Last night, the cast and crew of The Cost gathered together at the Backlot Studios in South Melbourne to enjoy and celebrate their collective efforts both on and off the screen to watch the final and completed film.
Some cast and crew travelled from interstate, with co-writer Gregory Moss venturing over from Adelaide and Actress Nicole Pastor flying down from Sydney. Almost everyone involved in the films creation was present, with notable exceptions such as producers Blake Northfield from Bronte Pictures and Russell Cunningham from RLC Motion Pictures. That said, Russell joined us prior to the screening via Zoom, with the help of a trusty MacBook in the cinema.
Most of those present hadn't seen any or much of the film at all and knew not what to expect.
As the cinema filled up, Matthew address the team to thank each and every person involved in its creation and to briefly recount the journey that was undertaken to get it to this stage now. So without further ado, the projector began rolling and the audience fell silent, that is until La Rosa Productions received some very unexpected but welcome adulation by the team, which was humbling, to say the least.
And with that, The Cost officially began and was seen by its creators as a unified group for the first ever time. There were many snaps taken throughout the film, but in order to maintain the suspense and not give away any of the plot, we have withheld posting these for the time so as to allow the film to enjoy its anonymity and mystery until such time that it sees a more general release, which is hopefully in the not too distant future.
One photo we will show is that of good friend and director John Balazs of Prima Lux Films, or mores, of his wrist. I invited him along for this special private screening of The Cost and mid way through it, he nudges me to show me the readout of his elevated heart rate, which was at 108BPM. Fair to say, this film was having an impact on someone who literally knew nothing about the film other than our involvement in it. This was definitely a sign of success and that The Cost was hitting the mark!
At the conclusion of the film, applause was given by everyone for Matthew Holmes and the fantastic piece of cinema that had been created and delivered. By all accounts, it exceeded expectations.
Applause continued throughout the credits and as a sign of respect for Sound Recordist Dawid Kaczmarek, who sadly passed away In January of this year.
The Cost certainly brought out emotion in many, with the wife of still photographer Melville Quilliam recounting a very personal and heartfelt story of her husbands journey to pursue his passion of photography and thanking us for playing our part in helping to make his passion and dream come true. To say there were tears flowing on both sides would be an understatement.
This is the beauty of film. It has the power to transcend time, to shift emotion, alter perception and create meaningful discussion. Speaking of meaningful discussion, at the conclusion of the film, director Matthew Holmes stood up and spoke, giving a very heartfelt thank you to each and every person who contributed in any way to the production of this film.
Once the speeches and thanks were over, everyone spilled out into the foyer where the celebrations began. Here's a snapshot of the photos that were taken of those present:
The Cost will be premiering at a renowned film festival in Melbourne this coming November with further screenings and availability to buy, rent or stream to come.
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