The First Seeds Sown
We want to take a moment to thank the Herald Sun for their support. As an independently funded project, the support of the Herald Sun has expanded our opportunities to hopefully find a streaming platform who will help us make the last step to seeing Vendetta 19 put into full production. The pilot episode will be available in select cinemas this summer, with cast and crew present, and we look forward to seeing you all there!!
In 2024 production began on the pilot of a new TV streaming series the depicts the full lead up to the 1919 Fitzroy Vendetta.
Moving through the late 1890s with the rise of push gangs, the rise of the opium dens and Chinese lotteries, the dominance of the police unit known as the terrible 10 in 1900, the female matrix moved in to the landscape of the criminal underworld by 1905, and then the ultimate bloodbath that led to only one person remaining alive and not in prison, Vendetta 19 presents the most incredible Australian true crime story of all time.
As the Vendetta raged across Melbourne’s inner suburbs until the end of 1919 leaving only Squizzy Taylor as the most notorious organized criminal and True Crime figure alongside the likes of Al Capone’s, Ned Kelly, and the Kray twins.
Vendetta 19 will drop in selected cinemas across Melbourne and Adelaide in October 2024. Please share to your networks and follow Vendetta 19 for updates
On the set of Vendetta 19, we have never lost sight of the fact that the content we are creating is a true story about real people who have families who are alive today and deeply connected to the work we are doing. Preserving their dignity and being able to present these stories in a way that gives truth and unbiased sympathy to all parties is extremely important to us.
We were truly blessed to have Josh drop by and meet the cast. As the great grandson of Squizzy Taylor, Josh has a deep connection to the production and has taken an intelligent and deep interest in what we are doing. We are extremely grateful to have him spend some time with the star of our show, Tom Levi, and talk about some of the finer qualities of his great grandfather. Make sure you give a gesture of thanks to the families who have contributed so much to this production.
Dolly’s descendants also dropped by to meet with Shylie Arzouan playing Dolly Gray and meet the rest of the cast. We were blessed to get a photo with both families, decades after their ancestors had made their mark on Melbourne in the 1900-1920s.
It’s at this inspiring moment, halfway through the filming of Vendetta 19, we remind all of you just how much we appreciate you. The following that we have gathered, and the people who have supported us to get here in the first place is amazing. please remember to share our posts and if you have the means, please remember to support us with a donation. Vendetta 19 has been completely crowded funded, with no support or grants from external organisations. Your gifts and contributions are essential to making this in amazing product!!
https://www.gofundme.com/…/help-fund-a…/donate…
Is infamy as powerful as fame? Or is fear a better weapon? Playing the role of Dolly Gray, Shylie Arzouan has stepped into the role with a combination of charm and terrifying charisma as the wife of one of Australia’s most iconic organised criminals of all time, it should perhaps be said that Squizzy Taylor was the husband of this truly formidable woman.
Vendetta 19 hits selected cinemas this October.
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.
Did we mention that shooting for Vendetta 19 starts each day at 4am? And while you would be right to assume that this would be enough to make anyone grumpy, we have been blessed with some amazingly generous, upbeat and talented actors, and the smiles on their faces tell it all!! Unlike the actual misery that went down in Edwardian prisons, our cast are a jolly bunch and we are thrilled by what they each bring!
Vendetta 19 drops in October 2024. You can contribute to the making of this exciting project boy donating to the GoFundMe at: Donate to Vendetta 19 – The Screenplay Pilot (gofundme.com)
One of the most untold stories in Australian History is that of the women who ran Melbourne’s Underworld in the lead up to the 1919 Fitzroy Vendetta.
In a time when women were enslaved and victimised openly, Dolly Gray organised a landscape that would support her ability to support and empower working girls to have slightly more control over their industry and fates. Her role through the story of the 1919 Vendetta is such that if she were not a part of it, the Vendetta would never have escalated to the bloodbath it became. The role of people like Dolly in our community is as important as the suffragette movement and it has been imperative therefor that we were able to find and cast an actor who could do justice to the role. And we can proudly say that we have found the perfect candidate in Shylie Arzouan.
Enchanted by the magic of storytelling, Shylie Arzouan first fell in love with theatre as a little girl. This early passion grew into a dedicated pursuit, leading her to become a dynamic actor.
Reviews describe Shylie as an “actor that brings all her characters to vivid life regardless of stage time”, “one of the evening’s highlights” and “the most startling, unexpected impact”, and we look forward to seeing high praising reviews of her work in Vendetta 19.
Shylie has embodied a variety of roles in the independent theatre scene, playing the lead as Cleo in “Cleo’s Stratos” (2023) and Lola in “Hunger” (2023), presented by She Writes at Theatre Works. Shylie showcased her versatility with a one-woman performance as Ros, playing multiple characters in Cracked Actors Theatre Script in Development Award-winning production of “Happy Ever After” (2022).
Her supporting roles include Emmylou in “Rain Falling on the Abattoir” (2022), as well as Rosa in “The Family Tree” (2022) and the comedic caricature of mother in “The Fly” (2022). Shylie also played Throat in “Kill All Climate Deniers” (2022), written by Greenroom award winner, David Finnigan.
Outside of acting, Shylie is studying psychology, enjoys working with children as a nanny, a high school musical director as well as making art in her spare time. Her creative heart and passion for learning enrich both her personal and professional life.
Vendetta 19 drops in October 2024.
The casting of Vendetta 19 was never going to be easy. Critical to the production was the casting of the role of none other than Squizzy Taylor. It was also a difficult casting project for the sake that the role was casting a young Squizzy Taylor. However, as fate would have it, we were lucky enough to land an actor who we think is the absolutely ideal candidate for the role.
Tom Levi was born and raised in the countryside of Ballarat, Victoria and has resided there ever since. Tom first came into the acting scene at the age of 15 when he began studying with an international acting coach.
Two years later came Tom’s first acting role in a bit part for the feature film ‘The Dealer’. Ever since then Tom has acted in many short films, small parts in multiple indie feature films, commercials and many other projects. In the last year and a half however, things have started to go on the rise for Tom as he’s been cast in two feature films in major roles. One being the role of Harry Osborn in ‘Spider-Man: Seasons of Fate’ which is currently in production, the other being a horror slasher film currently in pre production. And to add to that list, Tom is now playing one of the most infamous gangsters of all time, as Squizzy Taylor.
Besides acting, Tom has co-created a small indie production company with two friends called Melbourne Underground Cinema Kollective (MUCK) where they are currently working on multiple short films and will eventually branch into feature films.
Production began a week ago, and we can now say that Tom’s acting skills are far above and beyond those we were expecting, and we are blown away by how well suited to this role he is.
With the first day of filming complete, what an amazing epic journey. All the actors were on at 5am and they put in an enormous effort. Thank you to the Geelong Gaol Museum for your amazing support yet again, and all of our amazing cast, crew, and all of your beautiful supporters. As we grow head towards the date when Vendetta 19 drops: please remember to share these posts and help us meet new people who can get excited about this incredible project.
