CinefestOz attracts some of the biggest names in Australian film, this year it drew director, writer and producer Craig D. Foster and writer producer Emma McKenna.
The duo bought their A-game to Cinefest with their werewolf horror-comedy short film Overtime which featured at the William Barrett and Sons Dark Laughs side bar in Bunbury.
Overtime stars Aaron Glenane, Adam Dunn, Arka Das and Anslie Clouston and revolves around an accountant with a secret he has trouble keeping to himself as the full moon rises and he’s stuck working late on a Friday night.
The idea for Overtime began with a slasher film phase McKenna went through while studying.
“I love horror and I used to fear zombies but as time went on the idea of the werewolf became very interesting to me thematically,” she said.
“So I thought what if you put a werewolf in a mundane situation and it was quite easy after that.”
Foster shared McKenna’s fascination with the werewolf.
“I love the idea of a character who loses control and ultimately I wanted to tell the story of a character who was trying to prevent a crisis,” Foster said.
“I think everyone has something they’re ashamed of, the primal side, the sexual urges, things we’re taught to suppress.”
When it came to casting the film Foster only had two names in mind, Aaron Glenane and Adam Dunn.
“I’d worked with the two previously on a pilot for ABC and I knew they had great chemistry that was going to work wonders with the content we’d written,” Foster said.
The film did well at this years Cinefest, adding to the unique experience the two filmmakers received at the festival.
“The response at Cinefest has been very warm, the audience at Dark Laughs was well primed for it and we got all the laughs at the right spots and some at parts we weren’t expecting,” McKenna said.
“I think it has really struck a nerve.”
The pair have a new project in the pipe, a spiritual sequel to Overtime and hope to return to Cinefest next year.