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…
It hasn’t been lost on us how evocative the scenes of Vendetta 19 are, and we have been so lucky to have two professional photographers on set, documenting the making of V19 with us!! Our first amazing photographer is none other than Tim Henshall.
In the interview, Tim explains that he loves movies but especially ones that have incredible lighting! “That’s the thing I see when I watch them, and now getting to see how Stuart does it, it’s just so good. He and I discussed this yesterday. He has a film bug, mine is stills, but the lighting is very similar in many respects. I’m learning from him just watching, it’s so good. I knew this would be something I would love, which is why I asked you if I could get on board. Timing is everything, and when I was camping and sharing tunes with mates at Framlingham, I played them the black dog song, and straight up Simon mentioned you and Vendetta 19 and here we are.”
Tim spent 5 years at PSC and graduated with a Bachelor of Photography, giving him his unique understanding of the art form.
Please make sure to comment on and like the photos below and let us know which is your favourite!!
From Tim “Just in case anyone is up for a listen to a track, the backstory here is that while on a camp out with some likeminded musician songwriters, I played a song called “Black Dog” . My friend Simon Mac Mccullough said I should send it to a guy who was making a film as he thought it was a perfect fit. Unfortunately, it was a bit late on the scene to make the cut for the trailer but you never know what can happen down the line.”
https://timhenshall.bandcamp.com/track/black-dog
Today we’d like to give a shout out to our amazing crew!! Although what we will see in the finished product is the actors, the crew are the people who have made this into a reality with us. Thank you to all of you!
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.
Yesterday was an epic day of chasing the clock, and trying to move the mountain to Mohammed as we worked like maniacs to try and film what would usually be a week’s worth of filming in a single day.
It has to be said that on any project like this, that without the leadership of amazing people we would have nothing. One particular person needs to be called out publicly for not only his incredible skills with a camera, but also for his saint like patience, his beautiful, warm and funny personality, and for the f as t that through all 11.5 hours of work, he was masterfully in control of the project from start to finish.
Stuart Jaymes is an outstanding person, who has without question formed one of the integral key ingredients that have made this project as potent and significant as it has become. On any normal project, a man of his calibre would have a single job. They would film and then go back to their trailer. Yet Stu has graciously brought to this set his willingness to offer his skills as executive director, stage and special expertise, sound, colour and lighting (and trust me the lighting side of this project has been massive).
We are so grateful to all of our cast and crew, and in particular to Stu for his amazing gifts and leadership.
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)
