The Peel Development Commission, Mandurah & Peel Tourism Organisation, Shire of Murray and City of Mandurah are getting behind Ben Elton to bring his new film Three Summers to the Peel Region.
“We are keen to work with Ben Elton and his team to secure the first major feature film for the Peel Region. It will have major and ongoing economic and promotional opportunities and, most importantly, it will create jobs. Our region is ideal for film production with close proximity to airports, our contrasting landscape from sea to scarp and our infrastructure. We hope this will be the first movie project of many more to come,” Paul Fitzpatrick said.
Internationally renowned and multi-award winning comedian, author, playwright, actor and director Ben Elton has written a script for a major feature film that is about the community of Western Australia and inextricably tied to the Peel region, for a film he will also direct.
Elton is married to a Western Australian, he has three children and lives in Fremantle. He is patron of the Fairbridge Festival and on June 18 will be compering and judging a Shakespeare competition at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre for local young people.
As a writer Elton is famous for series such as The Young Ones, The Thin Blue Line and Blackadder, as well as continuing as a stand-up comedian on stage and television.
Since then he has published 15 internationally best-selling novels and written the musicals We Will Rock You and Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.
We Will Rock You has thrilled more than 16 million theatregoers in 28 countries, and the show premiered in May this year at the Sydney Lyric Theatre, before touring the country.
He has won 3 BAFTAs, two Oliviers, literary awards and others.
His new BBC TV comedy series Upstart Crow on the young William Shakespeare has just launched in the UK to great reviews.
At the launch of the local support campaign last week Elton said: “It is wonderful to see such strong support from the Peel Region community for a film I have wanted to make for a long time”.
“Three Summers is a film set at a fictional music festival not much unlike Fairbridge Festival and Fairbridge Village is an ideal location for this feature film.
“We are very excited to be working with regional leaders to make Three Summers a reality and the support from the local community will greatly assist in getting this project across the line.”
Renowned WA producer Sue Taylor said, “Making a film for the national and international market place requires multiple funding partners and to get a film produced in a regional community requires strong local support. To have Peel Development Commission, Mandurah & Peel Tourism Organisation, City of Mandurah and Shire of Murray already behind the project enables us to lever the other financing required to make the project a reality and base it in the region.”
Anyone wanting to join other local community members in getting behind the project can contact associate producer and executive regional consultant Mark Anderson on 0484 081 329 or email five.ando@outlook.com.
