Billy the Kid
September 17th, 2004, 01:28 PM
Some good news of Aussie talent.
Students strike it rich
Nick Papps
Los Angeles
17sep04
TWO former Melbourne film students have hit the Hollywood big time, securing a three-film deal with Universal Pictures that could make them millionaires.
Former RMIT students Leigh Whannell and James Wan won the deal after scraping together $7000 to make a short horror film to shop around Hollywood studios.
After flying to the US with their seven-minute film and a script, the two former media arts students met American film company Evolution.
The pair insisted that if they wanted to make the film, Wan would direct and Whannell would have the main role.
Evolution agreed and gave them $1.4 million to turn the short film into the feature film Saw, in which two men who escape death wake to find themselves chained in a torture chamber.
They piece together clues left by their deranged captor and try to outwit the psychopath.
The film won rave reviews at the Sundance Festival and at this week's Toronto Festival.
Next month, Saw will open in 1500 cinemas across the US.
Whannell, 27, from Glen Waverley, said yesterday he and Wan "are looking around saying how good is this".
"The other night I was in bed I couldn't sleep. I had just arrived in Toronto and thought, 'I can't believe I'm here'," he said. "I had a moment of pure joy, it was awesome."
The pair have just visited Japan to promote the film and will soon head to Los Angeles for more promotional visits.
Saw is expected to open across Europe this year and will be in Australian cinemas on December 26.
Under the three-picture deal with Universal, the studio giant will have first rights over the next three scripts that Whannell and Wan produce, with a view to turning them into feature films.
The deal was struck after Universal representatives viewed Saw.
"It was really cool, it was guys that had seen Saw," Whannell said. "It's huge, we are just hanging to do another film.
"It's great -- it's awesome. It's like a bunch of guys that want to work with us."
Whannell said he was already working on two other scripts, another horror film and a science-fiction film.
And after such a successful debut, he said the two could be on their way to Los Angeles to live.
"We went to Los Angeles and were given our life's dream," he said. "LA for us is this golden city."
Students strike it rich
Nick Papps
Los Angeles
17sep04
TWO former Melbourne film students have hit the Hollywood big time, securing a three-film deal with Universal Pictures that could make them millionaires.
Former RMIT students Leigh Whannell and James Wan won the deal after scraping together $7000 to make a short horror film to shop around Hollywood studios.
After flying to the US with their seven-minute film and a script, the two former media arts students met American film company Evolution.
The pair insisted that if they wanted to make the film, Wan would direct and Whannell would have the main role.
Evolution agreed and gave them $1.4 million to turn the short film into the feature film Saw, in which two men who escape death wake to find themselves chained in a torture chamber.
They piece together clues left by their deranged captor and try to outwit the psychopath.
The film won rave reviews at the Sundance Festival and at this week's Toronto Festival.
Next month, Saw will open in 1500 cinemas across the US.
Whannell, 27, from Glen Waverley, said yesterday he and Wan "are looking around saying how good is this".
"The other night I was in bed I couldn't sleep. I had just arrived in Toronto and thought, 'I can't believe I'm here'," he said. "I had a moment of pure joy, it was awesome."
The pair have just visited Japan to promote the film and will soon head to Los Angeles for more promotional visits.
Saw is expected to open across Europe this year and will be in Australian cinemas on December 26.
Under the three-picture deal with Universal, the studio giant will have first rights over the next three scripts that Whannell and Wan produce, with a view to turning them into feature films.
The deal was struck after Universal representatives viewed Saw.
"It was really cool, it was guys that had seen Saw," Whannell said. "It's huge, we are just hanging to do another film.
"It's great -- it's awesome. It's like a bunch of guys that want to work with us."
Whannell said he was already working on two other scripts, another horror film and a science-fiction film.
And after such a successful debut, he said the two could be on their way to Los Angeles to live.
"We went to Los Angeles and were given our life's dream," he said. "LA for us is this golden city."