Filmmaking is not all glory
Comment excerpt from the film makers: “The Legend of Ben Hall’ was a 100% indie film. We made the film for less than $1million. Most people working on it were first timers, busting their ass to get a break in the film industry. A film like this would normally cost upwards of $5m. Film funding bodies turned us away. Investors told us to get lost. We had to use crowdfunding just to get a leg up. My cast and crew worked for weeks on end on deferred pay – or no pay – battling the cold, the rain and fighting endlessly against a system that just wanted to ignore and squash us, and still continues to do so. We made this film outside of the Hollywood and Australian film industry establishment. Both told us we could never achieve it, yet we did … “
BRAVO!!!
A job very well done.
The Legend of Ben Hall Trivia
Via Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
Director Matthew Holmes spent seven years researching Ben Hall‘s history to ensure the screenplay,
characters and plot were as historically accurate as possible.
Actors Jack Martin (Ben Hall) and Jamie Coffa (John Gilbert) bear striking
physical resemblances to the historical characters they portray.
Ben Hall carries a Tranter revolver. The Tranter revolver was an English ‘cap and ball’ revolver
invented around 1856 by William Tranter.
Tranter revolvers were regarded as reliable and functional, and were extensively used by
Confederate forces during the American Civil War.
‘Brave’ Ben Hall is one of Australia’s most infamous Bushrangers but like many others
such as ‘Mad Dog’ Daniel Morgan and ‘Gentleman Bushranger’ Martin Cash
he is often overlooked as the most popular and well known one is of course Ned Kelly.
It’s very safe to say that the Bushrangers hold exactly the same legendary stature to Australians
as Billy the Kid and Jesse James do to Americans.
Farewell Ben
Just in time for Thanksgiving
Share this:
Hello!!! I’m the director of ‘The Legend of Ben Hall’, and I wanted to let you know that I’ve launched a campaign to make a ‘Director’s Cut’ that will restore over 60 minutes of delete scenes back into the film. You can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendofbenhall/the-legend-of-ben-hall-extended-directors-cut
Kindest regards,
Matthew Holmes
Two Tone Pictures
Matthew !! Thank You for informing me. I will make a post and I look forward to seeing the Director’s Cut of this superb Western ! Bravo !
I’ll forego the wallaby dinner, but like the rest of the post.
Thanks GP. I’m sure they’ve got a turkey – or a catfish – around here somewhere.
haha, thanks!