New Life Improvised - Goose & Gander

“A young couple, Sam and Mia, deal with the fallout from infidelity. Is what's good for the goose, also good for the gander?”

This is our first Life Improvised filmed in our new home in Zagreb. Produced with minimal resources and mostly natural light, Goose & Gander stars Bosnian actor Harun Ćehović and Slovenian actress Barbara Horvat, who both travelled to Zagreb for the day. Both deliver poised and beautiful performances as a young couple at a crossroads in their relationship. Goose & Gander is actually an idea we are developing for a feature so this micro-short not only served as another episode in our Life Improvised series, but also as a test run for the concept behind the potential feature. Enjoy Goose & Gander below.

Cats of Malta Preview Screenings at Local Cinemas | Nexus Production Group Press Release

Are you ready for Malta's first cat movie?

Cats of Malta celebrates Malta's cat culture while highlighting the Maltese community spirit. Produced by Nexus Production Group and sponsored by the Malta Tourism Authority and Borg Cardona & Co., Cats of Malta is having its first preview screening at Eden Cinemas on November 25th November, 9pm. 

Director and producer Sarah Jayne Portelli reflects, “I've always felt a connection to Malta and its locals, but what surprised me was the unavoidable presence of stray cats. Curious why there were so many strays, who looks after them and how cats influence Maltese culture, I chatted with locals and the cat community to ask these questions and many more.”

A big part of Malta’s cat culture is the island’s stray cat population and the people who — through volunteering, art and folklore — show the cats unconditional love and support. The filmmakers visited popular colonies, cat cafes and sanctuaries, talked to artists, and sourced stories from locals and business owners about their favourite felines. They compiled all the heartfelt stories into a fun, family-friendly documentary that will make audiences feel a rainbow of emotions.

Coming on board as sponsors are The Malta Tourism Authority – who constantly work to promote Malta as a cat-loving island worldwide ​– and local pet food company Borg Cardona & Co.,– solid supporters of Malta’s cat community and animal NGO's. As part of Borg Cardona’s sponsorship in collaboration with Royal Canin Malta, they will hand out cat food vouchers at the Eden Cinemas screening to the feeders featured in Cats of Malta to help them look after their cat colonies.

Cats of Malta stars Maltese artist Matthew Pandolfino, creator of the giant cat sculpture overlooking Independence Garden, actor and feeder Polly March, former Two Buoys restaurant owner Michelle Deguara and feeder Saviour Gilson, Spinola Bay's Cat Village matriarch Roza Zammit Salinos, Animal Guardian’s Cat Cafe volunteers Karmen Coleiro and Caroline Borg, plus Malta’s youngest cat feeder, Isaac Muscat.

Not to mention a lot of adorable cats.

The first preview screening at Eden Cinemas on November 25th, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers, is part of a limited run of special preview screenings exclusive to Malta. Two encore preview screenings follow at Spazju Kreattiv on November 27th and December 3rd, before the film is submitted to festivals and officially released by Nexus Production Group worldwide in 2022.

Nexus Production Group is run by prolific Australian filmmaking duo Ivan Malekin and Sarah Jayne Portelli. Ivan served as producer and editor on Cats of Malta, while Sarah Jayne is the producer and director. Individually, the filmmakers each have fifteen years of experience producing, writing and directing short and feature-length independent films in Europe and Australia, including Daughter (2016), Friends, Foes & Fireworks (2018), and Maltese feature films In Corpore (2020) and Machination (2021). Since 2017 Ivan and Sarah Jayne have called Malta home.

Preview Screenings

Thursday, November 25th @ Eden Cinemas

9pm, Screening + Q&A

Tickets are now on sale here

Saturday, November 27th @ Spazju Kreattiv

5:30pm, Encore Screening

Tickets are now on sale here

Friday, December 3rd @ Spazju Kreattiv

9pm, Encore Screening

Tickets are now on sale here 

Contact

Email: Sarah Jayne & Ivan Malekin

nexusprodutiongroup@gmail.com

Phone/WhatsApp: Sarah Jayne Portelli

+356 99322412

Website

www.CatsofMaltaFilm.com

Goose & Gander | The Latest Life Improvised Shoot is Underway

In November we will be filming our ninth Life Improvised micro-short and our first in Croatia. This one is called Goose & Gander and is about a young couple dealing with the fallout from infidelity.

We have cast talented actors Harun Ćehović and Barbara Horvat in the lead roles and very much look forward to filming.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Cats of Malta Cinema Screening & Sponsor Announcement

After working for over a year on Cats of Malta, our documentary celebrating the island’s stray cats and the people who look after them, is finally set to have a premiere screening in Malta!

Several screenings actually, with three showings of the film lined up for November and December at both Eden Cinemas in St Julians and Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta. If you are in Malta, we hope to see you there! The dates are as follows:

• Premiere @ Eden Cinemas — Thursday 25th November, 8pm in the foyer, for a 9pm start. Includes a Q&A with the cast and filmmakers. Tickets €9 and now on sale here.

• Encore @ Spazju Kreattiv Cinema Saturday, November 27th. 5.30pm. Tickets on sale soon.

• Encore 2 @ Spazju Kreattiv Cinema Saturday, December 3rd. 9.00pm

In further news about Cats of Malta, we have secured two sponsors; Malta Tourism Authority and Borg Cardona & Co. Ltd., who are donating cat food as part of their sponsorship contribution to our interviewees.

Check out what they are all about on the Cats of Malta website and if you are in Malta we hope to see and meet you at the screenings above.

Our Latest YouTube Video Bares All

This week we released our latest YouTube video about sex scenes and intimacy shown in indie films.

We discuss our experiences distributing and marketing our sex-positive, female-driven relationship drama In Corpore. It’s an honest no-holds-barred look at the roadblocks we faced, plus we share alternative ways to get your film in front of its audience if it’s getting overlooked through the mainstream channels and audiences.

Watch, like, share, and subscribe to support our work. Of course, comments about the topic in the YouTube comments section is awesome...it’s getting people talking already!

Machination Picture Lock

We are pleased to say we have reached picture lock on our psychological horror / drama Machination. The film goes into sound design and colour grading now and we are thrilled to collaborate once again with Gerard Mack and Chris Tomkins respectively.

Gerard is a Melbourne based sound designer and composer who is our go-to man for all things sound. We have worked with him previously on In Corpore, Friends, Foes & Fireworks, Choir Girl and more and we are always impressed by the results.

Chris is also from Melbourne, an expert in colour grading, and another past collaborator on Friends, Foes & Fireworks. With both Chris and Gerard we know post production on Machination is in good hands.

We remain on track to release the film later this year. Stay tuned for more updates.

Female Driven Doco Focused on Malta's Rebellious Women Wrapped

One day before we left Malta for a re-location move we managed to wrap our second documentary No Woman is an Island.

No Woman is an Island is an exploration into what it means to be a woman in Malta right now when your views and methods of self-expression are misunderstood and seen as unconventional in the eyes of locals. Through interviews with five women who are pushing political and social boundaries, while challenging traditional gender norms, we discover the current issues facing women and pinpoint where change still needs to be made.

Deliberately and candidly shot through the female gaze, through the eyes of Malta's unconventional, innovative female free thinkers, No Woman is an Island is a documentary that is sure to cause a stir in Malta. The themes of the doco fit in well with Malta’s current social justice climate that sees women still shouting to be heard across various areas that affect the daily lives of women across the island.

We are super excited for the release of this one as it really is going to be a talking point in Malta and get a discussion flowing. Hopefully, this stir will be part of the change of attitude and action Malta needs in order to start seeing women as equals and individuals worthy of equal rights.

Find out more and follow the film’s page here.

Cats of Malta Crowdfunding Success

We did it!!!

For over six weeks during July/August we focused all of our time and energy putting together an irresistible crowdfunding campaign through Kickstarter to raise funds to cover the Cats of Malta post-production costs. We were aiming to secure a total of $20,000 AUD.

Not only was the campaign a lot of work, it was also a fantastic learning experience as we learnt a lot about the back end of running a campaign thanks to the help from Justin Giddings, a.k.a The Kickstarter Guy.

The hard work and organisation we put in weeks before the first day of the campaign paid off, with the help of a smaller team than we would have liked, we managed to get through to the finish line totally funded.

A fan sent us this wonderful image of his cats watching Sarah Jayne go live during the campaign.

The most wonderful thing to come out of this Crowdfunding campaign besides raising the money we needed was the community that we built and the people we connected with from all over the world.

Cats of Malta now has a wide audience across America, Australia and various parts of Europe as we take the documentary into post-production stages and that is wonderful news. Our social pages and social reach grew, our audience is bigger and now we have funds to finish Cats of Malta.

Along the way, we also gained extra crew members - an associate producer and a couple of co-producers, who were great supports during the campaign in many ways.

Stay tuned for the next stages, as there is still a lot of work to do. Or better yet, join the Cats of Malta Newsletter for updates as they happen.

No Woman is an Island Begins Production

Production has begun on our latest documentary titled No Woman is an Island, which interviews innovative, free-thinking women in Malta, and explores what it is like to be loud, independent, and defiantly female on a small island that is often conservative.

Our first interview was with Undine LaVerve, Malta's pioneering and premier burlesque artist. It was a revealing conversation an absolute pleasure to film with her.

Over the next month we are aiming to complete production on this documentary and then begin post-production in August. A release is planned for late 2021 and we look forward to bringing you more news about the progress of No Woman is an Island. Stay tuned and follow the progress here, on the offical page.

Cats of Malta Kickstarter

After 10 months of pouring our hearts and soul into this cat focused documentary, we are now in post production – so close to the finish line! We have an ambitious goal but we KNOW that with our incredible cat-loving audience and soon-to-be new fans around the world, we can do this. YOU can do this!

Please take 2 minutes to go to our Kickstarter page, check out our project, and consider supporting our campaign.

A family friendly story about Malta's underrated cat culture, how these stray felines unite the island, enhance the landscape, radiate positivity and bewitch the human population – believe it or not – needs help getting in front of people.

SO TAKE A TRIP THROUGH MALTA WITH US, MEET THE CATS, THE FEEDERS, THE ARTISTS & HEAR THEIR STORIES.

Check out the video below and go the campaign page here:

www.CatsofMaltaFilm.com

Micro-budget Feature Film Streaming through Diversity Focused Platform

Another new platform, this time for both In Corpore and Friends, Foes. Fireworks - now streaming on Fearless.

Fearless is the world's most inclusive streaming service, designed for those who value diverse perspectives, and we are proud to have our unconventional relationship drama film as part of the line-up.

Check out the links to watch In Corpore and Friends, Foes & Fireworks on Fearless here:

https://fearless.li/title/incorpore/

https://fearless.li/title/friends-foes-and-fireworks/

New Micro-Budget Filmmaking Course!

We are excited to release our latest course Make a Micro-Budget Feature Film in Four Months.

Detailing how we made our psychological horror / drama Machination from concept to wrap in four months on a micro-budget of €6000, during a pandemic, with a crew of three for the majority of the shoot, we genuinely feel this is our best and most comprehensive course yet. We love what we do, and we love sharing what we learn with other filmmakers so they can do the same.

So if you're interested in speeding up the time you spend developing and shooting your feature film so you can produce even more films, faster, then this course is designed for you. Make a Micro-Budget Feature Film in Four Months is available through Udemy right now. Check it out here.

Machination Dreaming

Last weekend we did a short pick-up shoot for our psychological drama / horror Machination, adding more characters to the story and more surreal dream scenes, including this stunning aerial shot (below) of Steffi Thake as Maria floating in the sea.

It was a great day on set, and these new scenes add extra depth to the edit, which is nearing picture lock. We can’t wait to bring Machination to you later this year.

Choir Girl Wins Multiple Awards

Choir Girl is on a roll lately, winning Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Production at the Golden Harvest Film Festival, plus Outstanding Achievement Awards at both the L'Age d'Or International Arthouse Film Festival and the Tagore International Film Festival.

If you haven't seen the film, check it out on iTunes.

New Film Life Improvised: Encontro

We found ourselves stuck in Portugal during the first half of 2021 as our flights home to Malta kept being cancelled during the pandemic. Naturally, we needed to film something. So we came up with the concept for Encontro (meaning meeting in Portuguese), put out a call for actors, and quickly cast two talented Lisbon locals in Rachel-Hannah Strong and Denise Santos. Just over a week later we were on set using the new Ronin RS2 gimbal we had purchased, and with only a two-person crew we walked through Lisbon capturing various stunning sites on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

“With the lockdown lifted, life goes somewhat back to normal. Inés seizes the chance and invites her friend Joanna to catch up, but as they walk through Lisbon, there’s something troubling Inés.”

Enjoy Life Improvised: Encontro below.

Cine Circle UK Online Webinar Runs Smoothly

We had a blast on Zoom this week talking indie micro-budget filmmaking with some really enthusiastic people in the UK who wanted to know how we make our micro-budget feature films. Presenting “How to Male a Quality Feature Film on a Micro-Budget saw had us online for two nights of talking about what we love to do - make micro-budget films!

We hope to do more of this teaching online through webinars in the future. Since the pandemic hit our interactive workshops have moved online and we are ok with this shift. and look to do more of it.

Take one of our online masterclasses today through Udemy, Skillshare, Ribbon Experience or IFHA here and if you want to book us for a webinar get in touch.

Life Improvised Micro Short Shot in Lisbon Coming Soon

We shot this Life Improvised film titled Encentro on our last weekend in Lisbon in early May, we can’t wait to bring this story about two friends who are keeping a certain matter from each other in order to save their relationship. It was a pleasure to work with Lisbon locals on this one, which will be released in a weeks time through our newsletter. Join our Creatively Connected monthly Newsletter to see Encontro first or subscribe to our YouTube channel for a notification.

“After a pandemic, lockdown lifts and life goes somewhat back to normal. Ines seizes the moment and invites her friend Joanna to catch up on life as they walk through Lisbon, but there’s something troubling Ines.”

Sex-Positive , Contemporary Relationship Feature Film Lands Female Focused Platform

It’s exciting to learn that the demand to stream our latest release In Corpore online has been so steady since we released the film on Boxing Day during a pandemic. We are always on the look out for new platforms and distribution options for the sex-positive relationship drama, even though initially we were unsure about what the response would be when we released this feature film, which deals with unconventional women and their equally unconventional choices for work, partner and lifestyles.

In Corpore is shown through a female gaze and is lead by three female protagonists, so it’s fitting that now the sensual look into modern coupledom has been picked up by Reel Women’s Network - an online streaming service for content made by women.

As a bonus, director Sarah Jayne is also featured on the Reel Woman’s Network filmmakers page for all to see.

Dace Decklan: A Decade Overdue

Back in 2011 NPG director Ivan Malekin directed the gross-out comedy film Dace Decklan: Private Eye. The B-grade movie just hit a 10-year milestone and to celebrate Tom Vogel, who starred as Dace reflected on the making the film, playing Dace and just how wrong the film was (and still is). Late month in our monthly newsletter, Creatively Connected we shared the article, which sits within our blog section on this website. However, the article has now been picked up by Film Ink and published for reading by their indie film widespread audience - check out here.

New Art Department Masterclass Unleashed

Our latest educational class, How To Become an Art Department Dynamo, is finally released. The course is presented by Sarah Jayne, who has fifteen years of experience working in various art department roles in Australia and internationally. You can take the course through Ribbon Experiences, Udemy or Skillshare through our referral link. The latter allows you to watch and sign up to Skillshare for free (for the first 14 days) and not only view our course but watch thousands of others on all sorts of topics.

If you watch on any platform we ask you to please leave a short review and share it with others who will benefit from taking that class. If Art Department is not your thing, you can view our other masterclasses here.