JADA CANNIZZO*
By JADA CANNIZZO*
BRENNAN Muccillo, a 31-year-old filmmaker who grew up in Moe, is promoting his first feature length independent film ‘Brunswick Dance Club’. Brunswick Dance Club is a dark drama. It’s “about a guy from a country town who leaves to go to Melbourne to house-sit for his sister and when he’s out and about he meets a bunch of city folk, hipsters and creatives and then it all starts go downhill from there,” Brennan told The Express. A Lowanna College graduate, Brennan first got into filmmaking around the age of 15, making videos with his friends, starting out with skits and moving to trailers being made in media class. “I kind of fell in love with making movies,” Brennan said. Brennan’s first film was a horror movie trailer that he shot at his house. “Nothing else kind of gave me the satisfaction of making my own videos, and nothing made me as happy,” said Brennan. At 18, Brennan was accepted into film school and made the big move to Melbourne to pursue his dream of becoming a director and filmmaker. “It was daunting moving to Melbourne, not knowing many people. I was a little fish in a big pond. But I just kept trying to remember why I was there and the reason I left home was for a purpose,” he said. Brennan’s mum, Sharyn, said that she’s “very proud” of what her son has achieved. She has been lucky enough to be a part of a lot of his films through catering and has experienced what it’s all about. “He’s extremely passionate and talented about what he does and its lovely to see,” said Sharyn. Brennan and his team have launched a Kickstarter campaign online to help fundraise and finish off the post-production for the film. The film, which was all self-financed, has been four years in the making and needs a little extra financial push to be able to create merchandise, promotion, and money to enter into festivals, like the Melbourne International Film Festival. If the film does well, it will hopefully get picked up for distribution and be shown in local theatres. Brennan told The Express that in the film, he really wanted to showcase where he’s from, with some scenes being filmed in and around Moore Street in Moe and in front of the landmark Future Flicks video store. “Growing up, Future Flicks was a really special place for me and my family,” Brennan said. “I grew up here – every Friday night we would come to choose a movie.” Future Flicks owner Ricky Dyt said the store had been there for 36 years. “It’s one of the last video stores, definitely in Victoria,” Ricky said. Ricky said that he has about 50,000 films on hand and that people come from all over to see the store. Often when people can’t find a particular film on a streaming platform, they go in and see Ricky, and nine times out of 10, he has that movie on the shelf. Brennan hopes to release Brunswick Dance Club in the next month, and after taking a well-deserved break, he says he hopes to write a horror script and has plans for an Aussie gangster film script as well. Brennan wants to keep writing and directing as he enjoys the process so much. To donate to Brennan’s campaign go to @brunswickdanceclub on Instagram and Facebook. Brennan also owns Infinite Plain Productions, a film company based in Melbourne. Some of his work can be found on his website at infiniteplainproductions.com.au The trailer for the film Brunswick Dance Club is also on the Infinite Plain Production’s website, and Brennan’s shorts and previous works can be found on the website and YouTube. Future Flicks is open seven days a week 10am – 8pm, at 27 Kirk St Moe. *Jada Cannizzo is an intern working at The Latrobe Valley Express.
