The First Seeds Sown
As we head towards the launch date of Vendetta 19, the PR Bandwagon ramps up too! Today we heard the dulcet tones of Tom Levi on ABC Radio being interviewed about his role as Squizzy Taylor in Vendetta 19!! Make sure to book your tickets online in advance to avoid disappointment by visiting www.Vendetta19.com
To listen to the full interview, go to Facebook
The casting of the characters in Vendetta 19 has been extremely important to us. Wherever possible we have tried to find actors who have similar personal attributes to the people they are playing, along with the ability to act in a high level, demanding role like this.
One of the characters we were able to include in this screenplay is a fascinating person. He was featured quite prominently in the biography of his wife, “7246 Minnie”.
John was a country boy from a tragic home. The death of his father impacted him, though he never seemed to lose his boyish charm and had a charisma about him throughout his life. A dock worker, he and Minnie paired up when she was in her late teens and still married to her first husband. We see John get involved in a number of amazing adventures that broke the law, including stealing and reselling baled of expensive wool from the docks where he worked, breaking into jewellery shops, and working for his wife as an endorser and standover man.
Minnie would become the enemy of Squizzy throughout the 1919 Vendetta, with the first and last bullets shot in the Vendetta show inside two of her brothels with Minnie being present, and the last bullet shot into her face by Squizzy Taylor (spoiler – she lived).
By the 1930’s, while trying to prosecute John, the Police also arrested and charged Minnie for making and selling sly grog. It was something she’d done for decades, and the police were either paid off or just didn’t bother to really pursue her beyond a fine here or there. However, when her husband John was suspected of being involved in a series of nearly 30 bomb blasts that rocked Melbourne inthe late 1920’s and early 30’s, they also came to suspect that Minnie may have been involved too. As someone who has been constructing alcohol making equipment such as copper stills and bathtub vats for decades, Minnie would have almost certainly had the ability and knowledge to construct pipe bombs. The outcome resulted in Minnie being sentenced to prison, leaving her youngest of two daughters and her husband to fend for themselves while she was inside.
As a measure to protect their 7-year-old daughter Patricia, John opted to send her to Methodist Ladies College as a border for the duration of Minnie’s prison sentence. Yet the photo below also has a fascinating detail that needs to be pointed out. As a career criminal, dock-worker, standover man and gunman, John Clark had a number of old enemies who would no doubt have loved to take a shot at him if an opportunity presented itself. And there would have been no place better to find someone you’re trying to shoot than at a place they regularly attend, like school visits on a Sunday. As a result, in this picture, we see a picture of John Clark, walking with 7-year-old Patricia, dropping her off at MLC, with what his surviving family believe is a small, automatic pistol on his trouser pocket with his fingers inches from its trigger. The outline of the gun can just be made out, and it gives us a clear view of the kind of lifestyles the organised criminals of the 1920’s and 30’s lived and the dangers that surrounded them at all times.
The actor we have selected to play John is an accomplished professional athlete named Tyson Popplestone. His charisma and charm are a perfect fit for the real John Clark, while his strength and endurance as a runner makes him an equally amazing fit for the intense fight scenes he will be acting out in Vendetta 19.
Vendetta 19 drops October 2024.
(Written by Roy Maloy)
This has been a long journey. So long, in fact, that it feels like a lifetime ago since I began. I began this project as a reaction to a conversation I had. One of my closest friends is a fierce protector of women’s spaces in all areas of life, and she told me something that actually shocked me. I was discussing my work with her, and that I am proud that I have been able to re-include a number of women into the collective memory of Australian crime history and emphasise the power they possessed at that time. And then my friend asked if I had come across The Bechdel Test.
If you are unfamiliar with it, the Bechdel Test is a measure for gauging the representation of women and their roles in cinema. A number of very impressive female movie makers and actors had pushed for some time to be able to fill roles or at least see roles developed in film and television that didn’t simply require the woman to stand by and be saved by a man. I had never come across this before, and it had never occurred to me.
As I googled different aspects of this, I came across the work that Geena Davis (of Thelma & Louise fame) was doing. Geena has set up a foundation to support movies and writers who create pieces that position women in screenplays to have main roles, equal dialogue and not be represented as flimsy, desperate and pathetic humans, as Hollywood has a habit of portraying them as.
On somewhat of a whim, I reached out to the foundation, not even expecting a response, but I sent them an email telling them about a few people that they may like to look into as options for creating film content. These included the people I had researched such as the Madam of Melbourne, Dolly Gray, the sly grog baroness Bridget Mahoney and the most prolific bordello madam in Australian history Minnie Clark. I don’t think I actually even expected a response. But when I did receive a response, it was not only a massive surprise, but it also challenged me in a way I had never been challenged before. The response was not only personable and supportive, but it put to me the question I should’ve been able to ask myself. The person who wrote to me asked why I hadn’t already written a piece like the one I was telling them to write. If I had all the information, what was stopping me from writing a screenplay myself, with these kinds of characters represented the way they should be?
Their response begins a chain of events that invest me completely in the goal of writing this piece. For those of you who are new to my work, I have a very prolific output. I try to write between 2000 to 3000 words every day, which has resulted in me publishing between three and four books every year for many years now. Being able to move from research, non-fiction, and fiction was also an incredibly rewarding challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Skip forward three years, and the screenplay had been sitting in my Google Docs for a long time. It was something I thoroughly enjoyed writing, as nine full seasons, but it remained something I didn’t have any idea what to do with next. It turned out that it was one thing to write the piece, but entirely another to understand how it goes from being written into an actual screenplay production. I’ve begun the process of applying for grants over a two-year period, but again and again was rejected by 17 of them. All of them told me that I didn’t have the ability to produce a screenplay. It was only when I met producer Gracie Kay and cinematographer Stuart Jaymes that this project fully fell into place.
This Saturday we will go into filming for the third time, and we will try and capture more of the scenes that I have written as a part of this screenplay. This Saturday we will be filming scenes that depict the power of one of the key players from Vendetta 19, and showing a very authentic style of underworld activity run by Dolly Gray. The scenes show her in a position of power over men, seeking retribution and making a particular man pay for his wrongs. This scene is also extremely likely to be on point for its authenticity, historically and socially.
I want to finish this piece by again, thanking everybody who has contributed to the crowdfunding side of this project. The costs from project has been funded by myself out of my own pocket from the money I make in my day job. I have included below a link for the GoFundMe that was set up sometime ago in the hopes that some of you might have the ability to contribute towards the costs of this incredible project. I’m committed to seeing this across the line at my pocket, but anything you can also contribute to will help enormously at this time.
HETTIE WILLIAMS – Sophie Graham
In the biography of Dolly Gray we see a character glance off by the main story that unfolds in Bendigo in 1905 when Dolly and Hettie Williams are arrested for selling sly grog. Later we see Hettie re-emerge alongside equally infamous gangster Minnie Clark, who would go on to become Squizzy Taylor’s enemy.
Hettie is one of a number of working girls whose story has never truly been told, until now.
Playing the role of Hettie Williams will be an unusually talented actor named Sophie Graham. She hails from Aotearoa (New Zealand), where she completed a BPA and a BA in Theatres at the University of Otago. During her time at university and the years following, Sophie was involved in the performing arts scenes in both Dunedin, and Wellington NZ, and a highlight from this time was playing the role of Bernadette in Arcade Theatre Company’s production of “Lemon Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons” in 2019. In 2022, Sophie relocated to Melbourne to attend the Full Time Professional Actors Programme at 16th Street Actors Studio, as well as the Postgraduate Programme “The American Way.” Since graduating, Sophie has continued to develop her craft by completing a variety of short courses for the stage and the screen, including a MasterClass with Miranda Harcourt. In 2023, she worked on several short films, as well as the web series “My Personal Lycan King.” In 2024 so far, Sophie has played the role of Cariola in Arrant Knaves Theatre Company’s production of “The Duchess of Malfi” by John Webster, as well as the role of Tiffany in CG Production Company’s production of “Blackrock” by Nick Enright. Her commercial credits include campaigns with Schweppes, Savers and Pure Blonde. Sophie is currently shooting the web series “Let Me Taste Your Husband,” has a role in the upcoming feature film “It’s Showtime, Dan,” and is rehearsing for the role of Kayleen in an upcoming production of “Gruesome Playground Injuries” by Rajiv Joseph. Alongside her acting pursuits, Sophie teaches drama with Stage School Australia and studies Youth Work.
We are extremely keen to see Sophie in this role, which she has even committed to a Hair colour change for!!
John Clark
Without question, the cast of Vendetta 19 have been drawn from some of the most extraordinary places in order to meet the incredibly diverse nature of the script. In particular, the three-time prison escapee, bomb maker, pistols shooting, jewelry shop robbing, standover man named John Clark who was a Crutchie Push member. Better known as the husband of notorious sly grog and bordello madam, Minnie Clark, they formed an underworld power couple from 1907 up until her death in the early 1930’s. Playing John Clark is a man of many talents, with Tyson Popplestone bringing the role to life.
A professional Stand-Up comedian, Tyson has graced numerous venues across Melbourne for close to a decade, honing his impeccable timing. These skills made him an excellent choice for the role, along with the athletic requirements he will face as he represents one of the most notorious and interesting True Crime Organized Crime Gangsters of all time. The role of John Clark is one of the principal roles that is heavily involved in a complex, choreographed fight sequence that will require Tyson to be able to keep up with professionally trained fighters. Backing up his comedy skills, Tyson’s athletic prowess played a significant part in securing the role as he also boasts an inspiring career as a professional runner. Having won the Melbourne Marathon 10km, the Victorian State Mile, and representing Australia at the QS World University Cross Country Championships in 2010, he brings a huge amount of prowess to the table as an actor and athlete. We are thrilled to have him on board!!
