MATT HARDIE

Winner of Tropfest Australia 2013

Film Maker, Director &Star of ‘Bamboozled’VIEW

Watch it here

Scene from BamboozledWinner of Tropfest 2013

It was pulled together very quickly. I had a great team that worked on previous films. I sent them an email once I had written the film and asked if they were free and keen to jump in. Fortunately it wasn’t a difficult film to make, the locations were simple and it was character driven. I am very lucky to have a team that are all great at their jobs.

How did you piece this project together?

As rude as it is to say, Aaron was my second choice. My idea was that the comedy came from a change that seemed impossible, so the bigger the man the better. After my first choice couldn’t do it - I instantly thought of Aaron. Not only is he tall and has strong masculine features, but he is also great at comedy and improvisation. He nailed it – winning the Best Actor accolade for his role.

How important was selecting the right talent to tell your story?

I wanted to do something different/interesting with the theme. It was the first time Tropfest has used a more abstract theme that can be interpreted in so many ways than ‘bubble’ ‘balloon’ or ‘key’ can. I wanted the theme to be central to the story and not look like it was just tacked on to meet the brief. From there, it was a case of brainstorming ideas and applying trial and error to come up with a story that worked.

You were given the theme of ‘change’ to interpret - how did you come up with your concept/ bring it to life?

We are in the process of adapting the short into a TV series about the show “bamboozled”. Sort of a mix of 30 Rock and the Office – keep an eye out for it!

What’s next?