Ian Chinsee

'House Of Cards' has been a part of my life for over ten years now.  I wrote the script when I was a student at UCLA.  I'd always had dreams of selling it and seeing my work up on the big screen one day.  But the years passed and the script got lost amongst countless other screenplays, short stories, and various writings.  Fast forward a few years.  I was a medical student at UQ in Brisbane.  I happened to stumble on the script and decided I would try and get the film made.  So I contacted Screen Australia (or whoever the government funding body was at the time).  We sat down and had a meeting.  They told me that as much as they liked the script, it was just not the type of film that Australian audiences want to see.  I thought "that's fair enough" - the story was still set in LA, the characters were American, etc.  So I started writing again.  The film is now set in Brisbane.  The characters come from various countries around the world.  The story has become more about the people involved and not so much the events.  Getting denied funding at that point in my life was probably the best thing that could happen for the film.