Favourites

Directed by: Nick Russell

Principal Cast: Stephen Curry, Sibylla Budd, Tony Briggs, Maria Angelico, Chris Labbett, Imogen Labbett, Amanda Russell

Country: Australia

Time: 5:17

Synopsis: Two parents face an impossible choice when their family camping trip goes terribly wrong.

How did the idea for Favourites come about?

We love telling stories where ordinary people find themselves in extraordinary situations and are forced to make choices where no option is a good one. We find that the consequence of those choices, and how their lives might unravel because of them make for great, rich, uncomfortably comedic, stories. As parents, we asked ourselves: what's the biggest decision a parent could face? Choosing a favourite child is a decision no parents wants to make...but what if you had to choose? And then, what if the rug was pulled out from “undeath” you?

What do you think Steve Irwin would have done if he was put in the same situation?

Crikey, great question. As a lover of animals, Steve would probably track down the snake, squeeze out enough venom to concoct an antidote, save both kids and be home for tea.

Stephen Curry is fantastic in his role his timing is flawless. How did you come across him?

Stephen Curry has been an Australian screen icon for 30 years. We grew up watching and admiring him. In 2018, Nick Russell was lucky enough to be cast opposite him in a sitcom called, Mr Black. Separately, Nick Musgrove was writing with him on a different project. Once us Nicks realized how much we loved working with Stephen and that we shared a sense of humour, we decided to write the lead role in Favourites for him. We could picture no-one else performing that role. And he absolutely delivered in his performance.

Its a comedy that works. Manhattan Short sees so many shorts that attempt to be comedy and fall flat. What advice would you give to a filmmaker who is about to make a comedic short film?

Comedy is really hard because everyone's sense of humour is different. As audiences, we usually categorize comedic films in a binary way - “funny” or “not funny.” But if you try to make everyone laugh, you will make no one laugh. So, for filmmakers who are about to make a comedic short film, we'd say: “create something that you find funny (not something you think others will find funny) and trust that enough people share your sense of humour.” At the moment, we love exploring the comedy of realistic, awkward interactions, where the stakes are huge. We find that if you play in the space of realism, the comedy hits harder. In creating Favourites, we were convinced that the story's tensions need to feel real. If the life-and-death dilemma felt heightened or comedic, suddenly, the tension would disappear, and the pressure-valve that builds the comedy would be released. Keeping the performances grounded means an audience can picture themselves in that same situation and really feel how awkwardly uncomfortable and funny the situation is. An audience's laughter becomes a pressure-release valve you can play with as a filmmaker.

You're a writing and directing duo with your company Tandem Media. What's next for you?

Currently, we're focused on sharing Favourites with the world, which is why it is such a thrill to be part of the MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival. We're also developing a feature-length version of Favourites, which will complement our existing slate of work which includes three other feature films (each comedy-dramas), one dark-comedy TV series and one comedy-animation. Longer term, we want to continue to build a body of work that is uniquely our voice and our vision. Tandem Media remains our way of creating, writing and directing our own work.