Mel Bourne was the name of the Chicago-born and New York-based art director and production designer who worked on "Annie Hall" and went on to design 'Manhattan" and "Broadway Danny Rose" and "Zelig" and many other classic movies for Woody Allen. We crossed paths once, on the Paramount production of the Adrian Lyne romantic comedy "Indecent Proposal".
Melbourne is also the name of the second city of Australia where I have taken up residence this summer for the production of the Miramax film "don't Be Afraid of the Dark", which is being directed by talented newcomer Troy Nixey, and produced by my friends Mark Johnson and Guillermo del Toro. This poetic horror film is a remake of a cult classic telefilm from the early 1970's, which viewers of a certain age still recall as one of their scariest memories. It stars nine year old Bailee Madison as the daughter of architect Guy Pearce, who has come to live in a crumbling old mansion called Fallen Mill which is being restored by Guy and his new girlfriend, a designer played by Katie Holmes.
The "dark" which of course they should be Very afraid of is the ash pit in the basement, wherein reside a set of malevolent creatures known as homunculi, which have been fiendishly and deliciously designed by Troy and Guillermo and the special effects team they have assembled.
Some people compare Melbourne to San Francisco as a city on the bay, but to me it has a real Chicago feel to it, a bit architecturally, but more in the vibe of the place, the many cultural activities found here, the competitive attitude towards their bigger neighbor Sydney to the north, and the hard-working spirit of the people.
I look forward to blogging for you from here and sharing some of the sights and sounds of this big city, somehow, sometime, in between my all-consuming Executive Producer duties on this cool new film project.
I may not be as regular a writer as I have been for this past year, but stay tuned: there will be lots of nifty stuff to come out of this experience, I'm sure.
william
Sounds like a way cool project!
Posted by: Janet M | July 14, 2009 at 08:34 AM
Wow, Melbourne! I bet your family
misses you a lot!
I like Kathie Holmes. We really
enjoyed watching Dawson's Creek.
God Bless You and Yours!!!
Posted by: Flassie | July 14, 2009 at 01:35 PM
Ah ha! When I read Elsa's post about you working in Australia, I wondered what new project you were working on. Though I saw somewhere that Katie Holmes was down there, I didn't put two and two together.
Good luck on this project. It would be interesting to see how such a thing would be filmed. > jan
Posted by: Snippety Gibbet | July 14, 2009 at 01:53 PM
OMG! This movie which was one of the most memorable made for TV movies of my childhood rendered a pretty fearless girl a bumbling mess, checking every dark corner and never wanting to put my head under the water in the bath again! Every time I heard the name Kim Darby thereafter I also heard the echo goblins scattng. Trilogy of Terror starring Karen Black (around the same time) also featured a tiny rabid creature. As every thing cycles I guess the demonic troll, goblins and nomes are making a comeback!
Posted by: Andrea Kirsh | July 14, 2009 at 05:44 PM
Another great experience for you and we are all so lucky that you share it with us! Thanks!
Posted by: Donna | July 15, 2009 at 06:16 AM
Good luck on the shoot, William, and thanks in advance for the updates to come. I expect reviews of an Aussie blues club or two, and if the pizza down under is worthy of the name.
Also, lemme know if the crew needs a pick-me up and we can airlift some Portillo's your way as well.
Have a blast!
Posted by: John Arends | July 15, 2009 at 06:56 AM
Yay Billy!
I can't wait! We miss you!!!
La familia :)
Posted by: Elsita :) | July 15, 2009 at 10:06 PM