by Dov Kornits
Comedy is famously difficult to do well in film, which makes the lack of respect afforded it by award ceremonies and film festivals so baffling. This lack of respect isn’t stopping filmmakers Reilly Archer-Whelan and Michael Whyntie, whose absurdly hilarious latest short film Stranded has transcended any bias and has been selected to screen at Flickerfest’s Best of Australian Shorts and Short Laughs Comedy programs.
“When we first started submitting Bald Future into festivals, we found it really difficult,” says Archer Whelan about their previous short film.
“But when Bald Future got into Perth Revelation Film Festival, things started to snowball and we ended up getting to play in a lot of great festivals after that. We released Bald Future on YouTube earlier this year and it’s now had more than 44,000 views. The response has been really positive, and we’re delighted that it’s continued to entertain audiences beyond the festival circuit. Maybe next time we’ll try to make something more serious, but we love making comedy, it’s a really fun atmosphere on set and we’ve been lucky enough to get to work with some wickedly talented actors.”
Set on a deserted island, Stranded sees a sun-bleached couple (Ben Russell and Michelle Brasier) decide to take a break from their relationship, hijinks ensue. “It took us ages to find a location,” admits NSW based director Reilly Archer-Whelan. “We spent many, many weekends driving all over NSW and then eventually found the perfect place in far north Queensland. We looked all up the coast and finally found a beautiful beach called Etty Bay that looked really closed in and had a great big forest behind it, so would pass for a tropical island. We shot half of the film there, and shot the other half in Port Douglas on a beach that had easier access to amenities.”
Self-financed, the key to the film’s success is the casting. “We actually just sent the script to Ben Russell’s email address, and he got back to us about 30 minutes later and said he was keen to do it,” says Archer-Whelan. “Once Ben was on board, Michelle was keen to jump on board too. I’m sure our previous casting of [Aunty Donna’s] Mark Bonanno [in Bald Future] probably made the film more appealing, but we engaged them independently. I think in this case, like we have in the past, we got a bit lucky with timing and Michelle and Ben’s availability, because I think after this, they didn’t have much free time. I also think the idea of a week in sunny north Queensland might have helped seal the deal.”
In terms of working together, how do the pair bring the laughs? “We’ve been working together as co-directors for years, both commercially and on our previous short films, so have a pretty good shorthand and complementary skills,” says Archer-Whelan. “We’re very collaborative with the crew, a lot of whom we’ve worked with before, so trust implicitly. We do a lot of pre-production and pre-vis the whole film standing in for the actors ourselves and cut that together, so on the day we’re well prepared and things usually run relatively mechanically. This allows us plenty of room for improv – we know what shots and audio we need to get well in advance and have an idea of how it will cut together so we’re not short of coverage.”
What about Flickerfest and the future for the emerging filmmakers? “I produced a great short film Crush that played at Flickerfest in about 2017,” says Michael Whyntie. “We attended that year and loved the experience, and have been several times since to see other friends’ films. This will be Reilly’s first screening at Flickerfest! We think it’s a great festival and are really excited for the screening.”
“We’re wanting to develop features next,” says Reilly Archer-Whelan. “We’ve got a handful of projects that we’re keen on developing further – both comedy and more serious films. In the short term though we will most likely keep making shorts!”
Stranded is screening at the 34th Flickerfest International Short Film Festival, 17-26 January 2025
