Stuart Willis' SciFi Thriller RESTORATION Finds An Australian Home
It was all the way back in July of 2014 that we first wrote about writer-director Stuart Willis' indie scifi thriller Restoration. At the time the project was being developed as a three part web series and had just launched a crowd funding campaign to get themselves over the financial line and now here we are returning to tell you that the project has grown, been completed, and is now slated for an Australian release later this year.
Sydney-based production company Midnight Snack Productions has closed a series of deals for its science fiction thriller RESTORATION that will see the broadcast hour-length film premiere on the Nine Network and subscription video-on- demand service Stan later in 2016.
Directed by Stuart Willis and independently produced by Midnight Snack’s Toby Gibson, RESTORATION is set in a near- future world where humans have their memories downloaded for backup via a new and dangerous technology.
“We’re thrilled to have closed a deal with one of Australia’s leading free-to-air commercial television networks and with pioneering SVOD service Stan,” says Gibson. “We’re very pleased Restoration will be seen by a wide Australian audience.”
Featuring critically-acclaimed and accomplished Australian actor Craig McLachlan (The Doctor Blake Mysteries) among its ensemble cast, RESTORATION tells the story of a man – Oliver Klein – who awakes after a routine backup with his memories restored into a body that is not his own.
The cast of RESTORATION rounds out with Nadia Townsend (Knowing, City Homicide), Grant Cartwright (Barracuda), Stephen Carracher (Vanished), Rosie Lourde (Starting From Now, Embedded), Elizabeth Nabben (Winners & Losers) and Ailís Logan (Alvin's Harmonious World of Opposites).
“Craig McLachlan's participation in Restoration speaks to the high-calibre of talent we assembled in front of and behind the camera,” says Willis. “Led by Grant Cartwright, Stephen Carracher and Nadia Townsend, our acting ensemble’s committed performances ground our mind-bending thriller with authentic human emotion. I couldn't be more excited by what they brought to the screen.”
Gibson says Midnight Snack is currently exploring international options for the film. “Having secured an audience in Australia, as well as Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu territories, we’re now looking to expand our reach to larger international markets,” explains Gibson.
RESTORATION was co-written by Melbourne director Stuart Willis and writing partner Matthew Clayfield. The team is also developing the sci-fi concept behind RESTORATION as a long-form series.
According to Willis, “While Restoration is a self-contained story, it also serves as the bedrock for a series adaptation we currently have in development. It takes our core science fiction concept and blends it with the powerful possibilities of a contemporary crime thriller.”
Midnight Snack has also launched a new website and released the official poster for RESTORATION, featuring a striking design by the film’s design director Lisa Cookson which depicts Grant Cartwright as the story’s protagonist Oliver Klein and Stephen Carracher as Gavin Worth. Find out more at www.restorationfilm.com
Our former Australian editor Simon de Bruyn served in a producing role on this one and we'll be keeping eyes open for a trailer soon.
