Hervey Bay thriller set to premiere on Boxing Day
A thriller filmed in Hervey Bay is set to premiere on free to air TV in a post-Christmas gift for the region.
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A star-studded movie filmed on the Fraser Coast is set to be screened to Australian audiences for the first time in a post-Christmas gift for the region.
The 13th Summer, previously called 13 Summers, was filmed in Hervey Bay last year, leading to the establishment of Fraser Coast Films, a new company that aims to produce two movies a year in the region.
The film company grew out of the team that directed and produced The 13th Summer, which will screen for the first time on 9Gem on Boxing Day at 9.40pm.
The movie stars Bec Hewitt, Georgie Parker, Nathan Phillips and Hannah Levien and it was directed by Tam Sainsbury.
Executive producer Glen Winney said across the Fraser Coast, people were excited to see the film for the first time.
“It is groundbreaking for Fraser Coast Films, it’s the first movie on a national screen,” he said.
Mr Winney said Channel 9 had previewed the film before picking it up, which was a “good endorsement”.
The film involves two couples caught up in an eerie mystery.
“During their annual vacation at an isolated beach, Ben and Vee unexpectedly encounter a mysterious backpacker who draws them into a twisted web of lies, deceit and ultimately, revenge”, a description on the film’s website said.
Mr Phillips spoke about the movie when it was being filmed in Dundowran Beach.
He plays Ben, a man labelled a killer cop who goes on an annual holiday with his wife after being cleared of any wrongdoing.
But mystery and intrigue follow the two on their getaway as they try to mend their strained relationship and wait for another couple to arrive at their seaside holiday home.
For Mr Phillips, the chance to come to Hervey Bay to film was an opportunity to get back to nature and do what he loves.
He said it was the script that made him want to be part of the project.
“It has to be the script; it’s never the money. Money doesn’t make you happy,” Mr Phillips said.
The complexity of his character played a big part in him wanting to take on the role.
“I love struggling with the character that I want to make redeemable, even though I’m not the bad guy.”
His character’s main conflict was with the mysterious backpacker played by Ben Turland, a young flirtatious “spunk” pushing his buttons, who is everything his own character is not, Mr Phillips said.
“That’s when the story unfolds,” he said.
The release of The 13th Summer comes after the company wrapped on another project, He Loves Me Not, which was filmed on K’gari earlier this year.
He Loves Me Not is about a wildcard contestant starring on a reality television show similar to The Bachelor who is in it for the money but ends up falling in love.
International star Rhiannon Fish, who appeared in When Love Springs, A Royal in Paradise, Team Bride, and For the Love of Chocolate, will play the lead female role of Holiday, supported by Georgie Parker, star of Home and Away, All Saints and A Country Practice, while Lincoln Lewis plays the leading man.
Mr Winney said He Loves Me Not is now in post production.
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