K.T Simpson
Dark comedy Birthright, from writer/director Zoe Pepper (Lift), producer Cody Greenwood (Under The Volcano, Girl Like You) and executive producer John Maynard (Romulus, My Father, The Boys), heads into production this year in Western Australia.
The film was the 2022 recipient of Screenwest’s highly coveted West Coast Visions initiative, which is designed to uncover, inspire and develop talented and motivated WA filmmakers with distinctive visions to produce their debut feature film in WA. Through this initiative, Birthright secured $750,000 production funding from Screenwest and has since secured Screen Australia production funding and Madman as ANZ distributor, giving the project the green light for production.
The pic follows Cory and Jasmine, who are a professional couple in their 30s and are eight months pregnant. But when Corey loses his job, they are forced to move back in with his retiree parents until they get back on their feet. As their stay extends, Cory fixates on his parents’ wealth and decides the only way to achieve the success he always imagined, is to do something unimaginable.
“Zoe has let loose with Birthright. It is a dark, funny and wild ride. It’s a timely story that taps into a conversation about the housing affordability crisis and a powerplay between Baby Boomers and their Millennial children. We’re thrilled to now have Screenwest, Screen Australia and Madman on board and we can’t wait to kick off production in Perth later this year,” said producer Cody Greenwood.
“Birthright has the ingredients to become a buzzy festival film mixing social satire and thriller elements. Zoe Pepper’s writing will attract talent and we have full confidence in the producing team to deliver a tense, thought-provoking tragicomedy,” said Paul Wiegard, CoFounder & CEO, Madman Entertainment.
Birthright is set to head into production in Western Australia later this year.
