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Melbourne is the setting for a new psychological revenge drama from director, writer, and producer Matthew Holmes.

Filming has begun in and around the city on The Cost, a tale of vengeance that spirals out of control across a 48-hour period.

The ensemble cast includes Jordan Fraser-Trumble, Damon Hunter, and Kevin Dee, with supporting roles from Joshua Jaeger, Cait Spiker, Sotiris Tzelios, Nicole Pastor , Adam Willson, Nadia Fragnito and Mark Redpath.

Co-written by Gregory Moss, the film is a co-production between Holmes’ Two Tone Pictures and producer Russell Cunningham of Rlc Motion Picture Entertainment, who teamed up for the historical drama The Legend of Ben Hall in 2016.

Adam La Rosa of La Rosa Productions is on board as executive producer, along with Rohan Muggleton, Alexander Moss, Ross Angelo, and Joshua Little.

Holmes said the story was designed to explore “the emotional and mental consequences” of carrying out an act of...

Callan McAuliffe, Andy McPhee, Arthur Angel and John Orcsik have joined the cast of writer-director Matthew Holmes. The Legend of Ben Hall, which started shooting on Sunday in regional Victoria. The plot follow the last six turbulent months of the life of the notorious bushranger (newcomer Jack Martin), whose gang pulled off the largest gold heist in the British Empire, and the circumstances surrounding his controversial execution by police in 1865.

Martin played the character in Holmes. Kickstarter-funded short film, footage from which is being incorporated in the feature. The cast includes Joanne Dobbin as his ex-wife Biddy, Adam Willson as Mick Coneley, who harboured Hall, Jamie Coffa and William Lee as fellow gang members, Angus Pilakui as an Aboriginal tracker, Jordan Fraser-Trumble as Inspector Davidson and Gregory Quinn as Sergeant Condell.

The La-based McAuliffe (The Great Gatsby, Robot Overlords) and McPhee (Animal Kingdom, Sons of Anarchy) are playing members of the gang.

Jack Martin as Ben Hall.

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When writer-director Matthew Holmes raised $78,000 on Kickstarter last year to fund a short film on Ben Hall, his ultimate aim was to use the short as a stepping stone to a feature about the notorious bushranger and his gang.

Holmes is getting his wish as The Legend of Ben Hall is due to start principal photography in regional Victoria on March 23.

Wolf Creek creator Greg Mclean has joined the project as executive producer and mentor to Holmes, whose debut feature Twin Rivers, which he self-financed and produced over six years, told of two brothers (played by Matthew and his brother Darren) who set off on an 800 km trek across South-Eastern Australia in 1939.

Most of the cast and crew of the Ben Hall short will work in the feature, led by newcomer Jack Martin as Hall, who led the most notorious bushranger gang in Australia's history...

Matthew Homes. fundraising efforts for The Legend of Ben Hall were so successful the writer-producer-director is preparing a 50-minute version of the bushranger tale, expanded from the originally intended 40 minutes.

Depicting the last six months of Hall.s life, the production is due to start shooting in and around Kyneton in country Victoria on August 18.

The film must be completed by May 5, in time to premiere at that month.s festival in Forbes marking the 150th anniversary of Hall.s death. Holmes then plans a month-long screening tour through towns in country Nsw, followed by festival bookings. Hall spent much of his life in and near the Nsw town.

He intends to show completed footage to potential investors so he can turn it into an 85-minute feature. The longer-term goal, he says, is to spark sufficient interest in that chapter of Australian history so he can raise the finance for a three-hour opus,...