The owner of Armzfx and Rebellion Pictures is heading to Nepal to direct what is set to be the country’s biggest locally-produced film ever made.
Johan Earl, of Sydney, will head to Nepal at the end of the month – along with fellow producer Denai Grace – for initial scouting and casting for feature film Kali.
Sydney actress and Actors Centre Australia graduate Sarah Mawbey has already been cast in the action thriller.
Earl confirmed a small core group of Australians – including cinematographer, 1st AD, stunt coordinator among others – will be involved, while other crew will be sourced from Nepal.
Local companies DCP Australia and Trackdown will be handling the post-production.
The film, a co-production between Australia’s Rebellion Pictures and Nepal’s RB Music and Film of Katmandu, is a fictional story about the sex slave trade in the region. Principal photography is set to begin in August.
“Cinema releases have already been negotiated throughout the region and the local industry is buzzing of news of the production,” Earl told IF.
Earl was set to direct three action films in the US, as early as this month, however couldn’t resist the opportunity to work in Nepal.
“Nepal has always been a bucket list location to visit for me so the chance to direct a feature film in Katmandu and the Himalayas was just too hard to pass up,” the filmmaker explains.
The other projects – three action thrillers with budgets between $US5-15 million – are still set to be made.
