Men's Group (2008)

Interesting facts

• Box office: A$67.2K

Men's Group is a 2008 Australian drama film. The film is directed by Michael Joy from a screenplay co-written with John L. Simpson.

Production

The concept of the film was conceived by Michael Joy and John L. Simpson, while working together on another project dealing with men's issues and their inability to communicate. At that time, director Michael Joy was experiencing depression and attended a men's support group on the advice of a telephone counsellor. Joy was struck by the pain of the men in the room and the safe environment in which they could express what they were going through.

Joy worked with each of the actors separately, workshopping the script over two months. Using this technique, Michael and John L. would create scenes from key character points and events. Only then was a comprehensive screenplay drafted and delivered to the heads of departments.

The actors were not allowed to see the screenplay prior to shooting, and had little or no idea of other characters' story lines. The filmmakers did this to capture the actors' first responses to what was unfolding in front of them. There was only one take for each shot that appears in the film, and the shoot lasted only 14 days. It was shot in sequence, so the filmmakers could not go back to reshoot.

The film was a micro-budget production, created on a reverse finance model, with each key crew member and actor taking an equity position in the film.

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