Sydney filmmakers complete global shoot of epic movie during height of pandemic  

Against all odds, not the least of those being the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns and travel restrictions, an Australian production company has declared “It’s a wrap!” on an ambitious, global feature film shoot.

Sydney-based MoneyShot Productions announced today the final scene of their film, titled Anno 2020, was shot early last month and the picture is now officially in post-production.

The film is considered ambitious because it was shot in 17 cities across five countries on four continents. Requiring the employment of camera crews and cast around the world, it features dialogue in English, Hebrew, Mandarin and Italian, and it boasts an award-winning ensemble of international actors. The cast includes leading Australians Greg Poppleton (Backtrack, The Chronicles of Narnia) and Erin Connor (Occupation: Rainfall, Dino King 3D), as well as US veterans Kevin Scott Allen (Star Trek, Alias, Prison Break) and Sheila Ball (Assault on VA-33).

A rough first edit of Anno 2020 has already been completed. One of the next steps in the post-production process, according to the film’s lead producer Gil Ben-Moshe, of MoneyShot Productions, is to begin developing the soundtrack.

“We expect the soundtrack will be absolutely crucial for a sensitive, character-driven film such as this,” says Ben-Moshe.

“To shape the sound of the film, we are in talks with Kim Allen Kluge and Kathryn Kluge, the Los Angeles husband-and-wife-composing team who previously created the score for Martin Scorsese’s 2016 film Silence, starring Liam Neeson.”

Adapted from a novel of the same name, Anno 2020 represents the directorial debut of Sydney-based New Zealand-born director and screenwriter James Morcan who also wrote the novel and the screenplay adaptation. 

Ben-Moshe, who also stars in the film, says revolutionary filmmaking methods had to be devised to work around the lockdowns.

“This was achieved in part by utilising new technologies, and we were extraordinarily fortunate to attract renowned film industry partners in each city who helped us navigate the numerous obstacles confronting us,” Ben-Moshe says.

“Film crews shot cast members in Israel, China and Italy as well as several states within the US and Australia.”

Morcan, who began writing the story as soon as the first lockdowns began almost two years ago, describes it as a multicultural kaleidoscope of interconnected characters seeking redemption, forgiveness and peace during the wild year that was 2020.

“It’s a vignette film, a rare type of movie where there are various plots instead of just one. These are told separately, but they all intersect at the end to ultimately become part of one larger story,” he says.

Morcan says other vignette films, including Crash, Babel, Love Actually, Short Cuts and Magnolia, were well-reviewed, award-winning and generated excellent box office returns.

Anno 2020 is the fourth feature film Morcan and Ben-Moshe have made together, having previously shot the post-Apocalyptic film After Armageddon and two OZ-Bollywood movies, My Cornerstone and Love You Krishna, which were both filmed in India and Australia, incorporating English and Hindi, and released internationally.

The filmmakers say their immediate goal for Anno 2020 is to earn acceptance into major film festivals later in the year. MoneyShot Productions’ longer-term targets include a theatrical release, followed by online distribution on major streaming platforms.

Anno 2020, the novel, was published in October 2020 by Sterling Gate Books.

Anno 2020 film industry site link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13455748/