Director George Miller spent $150m making Mad Max Fury Road but his daughter Augusta only needed $11k for her new doco

DOCUMENTARY filmmaker Augusta Miller doesn’t quite enjoy the same film budget as her famous father George. Her acclaimed documentary The Animal Condition was made with just $11,000.

Actress and director Augusta Miller. Picture: Carly Earl

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DOCUMENTARY maker Augusta Miller has spent four years travelling around Australia making her new film which she says gives audiences both sides of the argument on animal welfare.

Her acclaimed documentary The Animal Condition was made with $11,000 and “a lot of blood sweat and tears”.

Miller is the daughter of director George Miller whose last film Mad Max: Fury Road was made on a budget of $150 million.

“There’s no one like my Dad. He’s a one-off filmmaker,” said Miller.

Director George Miller. Picture: Richard Dobson

Miller grew up in Mosman with her mother, actress Sandy Gore, and went to Redlands.

“I am very proud of both my parents but I don’t think I can be compared to mum or dad,’’ said Miller.

A NIDA graduate, Miller and three other friends spent nearly four years investigating and filming The Animal Condition which has been released nationally into cinemas — a rare honour for an Australian documentary.

Miller said the film gives audiences both sides of the argument on animal welfare.

Augusta Miller (left) during the filming of The Animal Condition.

Miller says she did not make a horror film about animal abuse.

“The film resonates with people because they don’t like to be preached at and nor did we make a horror film about animal abuse,’’ she said.

But Miller admits she and the film crew, guided by activists, did visit some chicken and egg farms “in the dead of the night” before switching tactics and interviewing people on the other side of the farm gate, including politicians and food industry heavyweights.

Miller said she and her fellow filmmakers, Michael Dahlstrom, Ande Cunningham and Sarah-Jane McCallan travelled across Australia to make the film.

Mad Max was filmed in Namibia and cost $150 million.

Apart from their own pockets, the only funding was an $11,000 grant from the Voiceless institute.

“We made the film with blood sweat and tears,” she said.

“We even had to sell a couple of cars along the way. We were basically just a band of kids genuinely wanting to listen to both sides of the argument.”

The Animal Condition will be screened at the Event Cinema in George St on September 14 and Miller hopes that audiences will also press for a screening at the Cremorne Orpehum.

Details: Fan-force.com.