Australian documentary Mockbuster hits cinemas August 27 – Filmmaker Anthony Frith turns a wildly ambitious six-day B-movie shoot into an award-winning behind-the-scenes comedy when Mockbuster opens nationally.
The 90-minute Australian documentary will arrive in cinemas on Thursday, 27 August through Umbrella Entertainment. Its release follows an Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary at the Adelaide Film Festival.
For Australian moviegoers, the film offers more than a standard making-of story. Frith had to build an American-style creature feature in suburban Adelaide with only six shooting days and a limited budget. The result places local crews, locations and practical filmmaking ingenuity at the centre of an international B-movie operation.
Watch the Mockbuster trailer
From stalled career to six-day creature feature
Mockbuster begins with Frith frustrated by a stalled directing career and a run of corporate video work. He decides to pitch himself to The Asylum, the independent studio behind Sharknado and a vast catalogue of low-budget genre films.
The gamble works. Frith lands the job of directing a reboot of The Land That Time Forgot, but the opportunity comes with an unforgiving production schedule. He has six days to complete the shoot on a shoestring budget in suburban Adelaide.
While directing the feature, Frith also films the experience around him. That second production becomes Mockbuster, capturing the pressure, compromises and absurd humour involved in making an effects-heavy adventure without blockbuster resources.
Frith describes the documentary as a project born from his love of B-movies, professional desperation and a willingness to attempt something unreasonable. Umbrella Entertainment general manager Ari Harrison says the film balances humour and heart while celebrating independent filmmakers who create work against the odds.
Australian filmmaking talent behind Mockbuster
The documentary is directed by Frith and co-written with Sandy Cameron. David Elliot-Jones, Cameron and Naomi Ball serve as producers, while Tickled and Mister Organ filmmaker David Farrier is an executive producer.
The film also features appearances by Adelaide-born brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, known collectively as RackaRacka. The pair went from creating energetic online videos to directing the Australian horror hit Talk to Me.
Mockbuster received support from Screen Australia, the South Australian Film Corporation, the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund and VicScreen. The film is in English and runs for 90 minutes.
Mockbuster national Q&A tour
Frith will join a national opening-week tour, with Q&A screenings scheduled across Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
- Adelaide: Thursday, 27 August at 6.30pm, Palace Nova Eastend
- Melbourne: Friday, 28 August at 6.30pm, Cinema Nova in Carlton
- Melbourne: Saturday, 29 August at 3pm, Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn
- Sydney: Sunday, 30 August, Dendy Newtown
- Sydney: Monday, 31 August at 6.45pm, The Ritz Randwick
- Brisbane: Tuesday, 1 September at 6.45pm, New Farm Cinemas
Select cinemas will also present Mockbuster as a double feature with Frith’s completed version of The Land That Time Forgot. Session details may vary between venues.
When is Mockbuster released in Australia?
Mockbuster opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday, 27 August.
Find more upcoming films in TV Central’s Movie Previews section, or visit the public Umbrella Entertainment screenings page for cinema information.
