Budding Newcastle creative duo produce first short film

“The goal was always going to be to create an opportunity for the younger generation,” Watts says. “To show them they don’t have to piss off to Sydney. There is stuff happening in our backyard.”

Watts is 20 years old. Danks is 19 years old. They are doers. Besides attending university, they work for Thirty3South, a Newcastle-based creative agency. The making of Wrong Turn, although supported by their employer, has been on their own time.

The final editing touches are underway, with a private screening on June 1 to a small audience.

The film stars rising talents Rupert Raineri and Savannah Lamble. The action is realistic, including dealing with substance abuse. For locals, there are recognisable Newcastle backdrops. But for a wider audience, it could be anywhere.

Watts outlines the plot: “There is a couple, they are in love. He has a secret addiction for drugs. She finds out, realising he has taken a wrong turn in life. That’s it in a nutshell.”

Watts and Danks met at the Cambridge Hotel during a Tash Sultana gig late in 2016. Watts was filming the show and Danks came up and introduced himself during the night. They became friends on social media, enjoyed some beers and realised they had a mutual interest in film.

Watts helped out a short film Danks made at uni called Disclosure. Then Watts approached Danks with the Wrong Turn idea.

“It was literally a one-paragraph synopsis,” Danks says. “We both thought, ‘we can work with this, we can turn it into something.’”

They spent several months writing the script, and found when they were ready, there was a groundswell of support from others to get involved.

“We were fortunate enough to have backing from within the community,” Watts says. “Production companies, camera companies all the way from Sydney jumped on board. We had stylists jump on board and give us clothes. People gave up their Air BnB to us, antique stores. That’s when we realised, ‘OK, we’ve got backing’.”

Within five days, they had 320 applications for acting roles in the film. Considering the weight of the subject, the credibility of the cast was the making of the film.

“Always as a rule of thumb we would never forcefully feed the actors lines and emotions,” Watts says. “We wanted it all just to come out naturally. We wanted it to be that the minute we stepped on set it was going to be new and fresh, not over-rehearsed. It came from real feeling.”

The pair have their eyes on film festivals at Byron Bay, Canberra and Adelaide, but have already accomplished what they set out to do.