Kena from Film in Revolt spoke to Joanne Samuel, director of The Legend of the Five – a new Australian fantasy film.
Congratulations on your directorial debut! You’ve been in the film and theatre industries for many years, was there something that prompted you to direct or have you always wanted to?
I was the logical step to take, especially at my age. I love being an actor, but you do need to be able to create your own work, and it’s something I needed to do and try. It’s very hard work, but I love every minute of it. It was fantastic to work with an all Australian crew and all Australian cast. The crew was so passionate and hardworking, as Australian crews are.
Can you tell us how The Legend of the Five came to you?
My son Jesse produced it, and he came to me with the idea. We worked closely with the writer and massaged the script. It was great working with Jesse, he’s the reason for its success in a lot of ways. It was hard work behind the scenes, he did such a great job, including all the special effects.
Yes, especially for such a low-budget film the FX was amazing!
It was courageous. Tanya Esposito, the Executive Producer (mum to lead actress Lauren Esposito) worked really hard as well. It was definitely a tight-knit project, everyone working on it knew each other. Lauren came out from L.A., where she’s been working, and so did Leigh Scott. It was exciting!
I read that the film was inspired by some mythical cult classics like; Labyrinth and The Never Ending Story. Can you tell us how these fed into The Legend of the Five?
I love stories where kids save the world and are in all sorts of situations. Fantasy, for me, was a difficult step to direct in, but the Kids and Family genres are the ones I love to watch. I also run a youth theatre, teaching kids about film and stage. I’m a bit of a Disney girl! I love the genre, I guess creating something that you love helps fuel the passion.
Are you going to direct more films in this genre?
I’d say yes, for a while, but I do love straight drama with a really good story. I also love watching comedy, so the idea of getting a really good dramatic or comedic script is fine by me! I think comedy especially is quite difficult, so I’d like to give that a go.
Watching the film, I loved the bush setting for the fantastical world, but the high-school and home settings were very American, and some leads also had American accents. What was it like to try and tie those two together? I feel it could have been 100% Australian and done just as well!
Thanks for saying that, that was a bit of an issue. From a producer’s perspective, Jesse was really keen to bring an American style and influence into it. Whereas I love to tell an Australian story. That’s why we shot in the Blue Mountains, Bathurst and down in Bombo. These places are iconic Australian landscapes, but also nondescript. We hoped it wasn’t too recognisable.
I agree, and think that unless you’re an Australian you wouldn’t necessarily recognise the scenery.
Exactly, so that was our compromise with one another, to go that way. Jesse’s right on the Australian accent, he thinks it can be a bit off-putting, but I don’t mind it.
I can imagine accents are a tricky thing to reconcile.
Yes, they are, but a good story is a good story, it should depart all those things. It can be tough for Australian films as we need to appeal to a wider international audience.
What was your favourite on-set moment?
I loved The Gatekeeper, Matt Pritchard….
Yes! He was my favourite character! Whoever did his makeup – legendary!
Yeah, Deb Davies and Nadine did his makeup. He’s such a wonderful actor; he’s done a lot of theatre and he’s just so good. It was a very special scene to shoot. I love the amount of heart and connection in it, and he played the comedy so well.
We also had some great times down at Bombo shooting on the coast – an amazing location. And in Bathurst for the museum scene, they looked after us so well. I had some of my students from the youth theatre be extras in that scene too.
That would have been so exciting for them! Getting a look into how things work on-set…
It was! And they’re just so keen; they rocked up and gave a hundred percent. A lot of them wanted to see the technical stuff as well and I loved being able to show. There aren’t many opportunities like this.
What advice would you give to first-time directors?
Take your time; pre-production is very important. Trust your instincts, and have faith in the fact that you know what you’re doing. Trust yourself and communicate whatever you’re trying to say well. But take your time. When you don’t have a big budget use time as something that’s on your side. Take the time to do a good amount of pre-production, and really get to know your Heads of Department, where they’re at, and how you can all work together.
That’s pretty good advice, thank you! Is there anything in the pipeline we could hear about?
I’m working on a few scripts, but we’re just waiting to see how The Legend of the Five goes, to see what the next step will be. Hopefully, it will be in cinemas longer because not many films are hitting the screens at the moment. Unfortunately, a premiere event cannot take place due to the current restrictions. I would love to get the cast and crew together, sit 1.5 metres apart and celebrate.
Well, it has been fantastic chatting to you today, thank you so much for giving me some of your time to talk about The Legend of the Five and your filmic future.
The Legend of the Five is rolling out in cinemas to coincide with school holidays and cinema reopenings.
Find your nearest cinemas here: https://www.filmink.com.au/the-legend-of-the-five/