The movie, Anno 2020, which recently wrapped filming, was shot in 17 cities spanning five countries, in four languages, over one full year at the height of the COVID lockdowns.
Anno 2020 is based on James Morcan’s published novel of the same title and is about various groups of connected people all going through chaos during the cataclysmic year that was 2020.
For gifted Gold Coast-based actor Erin Connor, the rare elements of the production encouraged her to accept a role offered to her by Morcan.
“It excited me because of its uniqueness,” Connor says. “I was instantly attracted to the way they were filming it as a fly-on-the-wall approach.”
The actor says the sheer scale of Anno 2020 appealed to her.
“With filming all around the world it was so massive yet so intimate at the same time. To be able to create collaboratively during a global pandemic was such a gift from James Morcan and his team. I simply had to sign on.”
Connor is currently riding a wave of momentum with a thriving international acting career. Represented by leading Los Angeles talent agency KMR Talent, she recently starred alongside Wolf Creek star John Jarratt, and in the Hollywood children’s movie Dino King 3D: Journey to Fire Mountain, as well as playing Temuera Morrison’s wife in the Occupation science-fiction series of films.
The tall, blonde performer also stars in and produced another feature film during the pandemic. Titled Double or Nothing, Connor describes it as “a Queensland version of a Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels-style film” and states she’s also extremely proud of this work.
Morcan says he is extremely grateful to Connor for taking a chance on him with Anno 2020.
“Erin is not only an incredibly talented actress who carefully crafts believable characters, she also has a childlike playfulness and spontaneity that was perfect for our film’s slightly experimental performing style,” he says. “She relished being able to improvise most of her dialogue.”
Connor says it’s not often she gets to play with improvisation in a feature film.
“That was one of the amazing choices James made,” she says.
“For someone who is a published author, I expected he would be very attached to the words in the script. But not James, he is an actor’s director and employed an explorative, flexible approach to finding where the best moments land in any scene.”
Anno 2020 is being produced by actor-producer Gil Ben-Moshe, of Sydney’s MoneyShot Productions. The film is expected to begin its international release on the global film festival circuit in early 2023.
“After an anticipated premiere at a major film festival,” Ben-Moshe says, “we are targeting a theatrical release followed by online distribution on major streaming platforms.”