New Year's Eve Improvised Friendship Drama Secures AVOD Platform.

Our first improvised feature, Friends, Foes and Fireworks, which was filmed in a single night on New Year's Eve, has just been released on TubiTV. Could the timing be any better? Tubi is one of the most popular ad-supported streaming platforms in the world where you can watch free movies and TV shows online in HD on any device. With many of our American friends still in lockdown, you can safely stay in this New Year's Eve with Friends, Foes & Fireworks. Watch here (US only). For worldwide options, click here.

Watch worldwide now, including TubiTV.

New York based Producer Represents Contemporary Relationship Film during Release Week

With In Corpore being released worldwide this week, on Boxing Day no less (yay, happy holidays!) our New York based producer Clara Francesca has been snowed under with an influx of reviews, both written and through Zoom.

Back in Malta, it has been a task in itself for us to create a list of all the interviews Clara has and will take on leading up to Christmas and well into 2021 in order to market them all through all the social media sites for the relationship drama film.

It’s a super way to celebrate the film, which is about looking inwards towards one’s goals, desires of the body and soul and personal aspirations. This makes it very much a film for the holidays as we reflect back on a hard year and the fresh one ahead, while also trying to cultivate self-love and also keeping communications in a relationship open when we are doing so during a pandemic.

We thank our PR company October Coast for the hard work in spreading the word and Clara for taking this task on like a true creative champion.

All the reviews and press interviews will be posted on our Media section so check back regularly.

Happy holidays

Press for one of Clara’s Interviews in the US. on the 30th of December 2020

Global Love: Interview with Sarah Jayne & Ivan Malekin

Aussie underground indie website Pure Shit: Australian Cinema interviewed us about filming In Corpore in four countries / cities and our feelings and perspectives as filmmakers now that we live and breathe film in Europe. They were great questions from Bill Mousoulis and we really enjoyed answering them. Check out the interview here.

Sensual, Sex-Positive, Contemporary Relationship Drama on Pre-Sale !

The time has come - the In Corpore World Premiere screening through Lido at Home is now open for pre-sale. The release date is next week - the 26th of November.

For now this is an Australia wide premiere, but we are working hard on securing a worldwide release before the end of the year. As you can imagine, it has been difficult to release a feature film in 2020 due to the current world situation, but we are not giving up!

Take advantage of the pre-sale window now, and purchase your tickets for the world premiere through LIDO AT HOME to see a film that does not shy away from presenting sex-positivity, while exploring relationships around the world and delving into the grey areas of relationships.

Check out the In Corpore IMDB, where you can leave a review and some shiny stars from the 26th of November.

World Premiere Date Set for Sensual Drama Feature Film

In Corpore is the second ambitious feature film to be co-produced and co-directed by Ivan Malekin and Sarah Jayne Portelli and will be available throughout Australia on the Lido At Home streaming service from November 26th, with pre-sales opening on November 19th.

Entirely improvised, sensual, contemporary, and anchored by powerful performances by new talent from Berlin, Malta, Australia and New York In Corpore tells the stories of four separate relationships, each varied in their labels, each unfolding in different parts of the world. 

In Melbourne the polyamorous Julia strays from her monogamous marriage; in Malta Anna hides a secret from her husband Manny; in Berlin sugar baby Milana alienates her real life lover Rosalie, and in New York Julia faces the consequences of her affair.

The film explores the nature of commitment and the idea of sacrificing personal desires at the altar of love – is it selfish to follow the desires of the body and the soul or is this the only path to fulfilment? 

Even if it means hurting the one you love? 

View the trailer for In Corpore go to the films official page. 

If you would like to review the film, or to interview the cast and crew, contact Ivan Malekin and Sarah Jayne directly though this website.

Documentary on Stray Cats of Malta enjoys National Airtime

It was a pleasure to have been invited to talk and present our documentary feature film Cats of Malta on Animal Diaries. The lifestyle show, hosted by Moira Delia airs live every Saturday night on the Maltese National Television Station (TVM Malta) and aims to “raise community awareness of the vulnerability of animals and the importance of conserving Maltese species and other endangered species through educational experiences”.

A short clip edited together by the film’s editor and cinematographer Ivan Malekin was played at the beginning of the interview, giving audiences a small sneak peek into this feature-length documentary and this was followed up by a chat with director Sarah Jayne.

The episode, aired October 24th, is now online and you can watch the full interview with Sarah Jayne below.

Free Live Improvisation Course

On Sunday 27th September, at 3pm CEST, we team up with the Malta Film Foundation to teach our course How Improvisation can Improve Your Filmmaking live on Facebook. It is completely free and open to everyone in the world.

From the filmmakers using improv today, to the speed and efficiency of the development and production process, the surprise factor and how it leads to authentic performance, plus many more topics, we'll take you through the advantages of improvisation and how you can use it in your next project.

We think that is pretty cool. 

To go to the event page and find out how you can join us for this free live course click here.

Daughter Deluxe Edition

We are excited to share that we are taking control of our film products and are now selling directly through the new Vimeo associated site, Vimeo OTT.

There are now two new Daughter products launched with rent or buy options through our Vimeo OTT catalogue, so you can now purchase or rent the short educational film though the platform.

What this means is that the audience purchases directly from us, no middle person - it’s a win-win situation really and each purchase supports us, the indie filmmakers.

We have released the film in the regular format as well as an exclusive Daughter Deluxe Edition, which includes the film, director's commentary, never before seen deleted scenes, behind the scenes videos, audition videos, 14 film posters and more. The choice is yours.

To be directed to our VIMEO OTT page so you can view and buy this new product please click here.

Choir Girl Released on iTunes

Choir Girl is finally out on iTunes in the US and Australia. Filmed in Melbourne in 2017, this bold black and white feature has been a long time coming.

A photographer has found his muse. A 15 year old prostitute. How far will a nobody go to be a somebody?

A confronting film that tackles loneliness and obsession, the struggle for recognition, and the blurred line between art and morality, Choir Girl is the debut film from John Fraser and produced by Ivan Malekin of Nexus Production Group, and is led by a veteran Australian cast, including Peter D Flaherty (Bikie Wars), Jack Campbell (Underbelly), Krista Vendy (Neighbours), Kym Valentine (Neighbours), Andy McPhee (Wolf Creek), and Roger Ward (Mad Max). Plus introducing newcomer Sarah Timm, who stars in our very own In Corpore, also coming soon.

Pre-sales begin today on iTunes right here. And check out the Choir Girl website here to learn more about the film.

Psychological Drama Wraps after Second Week of Production

If week one of filming Machination was a whirlwind, then week two was a hurricane with over 2kgs of worms, blood, moody neon lights, night shoots, early mornings finales and some wicked acting. But damn straight we had the best sleep deprived time of our lives in the process and came out the other end with a treasured film experience to add to our already unforgettable 2020.

Machination took four months of our lives to get from the outline writing to the wrap and we did it all with a minimal crew of no more than six on larger days and just a key cast of four people and had Maltese actor Steffi Thake featuring in 99% of the full-length feature. For those interested in our filmmaking process read how Ivan’s article From Writing to Wrap: Making a Feature in Four Months here.

After 10 days of filming Machination, we wrapped at Selmun Bay around 7am! Picture: Creative Creep Brand

Steffi may have had most of the screen time since the film is about her character Maria and her downward spiral as she deals with mental illness and her past demons during a global pandemic, but Steffi handled it like a champion. The lead actors performance was moving and sad to watch, at times her situation and reaction to what was happening around her was relatable, other times the absurdity of the situation bordered on dark humour.

So now Machination is now in the ‘to edit’ bucket, a task that Ivan Malekin will start taking on in the coming week, while also editing our documentary Cats of Malta simultaneously.

If you want to know more about Machination go to the films official page here and join our Creatively Connected Newsletter for news about the film exclusively here.

Machination Week 1 Done

Our latest feature Machination has just wrapped Week one of production. It’s a two week shoot, but we now have a week off to recover and rest for a moment before planning and prep begins for Production Week two. Machination is about a woman battling the monsters in her head during a global pandemic and stars Steffi Thake as Maria. If the first weeks rushes are anything to go by, it will be a very powerful performance.

We are thrilled with the results so far and grateful to the small but dedicated team helping us to make this film happen during a real pandemic here in Malta, part of the worldly global pandemic which inspired the writing of the Machination story. It may seem like a timely film, but it’s story more than what you see on the surface - it’s story about a woman battling mental illness, facing here past demons and how the two meet to break the human spirit.

Mental illness is a topic we need to talk more openly about as the monsters in people’s minds can be life threatening, and any event that is large and out of our control, spurred on by heightened media can feed anxiety and trigger symptoms for a sufferer. Sometimes with devastating results.

The beautiful thing about working so closely with Steffi in the improvised process from conception stage, from the very first story outline (that was more focused on the absurdity of conspiracy theories and the media hype surrounding such theorists views which emerged through the pandemic here in Malta), is that together, through research and advice from psychological professionals, the story of Maria and the monsters she is battling became more of the character piece we are interested in and can relate to. A big step away from the genre horror film we had originally envisioned, which we honestly were not sure we wanted to make.

The Machination we are filming now is relatable, it could happen to you or me and it’s a character study of a woman who, throughout a pandemic outbreak is being pushed to her mental limit due to the reality she has created in her mind.

Mirror of Filth on Amazon Prime

Our short film Mirror of Filth is now available to watch on Amazon Prime. An erotic drama produced in 2014 and co-directed by Ivan Malekin and Jamie Wilson, MoF tells the gritty of story of a man named Chris searching for connection in a world of filth and sex. But Chris’ habits and desires are slowly breaking him, one woman at a time.

With a powerful lead performance from Jamie Wilson as Chris and great support from Whitney Duff from our feature Friends, Foes & Fireworks, plus Simone Oula and Sally Dean, Mirror of Filth is a film we are proud of and one that has never been widely released previously.

Watch Mirror of Filth on Amazon here. Leave a review, send us feedback, enjoy the film.

Rise of the Filmtrepreneur

Friends, Foes & Fireworks is featured in the new book Rise of the Filmtrepreneur by Alex Ferrari of Indie Film Hustle fame. We met Alex in 2018 at the American Film Market and he helped us create and launch our Udemy course based on Making a Feature in 24hrs.

And here we are today, a case study in making films quickly ingrained in print. Thank you Alex.

Buy the book, it's very good. Watch Friends, Foes & Fireworks. Take the course on Udemy. And keep creating!

Full Cast for Machination

The full cast for Machination is now set, our improvised psychological drama filming this August in Malta. Steffi Thake is playing the lead role of Maria and she is joined by Rambert Attard as her brother Yorgen, Andrew Bonello as the overbearing landlord Peter, with Seán James Sutton rounding out the cast as her intrusive boss Ian. It is a talented cast, all based in Malta, but with international experience, and we can’t wait to roll cameras next month!

Life Improvised: Hoping

Last month we finished Life Improvised: Hiding, a bleak look at the fear and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, filmed during lockdown. But now we are proud to share a more optimistic reflection on the pandemic in Life Improvised: Hoping. Again, it stars Sarah Jayne with Ivan Malekin the only crew, but this time though we tackle fear and uncertainty we also want to present a message of hope and resilience. Life goes on and we can make the best of a bad situation if we embrace the lessons that can be learnt. 

Machination Casting

Pre-production is underway for our new feature Machination, an improvised psychological horror about a germaphobic woman struggling to cope in isolation as a pandemic sweeps the world, forcing her to confront dark conspiracies and sinister monsters. We are pleased to announce we have cast talented local actress Steffi Thake in the lead role of Maria.

For the last 10 years, Steffi has been acting in film, TV and theatre. She began with Christmas pantomimes and gradually made a name for herself in Malta with notable titles under her belt as Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, The Vagina Monologues, and Image of an Unkown Young Woman. In 2013 she was awarded Best Actress at the MADC's One Act Play Festival for her performance in Murder Play.

Steffi gravitated towards film, training specifically in film acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art as well as Identity School of Acting. She has featured in Michael Bay's 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Chris Zarb's Do Re Mi Fa, and starred in Take2's pilot Never After and, most recently, Stephanie Sant's Camilla. 

Life Improvised: Hiding

We filmed a couple of micro-shorts as part of our Life Improvised series while in lockdown. This is the first, Hiding, about a woman in isolation struggling to cope with her mounting fear.

Regular Nexus director Sarah Jayne takes on the starring role in this film inspired by a feature we are developing called Machination about a woman slowly breaking down during the pandemic. One actor, Ivan on camera and directing, our smallest micro-short yet, but one we enjoyed making and which allowed us to exercise our creativity despite restrictions. Watch below.

The Cat's out of the Bag

Unbeknown to us we scored some media attention for the third time this year from Guide Me Malta, the film they focused on was our local cat lovers documentary Cats of Malta.

While we were conversing with talented Maltese street artist Matthew Pandolfino we were being watched, and so was the art. Matthew’s feline sculpture is famous on Instagram, well known by the locals and is hard to miss when driving along Sliema’s promenade. She sits proudly on a toilet block, looking out above Independence Garden (also known as Cat Park).

Some say that the sculpture is a cat god, looking out for the cats in the garden, but whatever powerful being she is, we were lucky enough to contact Matthew about talking to us on camera just as he was giving her a fresh coat of paint.

We visited Matthew on three separate occasions while the sculpture went from a coloured abstract design to the new luna theme. We can’t wait to put the edit for this section of the doco together and tell the story!

Check out both articles relating to Cats of Malta and Matthew’s cat overhaul in these articles from May 9th and May 17th.

Cats of Malta Begins Production

Production has began on our feature documentary Cats of Malta about the many stray cats of the island and the people who care for them. Our first interview was with Matthew Pandalfino as he re-painted his giant cat sculpture in Sliema, a popular tourist attraction, and we were there to document the process and learn more about why cats are so beloved in Malta. We have more interviews lined up so stay tuned to our website for updates and adorable pictures of cats.

And if you are in Malta and know a cat feeder with an interesting story to tell, we want to speak to them. Get in touch with us. 

Lockdown Inspires Filmmaking

It’s a crazy time, I don’t have to tell you that, we are all living through this COVID-19 pandemic hell and some of us are having a hard time more than others due to factors in our lives which existed before this hit. Some of us now are feeling the hardship suddenly wash over us as we loose our jobs, our income, our physical connection to others and our sanity.

To keep us going in lockdown and self quarantine we have been writing screenplays, developing ideas and shooting films. These films are short films which fit under our Life Improvised micro film banner and shot mostly in one location, with Sarah Jayne as the lead and Ivan Malekin as DOP.

The first one is called Hiding and is about a woman becoming more and more paranoid about the rise of COVID-19. She puts herself in self-quarantine as she battles her fear.

The second micro-short is called Hoping, and is a reflective look at our ‘new normal’ with hope for the days ahead.

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive these micro-shorts as soon as they are ready for release.