Yahoo Movies Elle Driver Launches ‘Kid Snow’ Australian Boxing Drama Film (EXCLUSIVE)
French sales agency Elle Driver is giving a Cannes Market launch to “Kid Snow,” a West Australian-produced tale of redemption set in the 1970s world of tent boxing. Production starts on Monday in Australia’s Goldfields-Esperance region, making it the first feature film to kick off production in the state since its border re-opened.
Boxing tents toured Australia’s small towns from the early 1900s until the 1970s, and were venues where professional fighters faced off against local challengers. The troupes criss-crossed the outback, boasted a carnival-like atmosphere and were places where Indigenous fighters could become heroes.
More from Variety
Ukraine War Refugees the Focus of Latest From Docmaker Olha Zhurba (EXCLUSIVE)
WellGo USA Buys Soi Cheang's 'Walled In' for North American Release
Odin's Eye Launching 'In Vitro' Sci-Fi Thriller at Cannes Market (EXCLUSIVE)
Penned by writers John Brumpton and Stephen Cleary, the story involves a washed-up Irish boxer named Kid Snow who is finally given a chance to redeem himself when he is offered a rematch against the man he fought a decade prior, on a night that changed his life forever. When Kid Snow meets single mother Sunny, he is forced to contemplate a future beyond boxing.
The cast is headed by U.K. actors Billy Howle and Tom Bateman, and Australian actor Phoebe Tonkin (“Tomorrow, When the War Began” and TV series “H2O: Just Add Water,” “Bloom,” “Westworld”). Howle’s feature credits include “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Outlaw King” and “On Chesil Beach.” Bateman’s include “Thirteen Lives,” “Death on the Nile” and “Murder on the Orient Express,” as well as recent Netflix series “Behind Her Eyes.”
The film is directed by Paul Goldman (“Australian Rules,” “The Night We Called It a Day,” “Suburban Mayhem”), who says “Kid Snow” is a quest for redemption measured by the size of a boxer’s heart and the love and courage of a woman. “It is a story about learning what’s worth fighting for in life,” Goldman said. “[The script] felt exotic and authentic, a world I hadn’t seen in any film before. Powerfully visceral, a world of stale sweat and beer, campfires and mateship, dust and blinding sunlight. Fake blood and real pain.”
Other cast members include Tasma Walton (“How to Please a Woman”), Mark Coles Smith (“Mystery Road: Origin,” “Last Cab to Darwin”) and Shaka Cook (“Top End Wedding”), Hunter Page-Lochard (“Fires”), Robert Taylor (“Into the Ashes”), Nathan Phillips (“Wolf Creek”) and Jack LaTorre (“Nine Perfect Strangers”).
The film is being produced by Lizzette Atkins (“Looking for Grace”), Megan Wynn (“The Childhood of a Leader”) and Bruno Charlesworth (“Ladies in Black”), with executive producer Matthew Gledhill (“Far From Men”).
“Kid Snow” is a Unicorn Films, Immaculate Conception and Wynn Media production, with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screenwest, Lotterywest and the Western Australian Screen Fund. It is financed in association with VicScreen with additional support from Soundfirm and the Goldfields Esperance Development Commission. It will be distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.
Best of Variety
Molly Shannon's Memoir 'Hello Molly' Is Already an Instant Bestseller on Amazon
2022 Primetime Emmys Awards Season Calendar: The Governors Balls are Back After Two Years
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
