TG Geeks Staffer, Hamish Downie, Wraps His Debut Feature

The Two Gay Geeks received this press release form our very own, Hamish Downie about his debut feature film.

Hamish has been working on this film for a bit and you may remember that he shot the principle photography for a feature film in four days. See article here.

Congratulations to Hamish for now wrapping additional pickups for this film.

We can’t with to see it. We here at TG Geeks and Hamish will keep you posted.

As promised in my recent News Sushi article, here is the update on what’s happening with my debut feature film, now retitled, “Matcha & Vanilla”.

Last year, we were invited to submit our little film to a major festival’s first feature category (my lips are sealed on which one – I don’t want to jinx it this year)… and we had to take a hard look at the film and make the big decisions. And the fork in the road I chose to walk down was to reshoot a couple of scenes, and write additional scenes for the film. And I think we are all the better for it.

This time around, we didn’t try to film an 80 minute film in 3.5 days (plus rehearsal). After editing, we had 30 pages to shoot, with minimal improvisation, over 4 days. Which is still a breakneck pace for a Hollywood film, but for us, it was an incredible luxury. It gave us a chance to be creative, and time to homage the films that inspired us. In the following shots, you might be able to see how we were inspired by Wong Kai Wai’s “Chungking Express”:
 

Director of Photography, Paul Leeming, did fantastic work last year under intense time pressure, but now, with a little room for creativity has done some of the best work of his career.

The photos tell the story, we’ve added romance and Hollywood glamour to the film. But, it’s not all style, it’s all in service of the story, which is about: “A lesbian couple in conservative Japan must fight to stay together when one of them is diagnosed with terminal cancer.”
 

Once again, I worked with the leads, Tomoko Hayakawa and Qyoko Kudo on making sure we had the best script we possibly could. I (the director) also spent some time while I was in hospital this year getting ideas for the additional scenes and reading “The Power of the Actor” by acting coach Ivana Chubbuck (famed for being thanked at the Oscars by Halle Berry) so that I could get the best performances out of my actors that I could.

CAST ADDITIONS

Yukiko Ito, fresh off her lead role in Felicity Tiliack’s “Impossible to Imagine”, joins the cast as the Doctor. Australian World Music Diva, Robyn Loau, provides a voice cameo. And we are currently setting up the LA unit to shoot Adam J Yeend (TV’s Liz & Dick, Scandal). Kenyan Model and Actress Kane [pictured] also joins the cast. Fellow cast members from the original shoot have also returned to expand their roles.

MUSIC

Deron Reyolds, who has come on board as our new composer has been hard at work on the film’s Love Theme, which had lyrics co-written by Cat Wardley, and is set to be sung by her sister, Lydia Wardley. We are prepping for a music video shoot in the coming weeks for the track, which is a throwback to the real music of the 1970s.

We are also in talks with Robyn Loau’s management to provide a song for the soundtrack. DJ OzyBoY, who was the brains behind the monster Australian hit single “I can feel it” (by his former band Radio Freedom), is set to provide a new sexy Latin track for the film.

Osaka-based rock group, Sentinels, has also agreed to provide a song for the soundtrack. Deron Renyolds is also hard at work on a new LGBT anthem for the soundtrack.

To say that I’m excited to get this show on the road, is an understatement!

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