joshua c birch

If hybrid Western zombie thrillers are more your speed, then you may be delighted to learn of what’s happening this month for the forthcoming feature production of Bullets For The Dead from writing/directing duo Joshua C. Birch and Michael Du-Shane. The film itself is an expansion following a three-minute concept short they put together in 2011 as part of a masters’ program for South Brisbane’s Griffith Film School where they attended at the time.

Set to begin filming in Queensland, Australia on November 17, the film centers on the story of James Dalton, a hardened bounty hunter who, while en route escorting a gang of outlaws led by Annie Blake and upon rescuing a lone preacher from the remains of a massacre, is forced to battle his way through the zombie apocalypse across the American West of the 1870s. Actor Christopher Sommers leads the current cast with actress Vanessa Moltzen and actor Hugh Parker, with Griffith Film School backing the project alongside producers from Visionquest Entertainment, in addition to Screen Queensland, the UK’s GSP Distribution and off-set co-financier Premiere Picture.

“It’s been a very long and intense two and a half years.” says Visionquest’s Cathy Rodda who also produced Iron Sky. “We’ve been in pre for 18 months and the film has been planned within an inch of its life, constantly wrangling story execution against budget. What we have now is a great, fun script, a truly creative vision and a fantastic team that will see us punch well above the weight of our near $2 million budget.”

Sommers will appear this December in the Austrailian theatrical release of Russell Crowe’s directorial debut, The Water Diviner. In the meantime, international sales agent Phoenix Worldwide Entertainment will be on hand at American Film Market to present Bullets For The Dead for sales, with The Backlot Studios theatrically distributing the film domestically in Australia by next year.

H/T: Inside Film

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