Paul Nunes

Hi,

My name is Dave Sparkes. I am the writer/director of the upcoming Australian feature film, 'The 5th Shadow'. This is a project I have been working on for the last five years and in January of 2011 I will finally have the opportunity to see my story come to life.

 

I am a multi-award winning filmmaker and published writer with almost ten years experience and several short films, music videos, and trailers behind me. Basically I eat, sleep and breath movies. I dream of the day someone actually pays me to do it. We've all got to dream right? Well this is mine.

 

We recently secured enough funds to get the film ‘in the can’ and with the blood and tears of the great cast and crew that have gathered around me, I believe we are going to make something we'll all be proud of. My hope, of course is to create something extraordinary and if the belief people have shown in me so far is in anyway related to this then who knows, it might just happen.

 

The film is a wild, weird and wondrous trip through the mind of a mysterious man which is what brings me to this site. We are going to get the film ‘in the can’ for less money than is spent on most Hollywood tea breaks, the cast and crew have kindly donated their time and equipment out of nothing but passion and my beautiful sister has convinced my brother in law Danny and their little fella Will to move out of their house for an entire month while a film crew moves in. Brave you say? I agree and am indebted to them for their kindness but in this case mere thank you's will not suffice. So, as a means to pay them back I am going to blow up the front door of their house, boil their fish tank and build a life-sized sand dune in their living room. It's the least I can do. However these things, as resourceful as we are, do cost money.

 

Will Colhoun of Big Kahuna Imagineering and Director of Photography, Gideon Jennings are officially in charge of bringing these ideas to life and at a smidgen of the usual full feature cost they will, but we just need a little more funds to push this over the line from good movie to very cool film. Will is one of the best props makers in the world and has largely volunteered his time out of the goodness of his heart and a belief in the project but the materials to create these total non CGI, in camera effects aren't cheap.  We aren't asking much, just a very small amount from a lot of people.

 

By supporting 'The 5th Shadow', you will not only reward but also become part of a team of passionate people, attempting something different that might inject a bit of life back into the stagnant water that has become the Australian film industry. So please help us prove to the powers that be, there is more than just one way to tell a story.

 

Tell the guy at the bus stop, ring your mum and yell it from the roof.

 

The 5th Shadow is coming.

 

Dave Sparkes

THE 5TH SHADOW

Is he a genius or a madman?

Is this a dream or reality? 

Henry Blank is a failed artist, misplaced in life and quickly losing his mind. His wife is about to leave him, a mysterious rumbling V8 roams the highways, a fame hungry doctor has stolen his soul, a foul mouthed man is stuck in Henry’s drain and his latest painting may very well be a window into another dimension.

Almost completely dissolved, Henry is saved by an act of violence that puts him into a coma. Awake, he is reborn, reformatted and so detached that all around him become increasingly suspicious as the town of 'Reverie', goes on high alert. The missing person count is rising. Fear is flooding through the streets and all reason seems to have evaporated.

When Henry falls for Stacey, an angelic blonde nightclub singer doing sultry renditions of Nina Simone, Henry's life will change forever and the town of 'Reverie' will never be the same again. The question is, can a man change so quickly and so drastically? Is true enlightenment possible? Or is Henry as insane as some around him are beginning to think?

As the truth closes in and Henry is about to embark on an astonishing state of consciousness, a mysterious stranger turns up and he’s about to ruin everything. He holds the key to Henry’s dark past and has just one thing in mind for Stacey. When the missing persons continue to mount, Reverie will be forced to confront its greatest fear while Henry will discover he is being trailed by more than just one shadow. But is this the terrifying end or the beginning of something truly sublime?

The 5th Shadow is a dark, surreal thriller with a troubled protagonist, searching for one last masterpiece and a mysterious villain that may be a lot closer to home than Henry is aware. This is the deep exploration of a disturbed man, alone in a world that has no place for him and the razor thin line between dream and reality.