by Dov Kornits
Rhiannon Bannenberg’s sophomore feature film Rip Tide is a G-rated coming of age drama about a US model (Disney Channel graduate Debby Ryan) who escapes the spotlight to revive with her surfer aunt in coastal Australia, in the process learning to ride a board, meet a hunky surf instructor (played by Andrew Creer), and discover a great deal about herself via a different world where peers value her creativity.
Steve Jaggi, can you tell me how Rip Tide came into your orbit?
Rip Tide was a straight commission. We’ve [The Steve Jaggi Company] been around for nearly seven years now, so we’ve got a bit of experience with what does, and doesn’t work. For us, we find that projects commissioned in-house tend to perform better. With Rip Tide, I came up with the general idea, which may have been, at best, a paragraph long pitch. Through a friend, actor Ryan Harrison, we were then fortunate enough to be introduced to the talented Georgia Harrison. She’s a very talented writer, which goes without saying, but what’s unique about Georgia is her background in copywriting and advertising, which means that she knows how to write for an audience.
How was the process of getting Debby Ryan on board?
Casting is difficult. Marquee casting boarders on impossible. The landscape is littered with quality projects that are abandoned because they’re unable to attach a name large enough to green light. We worked closely with the fantastic casting director Danny Long, and also L.A. based Catherine Stroud and Lisa London. Ultimately, what attracted Debby to the film was the director, Rhiannon Bannenberg, and her stand out debut, Ambrosia.
The film seems to be very much speaking to a certain demographic, was that always the plan, and why?
Absolutely. We’re a business, and we’re here to make money. I really don’t understand why so many Australian producers shy away from saying this. As our wheelhouse continues to become more and more defined, through trial and error, one clear standout learning has been that reverse engineering really works. With Rip Tide, we started off by identifying an audience, not a broad audience, but a clearly defined audience. We can break our core audience(s) down by gender, age, location and viewing habits. The project was then built around this core demographic, which is actually rather liberating, as so many decisions, both creative and business, are easy to make when you’ve got such a key understanding of who’s going to be buying tickets at the end of the process.
The film’s message about promoting women’s voice is quite pertinent and you surrounded yourself with women behind the camera. Was this all deliberate in the packaging of the project?
It’s certainly not altruistic. If you look at our body of work, we have a strong history of working with, and promoting female practitioners. These include Rosie Lourde (Skin Deep), Megan Riakos (Crushed), Monica Zanetti (Skin Deep), Claire Harris and Jo-Anne Brechin (both Zelos). Quite honestly, this is because we find these filmmakers to be easier to work with. We need team players, not hot heads. Dependability, honesty, these are traits that seem to be more prevalent with female practitioners than males. Of course, I should counter by saying that we’ve worked with some fantastic male filmmakers, the standouts being Jonathan Adams (Rough Stuff) and Stephen Sewell (Embedded).
On Rip Tide, aside from the writer and director, our cinematographer Tania Lambert and 1st AD Christine Luby helped to form a core female led HOD [Heads of Department] team, which was very beneficial when working with a female led cast, many of whom are in their early 20s, and had travelled from the other side of the globe, taking a risk on a tiny Australian film. A calm and supportive environment was established, and I’ve received feedback from a number of cast manager and agents on just how enjoyable the film was to work on. Which is amazing when taking into account the 18-day shoot schedule!
How has the film sold around the world?
I’m contractually forbidden from mentioning the deal(s), what I can tell you is that before the film is even released, we’re in the black. It’s really exciting, and I’ve learnt quite a bit about packaging and placement on this film.
Your company seems to be blazing a unique trail in this territory. Is it inspired by anyone, and what is the M.O. of the company?
Inspiration wise, we often take cues from Blumhouse, and my personal idol is Jerry Bruckheimer. I’d like to be at that level someday.
Company M.O.? Yes, we have a very defined one. When I first moved back to Australia and established the company with then business partner Liz Czinner, we found it incredibly difficult to attract experienced directors. They weren’t interested in working with a startup company – they had established relationships with the big half dozen established companies. So, after a couple of years of floundering around, we said ‘fuck it’, and decided to follow a traditional studio model and establish our own bank of filmmaking talent. It’s been difficult, we’ve had a lot of push back from agencies and established companies, but to be honest, this has probably played to our benefit. It forced us to work in areas that the incumbent players and agencies weren’t interested in.
With our emerging filmmakers, when we identify someone we want to work with, and that we believe in, we get behind them and their first film as strongly as possible: creatively, and in some instances, we may also act as the distributor – including world rights, a different conversation altogether.
We now have a great stable of talented emerging filmmakers, with unique first films. We can leverage these filmmakers, and their first film, to get marquee cast, strong foreign deals, and most importantly, we can circumvent the gatekeepers.
What got you into the film business in the first instance?
Let me start by voluntarily declaring that I could never run for Australian parliament. I am originally from Canada – and am still blessed with the sexy accent. I attended film school at the Queensland College of Arts, Griffith University (now Griffith Film School). After this, I spent nearly a decade in the U.K., first as an intern for a very established producer, then working for a foreign sales agent before taking baby steps into producing straight to DVD genre films (this was a big industry pre-GFC). I returned to Australia in 2011.
You mentioned to me that it’s expensive to make indie films such as this in this territory, compared to the US. Can you comment?
Making films in Australia is incredibly difficult. But let me add that I don’t think it’s easy anywhere! As a company, we’re now producing films on three different continents, and each brings its own challenges. It’s no secret that Australia is an incredibly expensive territory to make films in. If I look at some of my favourite indie films of the past decade, such as Your Sister’s Sister, Drinking Buddies, Francis Ha, these were all made on very competitive budgets.
I’m really frustrated that there isn’t a stepped/graduated award (wage) system, based on project budget, much like the SAGIndie programme. The simple fact is that agency budgets, broadcaster budgets, these are all being cut annually. There is money to be made, but not via traditional streams. As a consequence, we need to make films for less (outside of the larger marquee titles, which will see their budgets continue to grow). We also need to look at alternative distribution more aggressively. We’ve some limited experience with Direct to Consumer distribution (tVOD), and I can tell you that this is a much more cost-effective way to release, and see returns from, certain types on film.
Rip Tide is an internationally competitive film with a star that was made on a controlled budget. This is the model that we’ll continue to pursue.
Rip Tide is in cinemas from September 14, 2017
Zelos is in cinemas from September 8, 2018
