Love
To celebrate my second winner award (Transylvania
Cinema Awards), as well as several other recent official selections and semi-finalist awards, I've made a new promo video, featuring Kim Wilde's Chequered Love.
2016 Transylvania Cinema Awards WINNER (Screenplay)
My screenplay Loonatoona is the WINNER of the Screenplay competition in the 2016 Transylvania Cinema Awards.
This is the second Romanian competition Loonatoona has won!
What is it with Romanians?!
Thursday 27 April 2017
Wednesday 26 April 2017
2017 Texas Cinemania International Film Festival Official Selection
My screenplay Loonatoona is an Official Selection in the 2017 Texas Cinemania International Film Festival.
Sunday 5 March 2017
Loonatoona 1.7 Pussyfoot The Way That You Do It
Loonatoona has recently added awards from Mountain Film Festival (Sir Edmund
Hillary Award - Screenplay), TMFF - The Monthly Film Festival (Finalist), Sacramento International Film Festival (Semi-Finalist) and Milledgeville Film Festival (Official Selection).
To celebrate, here's a new promo video!
Tuesday 28 February 2017
2017 Milledgeville Film Festival Official Selection
My
screenplays Loonatoona and Mate For Life are Official Selections in the 2017 Milledgeville Film Festival.
Update: Now Semi-Finalists.
Update: Now Semi-Finalists.
Saturday 18 February 2017
Sunday 12 February 2017
Feedback TMFF The Monthly Film Festival
I paid for feedback from TMFF The Monthly Film Festival for Loonatoona. Here it is:
"turns it up to eleven"
"more bizarre than it should have been"
"the strange tone and bizarre story"
"highly intellectual without seeming so"
"incredibly original"
"unreal but hilarious elements"
"The script is creative"
"kind of confusing and definitely weird"
"Loonatoona – TMFF Feedback
Loonatoona is a slapstick comedy exploring the natural outlandish qualities Australia seems to have when viewed from the outside and turns it up to eleven by adding even more bizarre elements to build a general sense of surrealism that makes it easier to be open minded and receptive to the jokes in the script.
The story seems to take the concept too far and becomes more bizarre than it should have been, particularly since the more ridiculous the story gets the harder it is for it to deliver its message, which seems to be one of tolerance based on the fact that normality is nothing but a perception that can change from person to person and region to region, the script basically shows the daily struggles of the 5 members of a “regular” Australian family as they deal with problems that seem alien to us but normal to them, like the father working in a government subsidized rabbit costume dispensary, the mother having an affair with a possibly imaginary cowboy or their daughter nonchalantly engaging in a personal project that consists of taking pictures of her friend´s sexual escapades. The script has a serious flaw though; the comedic style is simplistic and more geared towards children or very young people, but the tone is undeniably adult, with swearing, nudity and adult situations abounding, which brings up the question: will the script manage to entertain its intended target? It remains to be seen but in general is not bad, only that perhaps the author should rethink the way in which the comedic payload is delivered.
It is quite hard to judge the characters since they are very strange and flawed but they seem to be so on purpose not only for comedic value but also as a way to drive home the general message of the story. They usually find themselves in surreal situations, often by their own hand, and deal with them in even more alien ways. They aren´t incredibly annoying or upsetting but it´s also impossible to build any rapport with them.
The dialogue is highly localized with many phrases being typical to the Australian speech and is also full of references to sayings, products, legends and other elements familiar to Australians but not for the general audience. Saying that is badly written would be an injustice, but it has to be mentioned that is highly alienating and can get difficult to understand for anyone not familiar with the “aussie” speech.
Producing a comedy like this one is a risky business given the strange tone and bizarre story the script is telling, and the fact that the humor is mainly based on exploiting the ridiculousness of the situations in which the characters find themselves, this is a typical slapstick comedy that still finds it possible to remain highly intellectual without seeming so. Thus having a lot of value hidden under the guise of a generic script, such a complicated outlook makes it hard to predict its actual commerciality.
The script is incredibly original even if some of the humor is highly referential and depends on the audience having knowledge about certain other movies and literary sources. Those references are tweaked enough to make them fairly unique and to adapt them into the script.
Through the lens of intergalactic observance and the inclusion of some unreal but hilarious elements the author shows what seems to be an outlandish family and the equally shocking country where they live, delivering a simple but effective message; normality is all but an illusion, morality is a social construct and the values that some may hold as essential may be optional for others. It is a message about understanding one another and realizing that simply because something feels strange doesn´t mean it´s bad.
The script is creative and the humor may be enough to elicit laughter out of many, but the overall plot is kind of confusing and definitely weird. It is one of those comedies where people need to turn their brains off and embrace the bizarre imagery in order to enjoy it."
Saturday 11 February 2017
2017 Mountain Film Festival: Winner
My screenplay Loonatoona is a 2017 Sir Edmund Hillary Award Winner in the screenplay competition in the Mountain Film Festival.
Monday 6 February 2017
Finalist: TMFF The Monthly Film Festival
My screenplay Loonatoona is an Official Selection in the December/January Edition in the TMFF - The Monthly Film Festival
Update: Loonatoona is now a Finalist.
Update: Loonatoona is now a Finalist.
Sacramento International Film Festival Semi-Finalist
All four of my screenplays (Loonatoona, Mate For Life, Superpsycho, Another Day At The Circus) are Semi-Finalists in the Sacramento International Film Festival.
Monday 23 January 2017
Loonatoona 1.6 Fox S-S-S-Single Bed
To celebrate the addition of Madhouse Movies and Top Indie Film Awards, I made a new promo video for Loonatoona.
Update: At the time I made this video, Boomtown Film and Music Festival had officially notified me, through Filmfreeway, that I was a semi-finalist.
Over a month later, they claim that was a "mistake" and Loonatoona was not accepted.
Update: At the time I made this video, Boomtown Film and Music Festival had officially notified me, through Filmfreeway, that I was a semi-finalist.
Over a month later, they claim that was a "mistake" and Loonatoona was not accepted.
Sunday 22 January 2017
Monday 9 January 2017
Top Indie Film Awards: Nominee (Best Feature Script)
My screenplay Loonatoona is a Nominee (i.e. Finalist) for Best Feature Script in the 2016 Top Indie Film Awards.
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