Veteran actor David Field: ‘We need to be more independent’

Stop trying to be like Hollywood. That’s the message veteran actor David Field has for the Australian film industry.

Stop trying to be like Hollywood.

That’s the message veteran actor David Field has for the Australian film industry.

“I think we’ve become too much annexed to the American idea. I don’t think we are independent enough as a film industry,” Field told Confidential.

“A lot of times when you want to raise a budget you need an A-list actor … we didn’t have that back when I first started. We just made films for the Australian public and I think one of the things we have forgotten about is that the Australian public love Australian films.”

Australian actor David Field is advocating for Australian filmmakers to do their own thing rather than copying Hollywood. Picture: Toby Zerna

Determined to continue to tell Australian stories, 10 years after his directorial debut with The Combination starring George Basha, the sequel has arrived and will hit cinemas nationwide on February 7.

“It’s really exciting. We have made the film on a very low budget. We didn’t have any government assistance, so to make it independently like this and have the majors respond to it is really exciting,” Field, 57, said.

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While the original was hailed by critics as provocative and groundbreaking, Field said he hopes audiences find the follow-up, The Combination Redemption, just as intense.

“I hope it’s intense. That’s what you go for. But I think it’s also really entertaining,” he said. “We have a gang of four hoods that are chasing a fella down for money and we really played with that in terms of entertainment … I guess we borrowed the thing that works really well in Australia, like in Chopper and Two Hands — films that I’ve already been involved in — and employing a real humour in that area so it’s not too clichéd and heavy.”

Field said several high-profile actors including Rahel Romahn and Geoff Morrell did the film unpaid: “We owe them money back if we make money but people are loyal to us now and they trust us and we treat them right.”