STACK #168 Oct 2018

EXTRAS

STACK SELECTS Must-see film andTV this month

NEWS

JOHN V. SOTO

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY The origin story of scoundrel Han Solo is the best Star Wars spin-off film to date.

W estern Australian John V. Soto felt "creatively unfulfilled" working as a business advisor in the corporate world and consequently turned his hand to screenwriting in 2002. He has since written and directed the thrillers Crush (2009) and The Reckoning (2014), and the horror film Needle (2010).

the parallel world idea at exactly the same time!" Soto says he's been lucky in getting quality local actors onboard for his films, including Travis Fimmel and Ben Mendelsohn in Needle , and now Jacqueline McKenzie in The

SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO The war against the drug cartels continues in this blistering follow-up to the 2015 film.

JohnV. Soto

Gateway . He adds that although many well known local actors are

reluctant to do genre films, this wasn't the case with McKenzie, who had previously appeared in US TV series The 4400 and was very responsive to the script. Soto also reveals that it's a lot easier to get local genre films greenlit today, thanks to the industry's realisation that we can no longer simply make films that target Australian audiences. "We've got to think of the broader market, and what travels well are genre films – action, sci-fi and horror," he says. "If you've got a kitchen sink drama set in Sydney, no one wants to see that in the US." He also likes to keep his films local and support the WA film

Now, Soto delves into the realm of sci-fi and parallel dimensions in The Gateway , which stars Jacqueline McKenzie and Myles Pollard as a married couple whose lives are irrevocably changed following an experiment in teleportation. "I didn't want to do the time travel thing," he tells STACK when asked how the concept for The Gateway came about. "I co-wrote the film with a friend of mine, Michael White, who's a prolific science author. We pitched cool concepts to each other and came upon

2001: a SPACE ODYSSEY Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi classic gets a 4K UHD upgrade for its 50th Anniversary.

WENTWORTH: SEASON 6 Get your Freak on with the latest episodes of the cult Aussie women's prison drama.

industry. "We don't get those big Hollywood blockbusters coming over here; they go to Queensland and Sydney. The issue is that we lose our crew talent to the eastern states and overseas, so if we can stimulate the film industry in WA, we get more professional crews staying here."

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: CULT AHS takes on the aftermath of Trump's election victory. Send in the evil clowns.

Ben Mortley and Jacqueline McKenzie in The Gateway

The Gateway is out now on DVD. Read our full interview at stack.com.au

SHANE JACOBSON CLAYTON JACOBSON

BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER. . . AVAILABLE ON DVD NOW! *

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