Synopsis

Splice Here: A Projected Odyssey is a love letter to film - told through the eyes of documentarian and projectionist, Rob Murphy. Rob begins a childhood quest to find out what ever happened to cinema’s first ( now long extinct ) wide screen film process, Cinerama. Starting in Australia then expanding geographically and thematically, Rob infultrates a projectionists underground, meeting the great champions of projected film and lesser known characters behind the scenes. We discover how the digital revolution has not just changed the way we now see movies but is becoming a very real threat to how we will remember them.

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Humble beginnings 

Around ten years ago the 'change over' from film to digital projection began. We all knew it was coming but few of us were prepared for just how quickly and ruthlessly it would be implemented. As a film maker, my knee jerk reaction was to grab a camera and start documenting the romance, magic and love for film I had experienced as a cinephile and a projectionist; before it was gone. From Cinerama to Sensuround. Hoarders to saviours. Projectionists have always been the eccentric untold heroes of the movies and now from deep within their clandestine community, I'll show you why.

Rob Murphy

Producer / Director

For more info and to subscribe to production updates go to: www.splicehere.website or join facebook @projectedodyssey

It's been seven years since I started this project and in that time we’ve interviewed numerous kinds of celluloid practitioners, witnessed first hand the end of IMAX on film, traveled to the British Film Institute and attended the Wide Screen Weekend in Bradford, England - just to mention some of what's been captured. 

Now in 2019 there is still an all important American leg of filming to complete. Securing high profile interviews ( sorry, cant mention who yet ) will be pivotal to tell a larger story and for the film to reach an international audience. We'll visit The Nitrate Picture Show in Rochester, the Louis B Mayer conservation centre in chili and the historic Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles;  just to name a few stops. 

Spectre Films Presents continues to serve as umbrella production company and in 2018 Potential Films joined us as the Australian distributor for the film. 

Many 'film is dead' shorts were made at the turn of the digital age. Our journey, ( almost unwittingly ) has captured the rebirth of film with releases like The Hateful Eight and Dunkirk. Riding a wave of nostalgia and re discovery the timing for Splice Here: A Projected Odyssey is perfect but we need to finish it, this year. 

This feature length adventure is the complete document for why film has survived and why it should continue to do so. Here is your opportunity to be part of it. Help us realise something wonderful and fan the flames of fresh interest in the greatest story telling medium ever devised.

Rob Murphy

Producer / Director

How your donation will be used.

TIPPING POINT GOAL: $25,000 Minimum 13 day America shoot

If we all sleep cheap and live off soup and noodles for two weeks we will just about have enough funds to capture all the high profile industry interviews we'll need as well as visit many amazing film bodies in Los Angeles, Rochester, Massachusetts and New York. The team will comprise Rob Murphy ( Presenter / Director ), Joanne Donahoe-Beckwith ( Cinematographer ) and a U.S based production manager & sound recordist

STRETCH GOAL 1: $35,000 Extended 17 day America shoot

The more money raised, the more unique chapters of the story we'll be able to tell. I'm really excited by the additional locations this stretch goal will allow us to visit. 

Boston Light & Sound is the company that rolled out 70mm projection for Quentin Tarantinos' The Hateful Eight in the United States. I was thrilled to learn that they also train new film projectionists and support film preservation societies like Martin Scorsesse and Stephen Spielbergs' The Film Foundation.

Mostly Lost 8 is a unique nitrate film identification workshop run by The Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia. Film experts and archivists from around the world attend screenings of unidentified, under-identified or misidentified silent films in the hope that clues may emerge. These are the only film sessions I've heard of where the audience are encouraged to talk and yell out during the screening. I cant wait to be part of this and see how it works.

STRETCH GOAL 2: $45,000 Extended 17 day America shoot and completed first rough cut

Applying for back end post production funds through organisations like Screen Australia and Film Victoria requires a full rough cut of the film being submitted for consideration. This second stretch goal will give me the three months of time needed to edit the film. The money raised through this campaign will further count in our Screen Australia submission for sound design, grading, sound mix and archive funding later on.

This story is vast! I've already travelled such an amazing road, met so many passionate, wonderful people but now I need your help to bring it all to the screen. With your support, Splice Here: A Projected Odyssey will be finished by the end of 2019.

Rob Murphy

Producer / Director

The creative team

ROB MURPHY: Producer / Director / Editor

A graduate of the illustrious Swinburne Film & Television school, Rob has been editing  film and TV for nearly three decades. Starting as an attachment assistant under Jill Bilcock on Strictly Ballroom ( 1992 ) Rob has since cut in corporate, broadcast TV, music video and documentary as well as dramatic feature films; See Jack Run ( 1991 ), The Alive Tribe ( 1997 ) & The Real Thing ( 2002 ). Feature length documentary's include; Wild Colonial Boy ( 2000 ), the highly acclaimed Defiant Lives ( 2017 ) and his directorial debut on the celebrated Voyage of the Southern Sun ( 2017 ) which he also edited.

Rob also directs and edits the pre - show Newsreels that screen at Yarraville's beloved Sun Theatre. At The Sun, Rob also exercises his passion for film projection as senior projectionist. Rob led the team that found, restored and installed the 70mm projector needed for the Ultra Panavision roadshow release of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight in 2016.

JOANNE DONAHOE-BECKWITH: Cinematographer / Producer

The breadth and variety of productions Joanne has worked on makes it difficult to pigeon hole her. From Feature Films, Comedy Series to Documentary each job comes with its own set of parameters and fundamentally comes down to telling stories. Her reputation as an innovative and resourceful Cinematographer is evident in her work.

Joanne’s initial breakout as a cinematographer was on TV commercials and Short Films. It was during this time that she took on the role as ‘Camera and Lighting’ on the first series of the ground breaking ABC comedy Frontline. This has led to a long collaboration with Working Dog Productions. Subsequent series for Working Dog have included the award winning series A River Somewhere & UTOPIA.

Joanne’s credits further include Molly: The Real Thing, It's a Date, Librarians, Very Small Business, OUTLAND. Documentary series First Contact, the acclaimed web series Little Acorns, Other Peoples Problems, The Obesity Myth, Filthy Rich & Homeless. She is excited by the current changes taking place in the industry and hopes to continue to be part of change and innovation in story telling.

ROS WALKER: Producer

Ros Walker’s producing and line-producing credits include the feature documentaries Not Quite Hollywood, narrated by Quentin Tarantino, and Jabbed - Love, Fear and Vaccines as well as feature film Peaches, kid’s comedy TV series You’re Skitting Me and TV documentary Portrait, featuring Nicole Kidman, Barbara Hershey and John Malkovich. Ros is currently producing a high-end Scandi Noir doco. 

 Ros’ industry roles include Manager of Film Victoria, Lecturer in Producing at the VCA School of Film and TV and Director, Screen Production at the Film and Television Institute in Western Australia.

MICHAEL SMITH: Executive Producer

Michael Smith has worked in the cinema exhibition space for 25 years. Owner of the popular Sun Theatre in Yarraville some of Michaels other business interests include regional cinemas, Backlot Studios Southbank and founding NGO Cinema Loro Sa’e in East Timor. In 1999 Michael formed Spectre Films Presents and produced his first feature documentary, Wild Colonial Boy. At the Sun Michael continues to produce a series of short films and Newsreels that screen before features. He is also a keen adventurer and in 2015 became the first person to solo circumnavigate the world in a Flying Boat which resulted in the production of his second feature doc, Voyage of the Southern Sun. He lives in Melbourne suburb Williamstown with wife and business partner Anne, sons Tim and Jack. In early 2016 he completed an MBA researching the perceived value of cinema in the community. In all facets he is passionate about storytelling.

PAIGE MCGINLEY: Talent booker

Paige has been booking, casting and producing talent for television, radio and film in Australia for nearly three decades. 

A graduate of Media Studies at Deakin University, Paige started her career producing news and talkback at Melbourne’s #1 radio station 3AW. She went on to produce the guests and music for 207 episodes of Australia’s Tonight Show Rove Live over seven years, including exclusives with David Bowie, Beyonce Knowles, Hugh Jackman, Elvis Costello, and Foo Fighters. 

Paige’s television talent producing credits include TropfestShort Film Festival, the Australian Film Institute Awards and the AACTA Awards, Carols in the Domain, Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, ARIA Awards,Seven Network’s AFL Pre Game Show and AFL Grand Final Day Pre Game Show. She has casting credits for Nine and Ten Network shows, and Foxtel’s Real Housewives of Melbourne. Paige was the Senior Producer for Steve Vizard at Melbourne Talk Radio. 

Paige wrote, directed and produced Molly: The Real Thing documentary for Mushroom Pictures about the life of Australian music legend Ian “Molly” Meldrum. This screened on the Seven Network and was one of the highest rating documentaries in Australian commercial television history. Continuing her passion for preserving Australian music history, she was a Digital Producer for the Australian Music Vault, Arts Centre Melbourne.