STUART WILLIS

Very excited to announce that RESTORATION will have it’s Australian premiere on the Nine Network and then on the kickass streaming service Stan. See http://if.com.au/2016/07/04/article/Craig-McLachlan-sci-fi-thriller-Restoration-to-premiere-on-Nine-and-Stan/VMQQFIXLKA.html
We have also unveiled our poster!
More news and details to follow.

Very pleased that Stuart will be joining Sweet Potato Films (The Kettering Incident) on the team for their TechnoThriller Save Game.
We are also happy to announce the completion of RESTORATION.

Stuart travelled to Sydney to oversee the colour grade for RESTORATION. We are very lucky to have Adrian Hauser (The Great Gatsby, Predestination, The Last Cab to Darwin) as our colourist, thanks to Cutting Edge.
Stuart will also be recording some of the final pieces of ADR with Nadia Townsend who plays Emma Laws in the film.
Draft Zero 31 takes a detailed look at TOOLS FOR BETTER DIALOGUE.

Stuart had a great time as a panelist at the National Screenwriters Conference in Philip Island. By all reports, the panel was extremely well received.

RESTORATION (written by Matthew Clayfield & Stuart Willis) is Highly Commended for the John Hinde Award for Excellence in Science Fiction in the produced script category. Thanks to the Australian Writer’s Guild!
Draft Zero 30 takes a close look at CAROL and SPOTLIGHT.

Stuart has completed a Film Victoria Industry Placement on the new Valhalla Entertainment (The Walking Dead) TV Series Hunters. Stuart shadowed the executive producer and producing-director, Emile Levisetti. Thanks very much for the awesome cast & crew.
Stuart has been invited to speak at the AWG’s National Screenwriter’s Conference about his experiences writing/directing RESTORATION. See you in March 2016!
APIA’s “Social Experiment” campaign video edited by Stu for Director Henry Stafford & Dougal Digital is featured in Campaign Brief. At last count, the video has clocked over 500K views on Facebook.
Seems that Tarantino listens to DRAFT ZERO! He talks about our Draft Zero episode on Tips from Tarantino in his recent interview on Brett Easton Ellis Podcast.
Latest episode (28!) of Draft Zero on Contained Movies drops.

Stuart edited the opening video for the People’s Climate March in Sydney for an estimated audience of nearly 50,000 in the Domain.
Stuart interviewed producing-director Tommy Schlamme (The West Wing, Manhattan) for the Australian Director’s Guild Screen Director podcast.
Draft Zero Ep 27 looks at competing views on screenplay competitions with special guests including Blake Ayshford (Cut Snake, The Devil’s Playground)
Stuart and longtime partner/creative-partner, Lisa Cookson, make their home in MYCELIUM STUDIOS. Great bunch of people.

Stuart undertook the Stephen Cleary Story Structure workshop run by OpenChannel. Stephen, as always, was an exceptional teacher, and Stu was happy to be assisting him on this one.
Draft Zero Ep 26 looks at horror & collaboration with special guest Aaron Sterns talking about his experiences working with Greg McClean on WOLF CREEK 2.

We completed principal photography on Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Men Tell No Tales! Congratulations to the cast/crew. Stu was the post-production & dailies coordinator on this one.

RESTORATION (written by Stuart Willis & Matthew Clayfield) has been nominated for an Australian Writer’s Guild AWGIE 2015 — Best Comedy/Drama (Other Form). We are stoked.
Wrapped additional photography on RESTORATION. Some cool press coverage about our casting,
- Twitch Film — New Images, Casting News for Stuart Willis Sci-Fi Film
- Inside Film – McLachlan Joins Cast of Restoration

IT CAME FROM THE INDIES – Stuart talks (and talks… and talks) RESTORATION & PAYLOAD on this great podcast.

November — PAYLOAD (written by Stuart Willis & Matthew Clayfield) is nominated for the AWG’s John Hinde Award for Excellence in Science-Fiction.
August — DUST BUNNY (written by Stuart Willis) is nominated for a Monte Miller (Short Film) in 2014 Australian Writer’s Guild AWGIE Awards.
In August, we wrapped principal photography on RESTORATION (see press coverage before) which we started writing in January.
DRAFT ZERO a screenwriting podcast with Chas Fisher is launched in th beginning of the year! Apple made us a New & Noteworthy by our 3rd ep.

RESTORATION Press Coverage —

Stuart is awarded a place in the AWG’s inaugural Platform-X Workshop for Multiplatform Storyworlds. Which was excellent!
He also undertook an Arts Victoria Graduate Mentorship with renowned Script Developer & Producer, Stephen Cleary.
… he was also the Layout Production Supervisor on THE LEGO MOVIE for Animal Logic.
PAYLOAD is nominated for a Short Of The Week Award 2013 for Best Live-Action Short Film.
ROY & BETSIE (a short film co-created with Lisa Cookson) is short listed for Tropfest, 2013!

PAYLOAD was released onto the world to a pretty awesome reception. We were made a STAFF PICK by Vimeo! And things followed from there. Some great press coverage —
- SHORT OF THE WEEK did a great write-up on PAYLOAD.
- CNET — Is Aussie-made indie sci-fi the hot new thing?
- io9 — An emotionally-intense short film about scavengers in a space elevator town
HEY MAKE BELIEVER the music video co-created by Stuart Willis (director / post) & Lisa Cookson (creative director / designer) is featured on Directors’ Notes! including our Making-Of.

News