THE FILM
So what the hell is this all about?
Street Wars: Rise of the Pirates is the first official feature film of Adelaide-based production company Kessel Run Productions.
Rise of the Pirates is written and directed by Hayden Smith, who also stars as the film's hero MJ. It was Hayden's brainchild that plays as an unofficial sequel to a series of no-budget Street Wars features he made with friends in his late teens/early 20s. It also serves as a bizarre swan-song to his home town of Adelaide, South Australia - especially the poorer areas where he grew up.
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Drawing on a love for football (or soccer, if you prefer) as well as inspiration from legends like Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, and even Rapunzel, Hayden has crafted a bizarre mix of different genres that blend together into a truly unique film experience. The down to earth nature of the ultra-low-budget production (made for less than AUD$1000) also lends to a fun atmosphere that is hard to take too seriously. So grab a few friends, sit back with a beer or three and enjoy the show!
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THE CAST
So who got stuck playing soccer in the middle of a record heatwave?
The key cast, in order of appearance:
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HAYDEN SMITH - MJ
NATHAN SMITH - SPIDA
JARRAD PUCZKOWSKI - VLAD
BRADLEY SMITH - THE CHIEF
SIAN GIORGIO - RUBY
DANNY PETTAS - ALEX
JAMIE SMITH - CHIEF'S GOON
SEAN MARTIN - PIRATE No. 1
ISAAC SZEPESSY - PIRATE No. 2 / THE SNITCH
JARRAD BHATIA - PIRATE No. 3
KYLE BRANSON - HEAD DRUG DEALER
NICK REES - THE ORACLE
ROB RYAN - NARRATOR / VOICES
JAMIE HOLDER - LEADER OF THE COBRAS
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In addition to these fantastic actors is a list of extras and voice actors who lent their talent to the project. For such a low budget film their generosity is much appreciated - many of these poor guys had to give up weekends to shoot soccer scenes in jumpers and long pants, in some of the most brutal conditions the Australian summer could throw at them.
WHAT WERE THESE GUYS THINKING!?
BEHIND THE SCENES
Street Wars: Rise of the Pirates was shot part-time between mid 2013 and mid 2015 by a ridiculous two-man crew. After writing and casting the film by himself, Hayden enlisted his Kessel Run Productions business partner Pirie Martin to help make props, costumes, and most importantly, shoot the film. There was no other crew involved (save for the odd actor holding a smoke machine from time to time), and Hayden was often the star of the scenes while also directing, so everything else was left to Pirie - shooting on an old Sony FX1000 with only available light. 95% of the film is hand-held which gives it a very loose and energetic feel, and rather than hinder production, the shooting limitations helped drive creative decisions that lend a gritty and personal style to the film.
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Because Pirie couldn't record both video and clean audio on set, the entirety of the film had to be re-dubbed in post production, leading to 9 months of ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement) in a small home-made sound booth. Similarly, all of the sound effects had to be replaced with foley recorded later. For this, the project finally enlisted the help of audio recorder and mixer Jeff Crouch, making him crew member number 3.
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The film is still in post production, with music currently being composed by Dane Roe, as well as members of Big Daddy's Discotheque and Tiny Little Grandeur.
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More updates and information will be coming soon, but in the meantime you can check out images from the production on Facebook, the Kessel Run Productions website/blog, as well as Instagram.
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