Gold Coast film ‘Bring Him to Me’ set for Hollywood

The Gold Coast family behind productions featuring A-listers such as Sam Neill, Rachel Griffiths and Ken Jeong say their homegrown industry ‘shouldn’t wait for Hollywood.’ READ WHY.

The Gold Coast family behind a crime movie starring Sam Neill say the local film industry is thriving with projects “ready to go”.

Known for his Occupation movies starring Temura Morrison, director Luke Sparke, along with his wife and her family, have produced the thriller ‘Bring Him to Me’.

Luke Sparke on set at his Arundel studio. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Starring ‘Jurassic Park’s’ Neill, ‘Muriel’s Wedding’s’ Rachel Griffiths and ‘Saving Private Ryan’s’ Barry Pepper – the “crime getaway” movie is out in cinemas Australia-wide today.

Set to hit the American market in January, Mr Sparke and his family said it felt good to be “kicking goals” in the industry and proving what local film productions have to offer.

Sam Neill. Picture: Yianni Aspradakis

“We don’t have to wait on Hollywood to bring their films over,” Mr Sparke said.

“There are filmmakers like us here ready to go.”

With two recent productions “in the can”, the director said it was a great position to be in.

“We have a creature feature called Scurry coming out early 2024 which has been picked up by Umbrella Entertainment and is over at the American Film Market this week,” Mr Sparke said.

Rachael Griffiths. Picture: Richard Dobson

“We use a fully local crew of around 100 as we can all do it here – we want to be part of this local industry and making it grow.”

With the family’s studios based in Arundel Mr Sparke said they wanted to expand into bigger productions while keeping it Gold Coast based.

Barry Pepper in scene from film ‘Knockaround Guys’.

Their next local production will start at the end of November.

Gold Coasters can catch ‘Bring Him to Me’ at Reading Cinema Harbour Town, Dendy Cinemas Southport and Nerang Cineplex.

Mr Sparke will host a public Q&A at Reading Cinema Friday at 6pm.