Madonna and Guy Ritchie, Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini, Brad and Angelina, even Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton; all husband-wife creative teams whose high Hollywood profiles and subsequent mega-wealth ultimately enabled them to finance the pictures they passionately wanted to make.
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In a similar vein, movie auteurs Michael Glover and Robyn Rosenkrantz are in Australia for the first time to shoot their seventh feature, “36 Husbands”, described by Glover as “a mystical spy comedy with a lot of Kung-fu.”
Along the way, Glover and Rosenkrantz are visiting arthouse cinemas, playing concerts and screening the refreshing romantic tale, “Mr Rudolpho’s Jubilee.”
Penned by Glover, the movie follows the fortunes of celebrity fashion designer Rudolpho, whose nervous breakdown and attempted suicide spits him out of a river near a Bohemian share house in Berlin.
Here his sanity is obliquely restored via kindred-kooky housemates who are oblivious to his celebrity status.
Rosenkrantz describes this film as an international labour of love, made possible by an “artists’ collective” comprising 300 people from 36 countries (including 34 tango dancers in one scene alone.)
So, how and why did a couple of roaming minstrels suddenly take on such ambitious projects? No stranger to success, at 13, screenwriter-director Michael Glover was a drummer and the youngest member of punk band “The Philisteens,” whose crowd-drawing potential got them signed with the same record producer as Blondie and The Ramones.
Glover wrote songs for the band on guitar, and although his record company did not survive, the desire to succeed in his chosen field increased.
He began to write quirky, award-winning stage plays, like “The Toothbrush Moustache Club” which was produced by America’s prestigious Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
While performing at “8121”, the original songwriters room of LA’s Coconut Teaser Club, Glover happened upon fellow musician Robyn Rosenkrantz singing her originals centre-stage, with Keith Moon’s daughter Mandy on percussion.
Before long, the tour de force which now operates under their duo moniker “Bright Blue Gorilla” was born.
Jaded with LA, the couple embarked for Berlin, a fortuitous move which led to many professional engagements, tours and, two years later, being signed by Virgin Records in Germany.
Their luck held for over a decade, until the acceleration of technology led to live music being much less in demand.
As high quality cameras became cheaper and more accessible, a window of opportunity opened for the self-motivated pair to produce their own films (Having a background in the industry helped – Glover had worked as an editor for The Osbornes on MTV.)
Zig-zagging between Europe and America, back home the couple found themselves on a movie set with actor Alec Baldwin, who was starring in The Last Shot. Kismet decreed that a folk duo was needed for this movie, so Michael and Robyn broke ranks with the extras and were suddenly earning top dollar as featured artists in a star-cast movie (They still receive residual cheques from TV stations each time the movie is run.)
Financial rewards from The Last Shot enabled them to buy camera equipment and indulge their passion to write and make their own movies.
Living and performing in Berlin had introduced the couple to actors of renown who, though perhaps unknown to the A-List Hollywood stables, certainly hold their own in front of a camera.
A film screening by Bright Blue Gorilla incorporates live music and a Q and A afterward. They strive to be as funny as possible in an innocent way, so their films are acceptable and fun for all ages and personality types.
The couple had their first Australian screening in Perth, before touring WA through Kendenup, Denmark and Esperance to Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne.
WATCH the teaser for Mr Rudolpho here:
Tomorrow they’ll be at Nambucca Heads for a special pop-up screening of Mr Rudolpho’s Jubilee. Email bbg@brightbluegorilla.com for more details, including time and location.
There’s also a public screening at the Coffs Harbour Jetty Memorial Theatre on Friday
In April, the town of Amherst in rural Victoria will become the Australian location for Bright Blue Gorilla’s next comedy feature film, “36 Husbands.” Locals will appear in the movie, as well as more seasoned actors who’ve starred in previous films.
Shooting concludes in Berlin, with post-production in LA.
Bright Blue Gorilla are inviting the world-wide community to take the 36 Husbands journey with them.
Click on http://36husbands.com/ to see how you can join the adventure, donate bananas and earn fun perks, like appearing in the movie credits as a sponsor.