Mandurah locals Zoe Lyons and Phillip Hutton have played important roles in Ben Elton’s locally-shot feature film Three Summers, standing in for the film’s stars Rebecca Breeds and Robert Sheehan.
Before the actors – Breeds is Sydney-based and Robert Sheehan is Irish – came on set, the job entailed standing-in before filming for technical purposes such as lighting and camera setup.
Stand-ins are essential in the initial processes of film and when the scenes were ready to be shot the stand-ins would swap with the lead actors. Ms Lyons and Mr Hutton also had the opportunity to be extras in the film as well.
“The whole experience was surreal,” Ms Lyons said.
:To be a stand-in for Rebecca Breeds, one of the lead actors, for the whole production and to get to know her personally was a real honour.
“This has really set my mind to working even harder to get into the film industry.”
Zoe is currently studying film at university while working at the Meadow Springs Cafe.
A further employment outcome for the Peel Region was local Diana Oliver, working with Kate Neylon the Producers Attachment, and taking on the role of Extras Coordinator for the 1,000 local people who were required as extras for the shoot.
“I found this opportunity so rewarding and the local people were so wonderful to work with,” Ms Oliver said.
“On some days we had over 150 people involved as extras from as young as four years-old to over 60. It kept me very busy and Peel people have proven to be a great asset for the film industry.
“I am looking forward to having more feature films and maybe even a television series shot in the region in the future and I look forward to playing a further part in the industry.”
Local extras are excited about the release of Three Summers in the cinemas nationally mid to the late 2017 and inviting their families along when it is screened in Mandurah to see if they can catch a glimpse of their ‘starring’ role.
Local and Executive Producer of Three Summers, Mark Anderson is working with the Peel Development Commission and ScreenWest to attract further productions to the Peel Region.
