Olinda budding film maker and actor Derek Erskine, centre, with co-stars Danielle McAlpine, left, and Kelly Venner look forward to the premier of their latest film, Bohemia. 20949 Picture: Luke Plummer.
By Tania Martin
OLINDA expressionist Derek Erskine is hoping to hit the big-time (Hollywood) with the release of six self-funded feature films.
He has just finished the latest film, Bohemia, which was filmed in Fiji.
Erskine is renowned for his artwork and likens himself to Picasso but not much is known about his filmmaking credentials.
But he plans for that to change with the release of six of his films in November.
The films include three dramas, a horror, a science fiction and an action flick.
Erskine started his own production company, Thirsty Films eight years ago and has been living his dream as a writer, director and actor, ever since.
Erskine went to film school but has been living off his work as an artist for many years.
“This is something I have wanted to do for a long time,” he said.
Erskine has been working on the films for the past seven years and has been waiting for them all to be finished before releasing them. “I didn’t plan it like this, it just happened,” he said.
Although all the movies are fictional, Erskine said his inspiration comes from real life events.
“They have an element of truth in them,” he said.
Erskine has just returned from filming Bohemia, a drama about a bizarre love triangle twisted with a web of lies, betrayal and deception.
The film is based in the tropical paradise of the South Pacific where world famous writer Jacq Corrigan (Erskine) and his wife Allegra (Danielle McAlpine) live in Fiji.
The pair is joined by London model Brooke (Kelly Venner) and so begins a tale of lies, deceit and betrayal.
Erskine is now turning his hand to a film called Olinda about a small country town.
The six films titled Xonxiou, Space Pimp, Small World, Learning to Live with Nothing, Bohemia and Cyclamenman will be released on 3 November across the country.
