54 Days
54 Days is an Australian science fiction thriller film written and directed by Tim R. Lea, and produced by Nicholas A. Halls and Ravi Kambhoj. The film is the feature length remake of a short film of the same name and plot, cast and crew, which was made in 2013 for the Western Digital Project Sci Fi competition in Sydney, Australia. The world premiere of 54 Days will be held on 6 November 2014 at 30 Dies festival in Andora. The Australian premiere will be on the 16 November at the Sci-Fi festival in Sydney, and on the same day the film will be released on Video on demand.
Synopsis
54 Days is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where five people are trapped in a nuclear shelter after a biological/nuclear attack.
Cast
- John Michael Burdon as Anthony
- Greg Wilken as Dirk
- Dianna LaGrassa as Elisabeth
- Michela Carattini as Michelle
- Michael Drysdale as Nick
Production
Short length
The short length version of 54 Days was made for the 28 day "WD Project Sci Fi" competition, in October 2013. The filmmakers had to write, film and produce a film of maximum 10 minutes within 28 days, being given only a core theme. Tim R. Lea's team was given the post-apocalyptic theme. The film got into the finals and was nominated for best script and best editing awards.
Feature length
After receiving positive feedback for the short length version of 54 Days, the production team decided to remake the story, this time as a feature length film. To finance the project, a crowdfunding campaign was launched on February 2014. The goal was set to $54,000 with a time limit of 54 days. The campaign was successful and raised $54,127.
Most of the filming was done during the Easter break of 2014 in Oxford Falls, New South Wales. Everything was shot in four locations (namely a rooftop penthouse, an apartments fire escape, a carpark and a Church Complex studio).