How local creative team got Netflix on-board with Jessica Watson movie

Jessica Watson’s story is finally coming to the big screen – and now, the Australian creative team behind it have revealed how they won Netflix over.

Thirteen years on from one of the most euphoric human endeavours in Australia’s history, the Jessica Watson story is finally getting the big screen treatment.

Most people won’t soon forget where they were when a then 16-year-old Watson sailed into Sydney Harbour in May 2010 – etching her way into history and heart with her tale of triumph that typified Australian spirit.

It seems fitting then, that a feature film chartering her 210-day solo journey around the world is titled True Spirit, the same title as Watson’s best-selling book.

If there was any doubt about whether there’s more to explore in a yarn so woven into the fabric of this country, you only need to look to writer and director Sarah Spillane’s method-approach to delving even deeper.

The LA-based Australian filmmaker, who hails from Manly in Sydney’s northern beaches, was so determined to authentically convey Watson’s mind frame for her circumnavigation – she went entirely off the grid in a shack in Joshua Tree, southern California to start penning the screenplay.

“In my case, I didn’t trust myself on a boat. And so I did what I thought could be a similar experience, and I went out into the desert and rented a little shack out there and didn’t see another person for three weeks,” Spillane tells news.com.au.

Australian actress Teagan Croft plays Watson in the film, pictured with director Sarah Spillane. Picture: Julian Panetta/Netflix

“I wanted to experience what she did emotionally, and connect with what it would’ve been like for Jessica alone by herself at sea for 210 days.”

Which begs the question, what did Spillane discover in the depths of isolation?

“There’s a lot of self-talk that happens when there’s no one else around, you need to keep check of your own happiness, for want of a better term. And so I think that’s where the mental health aspects come into it, it’s very easy to start feeling you could easily slip into a downward spiral,” she says.

“I could at least go out and walk and stretch my legs, and that in itself allows you to feel better about yourself, but Jessica didn’t even have that. She only had the boat.

“To keep yourself for 210 days in a positive state of mind, and with such high stakes, it’s an incredible challenge and accomplishment.”

True Spirit comes out on Netflix February 3, and in select cinemas January 26.

The movie may be docking on the behemoth that is Netflix come February 3 – but at its core, True Spirit is a local story, fought for, made by, and starring, locals.

Spillane is proudly born-and-bred on Sydney’s northern beaches where she had early ambitions to play Rugby League. In between practice sessions on the paddock, she loved going to the movies. But it was a screening of ET when she was just six-years-old that would set her ambitions ablaze.

“Everyone wanted to be Drew Barrymore, I wanted to be Steven Spielberg,” she said.

Fate would have it that years later, fellow northern beaches creatives would ask her to create True Spirit – which marks her second feature film.

Production agency Sunstar Entertainment, which also assisted in the production of the Oscar-nominated 2016 film Lion, co-produced True Spirit. It was a years-long passion project for the company’s founder Andrew Fraser, who has also been Watson’s manager since 2009.

Fraser, along with his business partner Shahen Mekertichian, encountered Spillane at the Sydney premiere of her acclaimed 2013 debut feature film Around The Block. When the credits rolled, they knew they’d found their visionary.

“Frase and Shahen asked if I’d be interested in working with them on developing Jessica’s story into a feature film. And I think by that time they had a few trial runs, but no one had actually cracked how to adapt the story, because it’s a challenging story to make cinematic,” Spillane says.

“One person sailing around the world … It’s got its own set of challenges to make that into a visceral story fit for screen.

“But the more time I spent with Jessica, and the more I really dove into the story itself, but also the themes that come from a journey like that, I just fell in love with it and agreed to come on-board as writer and director.”

Spillane and Fraser on-set of the film.

That was one big box ticked. But there was another glaring one to cross off – financing.

Spillane concedes the trio weathered a demoralising amount of “no’s” while attempting to get the project greenlit.

But if Watson was a beacon to go by, persistence does pay off, and Spillane finally had a bite during a meeting with Netflix executives about a separate project.

“Our US producer Debra Martin Chase and I were meeting with Netflix and the executive that I’m working with on that [separate] project saw on IMDB that I was attached to True Spirit and asked me about it,” Spillane says.

“And so I started talking about Jessica, and she asked if she could read the script – the one I wrote out in the desert.

“So it was the right place at the right time, but luck, I believe, is opportunity meets preparation. If you’re not prepared for when the opportunity arises, then it’s going to pass.”

Shot predominantly in Queensland at Village Roadshow Studios last year – with further backing from the Queensland government – True Spirit stars up-and-coming actress Teagan Croft as Watson, and Anna Paquin and Josh Lawson as Watson’s parents, Julie and Roger.

Viewers won’t be starved of action scenes much like those Watson braved during her trek aboard the iconic Ella’s Pink Lady yacht, but the behind-the-scenes reality of shooting such sequences was almost as chaotic as the real thing.

During a three-day production at sea, everyone except Spillane and her director of photography fell tremendously sick.

“It’s been said that water is the hardest element to work with in film out of all of the visual effects, and I can see why,” Spillane laughs.

During a three-day shoot at sea, ‘dozens’ of crew members got sick.

“Everyone but myself and the director of photography was horrendously seasick. It was like a domino effect. I’m talking dozens and dozens of crew members …

“It was like a hospital triage. There are many things you can’t control on a movie set, and that was definitely one of them.”

Ultimately, this is a story about relationships as much as it is Watson’s voyage.

Spillane believes the film’s focus on Watson’s personal relationships at the time gives audiences a fresh perspective on a well-known tale.

“I think what’s surprising about the film from the feedback that I’ve received so far is the relationships that were so deeply affected by what Jessica did,” Spillane shares.

“True Spirit is obviously first and foremost about Jessica’s dream and this incredible journey to circumnavigate the globe, but it’s equally about her family and the impact that that had on her family.

“You know, the conflict that her parents felt … On the one hand wanting to support their daughter, but on the other hand wanting to protect her and being helpless in doing so.”

Croft and Watson at the Queensland premiere in Brisbane this week. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

Spillane is referencing harsh criticism a tender-aged Watson received during and after her achievement.

Many experts thought it was foolish for someone to attempt the gruelling venture without adequate experience, while others even argued she travelled less than the required distance to break the world record of the youngest person to circumnavigate around-the-globe.

“A lot of Australians, unfortunately, have a tall poppy syndrome that exists, and it’s very easy for someone who has a dream to be cut down and to be criticised.

“That is certainly an element within this story. We don’t shy away from that for a second because it was a prominent part of her journey.”

True Spirit streams on Netflix February 3 and is in selected cinemas in Australia from January 26.

Originally published as How local creative team got Netflix on-board with Jessica Watson movie