Meet the Creators of TALK TO ME
Featuring Danny and Michael Philippou, Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton
Sunday 11 February
3pm AEST
After premiering at Adelaide Film Festival, Talk To Me has become one of the most successful horror films, finding huge success in the US and becoming A24's highest grossing horror film.
When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and opens the door to the spirit world, forcing them to choose who to trust: the dead or the living.
The feature film debut of former YouTube stars Danny and Michael Philippou (known online as RackaRacka), join us to learn how the creators brought this striking and clever horror to life.
Featuring
Samantha Jennings
Kristina Ceyton
Founded by producing-duo Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings (left), Causeway Films focuses on the development and production of entertaining, socially relevant stories that allow original and diverse voices to achieve international success. Causeway launched with globally acclaimed THE BABADOOK which premiered at Sundance 2014 and produced Jennifer Kent’s follow up feature THE NIGHTINGALE winning the Special Jury Prize at Venice Film Festival 2019.
In 2020-21 Causeway completed four features: YOU WON’T BE ALONE by Goran Stolevski (Sundance 2022, Focus Features), Goran’s second film OF AN AGE which won the 2022 MIFF@CinefestOz Film Prize (Opening Night Film Melbourne International Film Festival 2022, Focus Features), BLAZE by Archibald Prize-winning artist Del Kathryn Barton, starring Simon Baker (Tribeca 2022, Mk2 Films) and South African psychological horror GOOD MADAM by Jenna Cato Bass (TIFF 2021, Shudder).
Causeway’s latest feature TALK TO ME by YouTube sensation RackaRacka premiered at Sundance 2023 where it sold to A24, followed by screenings at Berlinale and SXSW, and releasing theatrically in July 2023. Causeway is in post-production on two features - the adaptation of award-winning short film THE MOOGAI by Jon Bell, and New Zealand-Australian co-production WENT UP THE HILL by Samuel Van Grinsven, starring Vicky Krieps and Dacre Montgomery.
Danny & Michael Philippou
Danny and Michael Philippou, best known as online global sensations RACKARACKA, with more than 1.5 billion views on YouTube. Named one of Variety’s 2016 FameChangers and ranked 5th on the Australian Financial Review’s Cultural Power List, the brothers are the creators of action comic horror online content, which has racked up more than 1.5 billion views and over 6.6 million subscribers on Youtube alone. Their numerous awards include Best Integrational Channel Streamy Award; Best Overall at the Online Video Awards; and AACTA Award for Best Online Video or Series. TALK TO ME is their debut feature film.
Ruari Elkington - Moderator
Dr Ruari Elkington’s industry engagement and academic research has been driven by questions about how screen content connects with discrete audiences in markets increasingly under pressure through creative and commercial tensions. His screen industry experience centred on the acquisition, marketing and distribution of documentary, feature film and innovative digital content to theatrical and online audiences. In 2018 Dr Elkington was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate new initiatives connecting Creative Industries students and online video creators in collaborative work. His real-world engagement is evidenced in his 2019 peer reviewed appointment to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Expert Network (Future of Information and Entertainment) building on his AMP “Tomorrow Maker” award and funding. In 2023 he was awarded a Queensland Smithsonian Fellowship to work with social video creators to communicate cultural heritage collections to new audiences.
He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Creative Industries at the Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice Faculty and a Chief Investigator within QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC). In 2022, alongside his Resilient Screen research colleague Dr Tess Van Hemert, Dr Elkington co-designed and led the largest recent national audience survey of Australian cinemagoing in partnership with Palace Cinemas.