Victoria Cocks (Wastelander Panda) has been given funding from Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation to direct a high-concept vampire film IN THE BLOOD. Due to start shooting in late 2017, it will be produced Trevor Blainey (Noise, Cut Snake) and written by the multi-award winning short filmmaker Nigel Karikari.
The Screen Australia site describes the film on their site:
Genre films, and in particular vampire films, are not something that’s always associated with government funding in Australia. Rightly or wrongly, there is a perception that an ‘Australian’ film has to tick certain cultural boxes to make it to cinemas. Cocks, who was behind the online cult series Wastelander Panda, aims to change that. “Genre is what I love and what I feel most passionate about as a director,” she said in a statement. “Finding a script that is able to combine that with both a great dramatic premise and great characters you genuinely care about in equal measure is something I will never say no to taking on.”
The last few years have been a boom time for genre filmmaking in Australia, with stylish horror film The Babadook (2014) making waves internationally. Similarly, last year’s Red Billabong was a fun twist on a local legend that make great use of computer generated characters. My Pet Dinosaur, currently in cinemas, pushes the boundaries of what it means to be an “Australian film” by transforming New South Wales’ Lithgow into small town America and populating it with a special effects monster.
Produced by Retro Active Films with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with the SAFC, Cocks’ IN THE BLOOD will be distributed in Australia and New Zealand will be by Umbrella with international sales being handled by Embankment.
