‘It’s all for Shaun’: Local film maker’s star-studded tribute to late son.

The creator of the next great Aussie film says it’s time to see Geelong on the big screen.

The film is a rebooted project bought back to life in honour of Producer Cameron Miller's late son Shaun. Picture: Andrew Miaoulis.

Clifton Springs film producer Cameron Miller is making good on a heartwarming promise he made more than a decade ago, when he lost his son Shaun to childhood congenital heart disease (CHD).

And he’s enlisted the star power of AFL legend Warwick Capper and US actor Corey Feldman to complete his mission in the movie called Yesterday’s Hero.

Miller was filming the labour-of-love project in 2000, but it never made it across the finish line due to his son’s illness, diagnosed at birth in 1995.

“We shot about 80 minutes of it at that time, but what I hadn’t told the crew was that my son was very, very ill,” he said.

“I’d start shooting at 6am ... and finish at 6pm, and then I would fall asleep with my son at the hospital before waking up at 5am to go back to set.

“Eventually, I had to stop.”

The only Australian child to receive two heart transplants, Shaun, who died in 2012 at 17, showed unimaginable courage during his battle with CHD, and even uploaded a YouTube video titled My Final Goodbye, in which he urged viewers to “live life to the fullest”.

Shaun Miller passed away in 2012. Picture: Supplied.

While the video amassed more than 10 million views, it seems there was no one Shaun wanted to hear that message more than his father, who had promised to get back behind the camera when the time was right.

“He found (Yesterday’s Hero) on an old DVD and he said, ‘I want you to finish this, Dad’,” Miller said.

“He just loved it and laughed out loud while watching it.”

After taking the time to grieve, and dedicating almost a decade to a charity founded in his son’s name, Miller is delivering on his promise.

Set in the 1980s, the film follows Aussie labourer and amateur comedian Scott Burke’s overnight rise to fame in a story shot across Melbourne, Hollywood, Tasmania, and of course, Geelong.

Remarkably, the film will use the original 80 minutes of material, which will act as flashbacks to the protagonist’s rise to fame as he recounts it 30 years later in a pub.

Mr Miller says the film is being made "in the tradition of Crocodile Dundee". Picture: Andrew Miaoulis.

The film’s star-studded line-up of actors, which also includes Neighbours alumnus Krista Vendy and veteran comedian Chris Franklin, will donate their salaries to the Shaun Miller Foundation, which aims to raise money for accommodation and grief counselling for parents of kids with CHD.

“It’s amazing what they’ve offered to do,” Miller said.

“For all these people to offer their time … They know Shaun’s story and basically said, ‘We will do whatever it takes to help’.”

AFL legend Warwick Capper has given the film pleanty of star power. Picture: Andrew Miaoulis.

With all the ingredients of an Aussie cult classic, it’s no surprise that .Miller’s co-producer is Allan Finney, who was responsible for the marketing and distribution of The Castle.

Yesterday’s Hero is currently slated for a mid-2026 release.

“It’s vital that punters get out to see it in theatres, adding that the film’s proceeds will go to the Shaun Miller Foundation,” Miller said.

“I’m hoping everyone in Geelong gets around it and knows that they’ll have the opportunity to see Geelong on the big screen.

“It’s all for Shaun.”

Originally published as ‘It’s all for Shaun’: Local film maker’s star-studded tribute to late son.