JAZZ & GEORGE tells the story of Jazz, a young gay woman on a mission to win back her ex before she marries a guy. But the wedding is tomorrow in Brisbane, and Jazz is stranded in Sydney. Jazz enlists the help of George, a backpacker on his final days in Australia, and together they drive, in a race against time to give love a chance.
OUR DREAM
We dream of telling bold Australian stories.
We dream of seeing diverse characters on screen.
We dream of seeing strong female role models on screen.
Help our dreams come true by contributing to JAZZ & GEORGE; A high-paced, fun and compelling Australian drama that engages with important realities of contemporary Australia. JAZZ & GEORGE is a feature film that deserves to be made.
SYNOPSIS
Gemma Pranita is Jazz. The woman you wish you were friends with. One of those kick ass chicks that’s also down to earth, real, and annoyingly beautiful.
Jazz is still in love with her ex. Problem is her ex, Steph is about to get married to a guy. Bigger problem is that the wedding’s in Brisbane tomorrow, and Jazz is stranded in Sydney, with all flights cancelled.
She enlists the help of George, a backpacker who also has to get to Brisbane, and together they drive through the night so that Jazz can stop the wedding of the woman she loves.
James Mackay is George. A backpacker who is at the end of the holiday of a lifetime. Returning home means settling down, getting a job and growing up. But George doesn’t know if he’s ready to enter the next stage of his life yet, and still yearns for the adventure of a life on the road.
As they drive they discover more common ground between them than they originally imagined, and will bring each other to realisations and decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.
THE CAST
Gemma Pranita is an actress, photographer and blogger. She graduated from WAAPA in 2007, and is most well known for playing the role of Jade Mitchell in Neighbours from 2010-2013. More recently she can be seen on screen in The Ever After, alongside Rosario Dawson and she is the founder of successful fashion and travel blog Gemma Peanut Gallery. We couldn’t think of anyone better to play the role of Jazz.
James Mackay can currently be seen on screen in ‘The Dressmaker’ with Kate Winslet. He is also a WAAPA graduate, and was the 5th recipient of the Australians in Film Heath Ledger Scholarship in 2013. Mackay has graced Australian stages in ‘Les Liasons Dangereuses’ with Hugo Weaving at the Sydney Theatre Company and ‘The History Boys’ with John Wood at The Playhouse. On screen he has appeared in ‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark’ with Katie Holmes, ‘Red Inc’ directed by Dan Krige and ‘The Lovers’ (formerly Singularity) directed by Roland Joffe starring Josh Hartnett. Television appearances include CW’s ‘The Tomorrow People’ and ABC’s ‘The Straits’. He recently finished work on the next instalment of Jerry Bruckheimer’s ‘Pirates of the Carribean’ franchise and will next be seen in the Mel Gibson directed feature ‘Hacksaw Ridge’.
Lauren Augarten is Steph. Lauren is the creator, writer and star of Scissr, a web series about 4 gay women living in New York. Lauren fuses her experience in commercial & Cable TV (most recent TV credits include Vince Gilligan / David Shore’s ‘Battle Creek’ on CBS & currently Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Get Down’ for Netflix, 2016) with her more independent aesthetic.
Her recent credits include ‘The Disgustings’ which screened at Outfest, LA and the LES Film Festival, NYC. Scissr won the best in LGBT Category award at the LA New Media Film Festival, and was accepted into the Seattle True Independent Film Festival.
THE CREW
Michael Nield is the writer and director. Michael has experience on all sides of the camera, first as an actor, studying at WAAPA, before turning to writing and directing, as well as working in post production (yes he actually does know every aspect of filmmaking!) Michael’s short film SEDU screened in official competition at Raindance Film Festival in London 2014, and JAZZ & GEORGE is his first feature film.
Jessica Boyd is the producer. She also wrote this page, and while she finds it very easy to sell other people has difficulty with herself! After graduating from a Media Arts and Production degree at UTS she started working in advertising, producing commercials for some of Australia’s biggest brands, including Woolworths, Qantas and Vodafone. She has produced short films and music videos, and is excited to say that JAZZ & GEORGE will be her first feature film.
Tony Jennings is the cinematographer. Winner of the 2004 AFI Award for best cinematography for The Projectionist, Tony brings a wealth of knowledge to JAZZ & GEORGE. Other recent accolades include an Atom Award, Panavisions Award, The Flicker Festival Best Cinematography and 3 ACS Gold Awards.
Hayley Lake is our wonderful editor. Tony is also lucky enough to be married to her. Hayley won the 2005 Best Editor award at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in Los Angeles. Her work on the short film Brother won across all categories of films entered, which is pretty incredible. She is a multi award-winning editor who has worked in Television, Documentaries, TVC’s and Features.
If we can raise above this amount it will go towards our post production budget, raising the production value with better equipment and lenses, and licensing great Australian music, because all road trips need a sweet soundtrack. We have been lucky enough to use music from Huon Kind in our campaign video, and hope to feature them and other great Aussie bands in the film.
Budget Breakdown:
Another challenge we face is the difficulty of shooting at night. We’ll need to keep cast and crew’s spirits up as much as possible and ensure that the team are getting the appropriate rest in the day due to late night shooting.
Once we have the film shot, the next challenge will be finding further funds to go towards post production, special effects and music licensing. We are confident that as long as we have the key parts of the film shot, we will be able to raise further funds from alternative sources to complete the film to take it to market.