What's The Matter, by director Lee Rogers, best known for his feature Dust Off The Wings and his award-winning commercials and music videos, will have its world premiere at the competitive Los Angeles International Short Film Festival (LA Shorts Fest) held from September 5 – 14 in Hollywood.
LA Shorts Fest is the largest short film festival in the world. In past years, 23 participating films have earned Academy Award nominations, with seven filmmakers taking home the Oscar.
What's The Matter is 15 minutes long and shot on 35mm. It is written and directed by Lee and produced by Lee with Naomi Cleaver. It stars Cameron Knight, best known for his hostings on The Comedy Channel, and actors Helmut Bakaitis (Matrix Trilogy) and Louise Siversen (Evil Angels, Prisoner). It also features the voice of Today Tonight host Naomi Robson.
The film is a black comedy about a young man who becomes chemically convinced that suicide is the path to spiritual freedom.
LINK TO SHORT FILM TRAILER:
http://leerogers.com.au/film/play_whats_the_matter.htm
“I'm fascinated by man's apparent need for spiritual understanding. I wanted to make a film that delved into the spiritual realm of life and highlighted how limited the Western approach is to matters of the body, mind and spirit," Lee says.
The key crew are all highly awarded artists in their respective fields – they are Tim Hudson (DoP), Lance Davis (Production Design), Michael Houlahan (Editor), Jason Murphy (Sound Design) and Blair Jocelyne and Richard Pleasance (Music).
Lee says the film owes its successful completion to the cast, crew and sponsors who generously donated their time, talent, equipment and facilities: “Mrppp, GAS, Digital Pictures, Panavision, Cinevex, Kodak and Nick Hamon Casting."
Throughout the 90’s, Lee was one of Australia’s top TVC and music video directors. His 1996 debut feature Dust Off The Wings, starring his wife - iconic Australian singer, songwriter, actor and multiple ARIA winner Kate Ceberano - has become a cult classic and resulted in Lee being snapped up by the same US agent at William Morris who guided the careers of James Cameron and Tim Burton.
In 2000, Rogers took time off from directing commercials to collaborate with Kate by directing her music videos, executive producing her albums, filming her exploits in the US and the grand production of their daughter Gypsy Rogers.
Rejuvenated after the break from advertising, Rogers has leapt back to the A-list of TVC directors in Australia and Asia, directing high profile campaigns for the likes of Bonds (Sarah O’Hare and Pat Rafter), Myer (Carson Kressley), Pantene (Sarah Wynter), Hammer Reef Rum (Shane Webcke) and 1800 Reverse (holly valance). He’s currently in post production on Westfield’s massive summer campaign via McMann & Tate, Sydney which comprises of 5 X 90 second and 5 x 30 second commercials and goes to air Sept 3.