During the past few weeks, residents may have spotted the presence of a large fleet of trucks parked around streets from Scarborough to Thirroul. They were the on-location production unit for a new six-part TV drama called One Night, being made by Easy Tiger, the company responsible for hits including Jack Irish, Colin From Accounts, The Twelve and Doctor Doctor.
Easy Tiger CEO Ian Collie has a home in Wombarra, and has long been an advocate of the Illawarra as an attractive film location.
One Night is a co-production with British company Motive Pictures for Paramount Plus, based on a script by UK-based Australian author Emily Ballou. It stars former Dr Who Jodie Whittaker and local actor Yael Stone, best known for her role in Orange is the New Black (and who, as an activist, recently launched a new social venture called Hi Neighbour, to help workers in polluting industries transfer to sustainable employment).
Ian describes One Night as “a psychological mystery that explores themes of friendship, memory, the fine line between fact and fiction and who owns the right to telling a story that involves other people”.
The action is set 20 years ago, and features vintage cars as well as scenes shot at the Scarborough Hotel, the Bowlo in Wombarra and houses in Thirroul and Clifton.
“I am glad to show off my ’hood,” says Ian, “the beauty of the coast but also its underbelly, the perils, the rips, the bush. It was a natural fit because Emily spent some time here in her twenties, and came back to do some of the writing. Award-winning composer Amanda Brown has sampled the sounds of the rainforest and the coast in her score – so locals will recognise everything from the coal trains to the black cockatoos, the wind and the cicadas.”
Screen Illawarra assisted the production with location scouting and sourcing extras, including retirees for the scenes at the Bowlo and 50 students from TIGS, who took part in a rave scene.
During the shoot, the cast and Sydney-based crew spent several weeks staying at Headlands Hotel and the Thirroul Motel in two-week blocks, with the temporary production office based in Botany.
“And we were incredibly lucky with the weather, we had only one day of flash flooding which meant shifting a location from Thirroul to Wombarra,” Ian says.
Until now, a lot of coastal production has been shot in Byron Bay, but Ian hopes that One Night’s positive experience of the region and its amenities may encourage other production companies to follow his lead.
