After two years in the Australian Defence Force, Lucas opted for a sharp career change to pursue his life-long dream of film making. In the final year of his university degree, and aged 23, he has written, produced, edited and directed several award-winning short films, as well as an award-winning television pilot. His films have gained a considerable following online, seen by more than one million people. Created under the banner of ‘Dark Heart Productions’, his first short film, Black Button, was one of six nominees for ‘Best Short Film’ in the 2007 YouTube Awards and has gone on to receive several awards in various film festivals, including ‘First Place’ in Fitzroy Shorts and ‘Best Short Film’ in international film festival DearCinemaFest.
His most recent short film, The Window, was shortlisted for the world’s largest short film festival, Tropfest. He is also the co-creator and writer of an animated comedy pilot entitled ‘Wentworth & Buxbury’. This independently produced pilot was one of 36 Official Selections for the 2008 New York Television Festival. Lucas and two other writers were flown to New York for the festival by Film Victoria in September 2008, where they went on to receive the award for Best Writing out of all Official Selections. The pilot has generated interest in the USA, and has lead to agent representation at the Creative Artists Agency. Currently completing a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne, Lucas hopes to move into feature films in the years ahead, in the meantime striving to obtain a Masters in Film & Television from the Victorian College of the Arts and continuing to develop short and feature scripts.
Interviewed by Jaffer Shadiq.Z
Date: April 2009
Lucas Crandles, Co-producer of Dark Heart Productions with James Hayden in US. He made short films, television series. He wons lots of awards including New York Television Festival, You tube awards etc.
* How did you find this path?
It took me a while to realise filmmaking was the path I wanted to explore. I had always made amateur short films, but I decided when I was 18 to join the army. After spending two years at theAustralian Defence Force Academy as an Officer-in-Training I realised I wanted to pursue my dream of filmmaking. I left the army voluntarily and came back to my home town of Melbourne, setting up my production company. I went to a filmmaking course for a month and changed my Bachelor of Arts degree to focus on Cinema Studies. Within six months of my return, I made Black Button. Since then, I haven’t looked back and don’t regret my decision for a moment.
* Why Dark Heart? why not Bright Heart?
I have always been fascinated with the exploration of the darker side of humanity.
* Inspiration ?
Stanley Kubrick, Sam Peckinpah, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Thomas Anderson, John Hillcoat, Mel Gibson,Andrew Dominik, Peter Weir, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher, Michael Mann,Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorcese, Ridley Scott, The Coen Brothers, Ken Russell (the list goes on…)
* How did you find Hayden James, how about your works?
Hayden and I went to school together. We were making short films for quite a few years before I left for the army. He’s a great working partner
* Most memorable rewards …
We’ve had a few festival wins and have been received well on YouTube, which has been great. YouTube is wonderful because it allows your films to be exposed to quite literally millions of people and receive their honest feedback. Perhaps the most rewarding thing is finishing a short film and showing it to family and friends, and seeing their reactions.
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