He makes his first television appearance as a guest of The Arts Corner television show, presented by Kate Sedgeman, who falls for him. Callum, however, falls for her best friend, Linda. She owns the bookshop where Callum launches his book but luckily for Kate, fate brings her and Callum’s brother, Austin, together as they discover hidden love letters, signed by aliases. Jointly, they all try to find out who penned them.

“There are many comedic moments in the film, thanks to Austin and Callum’s fun-loving parents, stepfather, Lawrence Drakos and mother, Mary Mori, who both have liaisons with an art teacher, dance teacher, and yoga teacher, which adds uplifting and amusing elements to the film,” says Hopwood.

The production is shot entirely in Sydney, written, directed and produced by Joy Hopwood (The Script of Life, Rhapsody of Live, Get a Life, Alright!) with a stellar cast, which has now been announced. The main cast are, Takaya Honda (Neighbours),  HaiHa Le (Packed to the Rafters), Lily Brown-Griffiths (The Script of Life), Damien Sato (Rhapsody of Love), Susan Ling-Young (Hungry Ghosts) and Lex Marinos (OAM). Accompanied by a great supporting cast who include Maria Tran (Last King of the Cross), Andy Trieu (SBS PopAsia), Genevieve Craig (Chikas), and Atharv Kolhatkar
(The Marriage Agency).

Caz Dickson is the cinematographer, production designer Valentina Iastrebova, sound recordist and designer Lara Cross, and editor, Jon Cohen.

When asked why the actors wanted to be part of this film, “I am super excited to get started on The Gift That Gives. I was attracted to it because it is an interesting blend of a rom-com and a whodunit with rich and diverse characters. The script has some interesting twists and turns that don’t get caught in rom-com clichés. I mean, who needs another film celebrating someone cheating on their fiancé because they found ‘the one’ in someone they met two days ago?” says Takaya Honda.

“I loved the spirit in which this film is being made. It takes a lot of courage and tenacity to set out to make a film and I wanted to be part of the ride. It also has a warm and positive message, which I hope will resonate with audiences,” says HaiHa Le.

“I wanted to be part of The Gift that Gives because it’s a film that’s about looking at the positives in your life and opening up your heart to the generosity of others and passing that on. These are values that if we all lived by would make the world a better place. I was also very excited to work with Joy Hopwood again as she is a such a dynamic filmmaker, who always creates feel good films that make you feel warm inside but also address very important issues. Her films always champions diversity which is important as we live in a multicultural modern society,” says Lily Brown- Griffiths.

“There are many comedic moments in the film, and I hope audiences will get a laugh and be able to enjoy the film’s message and realise what the ‘gift that gives’ is in life,” says Hopwood.

Like all of Joy Hopwood’s films, diversity is at the forefront and she plans to have a theatrical release later in 2023 and to have the film streaming on a major network. Her last feature film, Get a Life, Alright! (a rom-com musical) will be coming soon to Channel Nine in 2023.

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