PRESS RELEASE
Kyle Portbury Films announced today the completion of the 90-minute independent feature film ‘The Hopeful’.
Directed by Emmy® winner and 3-time Australian Directors Guild nominated director Kyle Portbury. The film has original music by Australian composer Blake Robinson (Disney, Marvel, EA), UK composer Michael Price (BBC Sherlock, Unforgotten, Sister Boniface Mysteries) and original songs by Grammy and Dove award-winning singer-songwriter Jonas Myrin.
Kyle Portbury’s sweeping historical tale (inspired by real-life events) follows a young family aboard a steamship sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in 1874. Widower John (Gregory Wilson) delights the restless minds of his two children with a tale of courage, hope, war, and true love that begins with the end of the world. John’s tale follows a young woman (Tommie Amber-Pirie) who speaks up in a man’s world, a farmer (Bill Lake) with a prophecy about the end of the world, and a retired sea captain (Timothy Paul Coderre) who anticipates the new world ahead.
The film also stars Maddy Martin, Darren Emery, Kate Hurman, Michael Mancini and Trie Donovan. Producers of THE HOPEFUL were Bin Li, Martin Thorne and Kyle Portbury, with executive producers Kevin Christenson, Vyacheslav Demyan, and Derek Morris of Hope Studios USA.
Director Kyle Portbury said of completing post-production, “I’m delighted to have completed our beautiful film here in Sydney. I’ve been blessed to complete post-production in Australia, with an amazing team of collaborators who have thrown their all into this timeless tale of anticipation and hope.”
Producer Martin Thorne added, “The Hopeful is a perfect example of what can be done here in Sydney for a production shot outside Australia, especially when the key creatives live here. With the help of great financial management from Moneypenny, we took advantage of both federal and state tax rebates for the Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV rebate). Without that incentive, we would have done the post-production elsewhere.”
Producer and the film’s editor Bin Li was thankful that “Every step of the process was blessed with good luck, starting from the Scotland pickup shoot to the final mix at Spectrum Films, it was clear sailing all the way. We could not have wished for a more straightforward process. Heartfelt thank you to The Post Lounge (Sydney), Mighty Sound, Spectrum Films and our VFX team at Cloud 10 in the USA.”
The Post Lounge (Sydney) accommodated the post-production of The Hopeful for offline, online and mastering, with colourist Brett Manson (Elvis, The King) shaping the look of the film with director Kyle Portbury.
Mighty Sound (Sydney) sound editor Matt Perrott supervised the sound edit with the final mix at Spectrum Films Sound Mix Theatre with Glenn Butler, Spectrum Films Re-Recording Mixer and Senior Sound Engineer.
THE HOPEFUL will be released in cinemas across North America and Australia in the third quarter of 2023.
