This month we did some reshoots and pickups for our feature film ForeFans in Budapest, reuniting with actor Nicolas Hackenberg. The feature is almost at the picture lock stage, but there is some complicated VFX to finish and song rights to secure, both of which could effect the timing of edit, so we are reluctant to declare the film "locked" until those aspects are solved. Still, we are closer to the finish line and we can wait for you to see this film. Stay tuned.
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
Phone/WhatsApp: Sarah Jayne Portelli
+356 99322412
Website
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
In Corpore wraps after 7 months
NPG directors Sarah Jayne and Ivan Malekin have been travelling and filming In Corpore, our production companies second improvised feature film, which went into pre production mid 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. The bold feature film, which takes an intimate look into relationships around the world was shot in Australia, Malta, New York and Germany and principal photography wrapped up late this month, with the Berlin story ending the quadruple film adventure.
Shot in four countries around the world.
On a whole we are pleased with what we managed to achieve and the improv aspect of the process has not only kept us on our toes but also made directors Sarah Jayne and Ivan Malekin aware that they now have found their niche and have no interest in going back to scripted work or heavy dialogued screenplays.
In Corpore was produced from Melbourne around June 2017 and later on Malta once NPG re-located to the tiny Mediterranean island for a European lifestyle change. This move made it easier for the directing duo to travel to the destinations the film required and the results of the film and the production values will speak for itself on completion. We are sure that this international feel will add some extra appeal to the film for the future audience, yet not take away from the excellent performances and passion for their roles each of our actors gave.
In each country a small and talented team was built - that team includes four DOP's, four second camera operators, 2 sound people, five assistants and an enthusiastic cast was which brought together to make it all possible. Now we have all the footage and we can't wait to start piecing the film together.
Stay tuned for future updates on In Corpore and remember that you can get behind our work by joining our Patreon community today for as little as $1 a month.