In the hidden corners of our society they gather, our society's elite, the cultural gate keepers - Film Critics. But the reviewers at this gathering aren't here to wax lyrical about the latest Scorsese release or reflect on Cannes. These men and women gather in shame and weakness to wrestle with the stark reality that film critics may not be the intellectual superiors they think they are. Join young upcoming film critic Philip Hughes as he attends his first night at Critics Anonymous where he will discover once and for all if he can "handle the truth".

VIEW CRITICS TRAILERS:

View the Critics Anonymous trailer - COMING SOON!

(Quicktime 7 H.264 format)

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:

Jason Bray, Director, on Critics: This film was inspired after seeing several movies which I loved at the time (Matrix Revolutions, The Lady Killers) only to be told later by critics and film loving peers that they were rubbish and then watching "classics" which I feel asleep in (Sommersault). I hope there are traces of Cohen Brothers and Tim Burton in this short but I fear people will pick up a stronger Alan Smithee influence.

About the Director: When Jason was only 12 years-old he went and saw Back to the Future at the Hoyts Cinemas in Brisbane. It was the first movie Jason ever saw solo in a cinema and at that point Jason decided he loved cinema. This was confirmed when God gave Jason a vision for filmmaking while he was sitting on the toilet on Christmas night in 1990. It took Jason a while to get round to this, mind you, and from 1990 to 2004, Jason's dream of filmmaking sat on the shelf collecting dust. During those 14 years, he spent many hours watching Cohen Brother films, a host of Spielberg World War II and dinosaur movies, and Fight Club. But now that Jason is in the game, he is keen and ready to make a big splash in the world of film.

Jason's first production was the 26-minute documentary called Breathless, released in 2006. Breathless studied the lives of people who had been directly affected by the addictive habit of Volitile Substance Abuse (inhaling products like paint, glue etc.). Shot for only $2000, Breathless has become a valuable resource for youth workers and social workers throughout Australia. Jason assisted Mintox Media's Russell Brown in creating 7 Days, a documentary following a week in the life of aid worker Fiona Dixon Thompson in Zambia. 7 Days has sold over 1000 copies raising valuable money for Fiona's Orphanage. Jason is presently in post production with Death or Glory, a documentary which focuses on the increasing violent political landscape of Filipino politics. Jason and Red Earth Films have several other documentary projects in pre-production phase. Critics Anonymous is Jason's first scripted film.

MOVIE STILLS

Click below to view a slideshow of high-res images directly from the movie

PRODUCTION NOTES

This is my first short film and we had two primary locations. The opening and closing scenes of the movie were shot at the Dendy Portside in Brisbane. To test try this location the princepal crew and myself watched The Lives of Others in the cinema we ended up using. This movie was good we just had to use the it. The second location was at the Uniting Church building in Brisbane. This room first captured my attention when I went for a job interview there in 2000. The room was very intimidating with it's use of light shadows. It made these humble church folk look like members of the mafia. It gave Critics Anonymous the surreal we were looking for. For whatever reason it reminded us of the floor in Being John Malkovich.

The shoot took place over 2 days and big thanks go to all the volunteer cast and crew who gave up their precious time. The good news is that a few cast members of the cast have gone onto better things. Jack Bradford (John Mahoney) received a role in the upcoming Spierig Brothers Day Breakers playing opposite Ethan Hawke, Rowan Chapman (Boy #1 in the cinema) played a role in the Australian film How to Change in 9 Weeks featuring Guy Pearce, Miranda Otto and Sam Neill. But no one got a better role then Tristan who, despite sitting in one seat all day doing nothing during our shoot ,has secured the role of marrying Colleen in May this year!

CRITICS ANONYMOUS PREMIERE

To be announced.

CREDITS:

JASON BRAY FILMS presents CRITICS ANONYMOUS
in association with RED EARTH FILM PRODUCTIONS PTY LTD
featuring DAVID IRELAND   JACK BRADFORD   DAVID LARKIN
CHRIS CHAPMAN   SUE CHAPMAN and TROY STOILKOVSKI
music by GRAHAM HOBSON   edited by MIKE CROWHURST   
associate producer DAVE SCOTNEY   director of photography MARK BURKETT  
art director FABIANNE RAMOS   
executive producers JASON BRAY and RED EARTH FILMS 
written and directed by JASON BRAY