Lleyton Hails

FROM UNI TO BLOCKBUSTER IN LESS THAN A YEAR

by Andrew Hamilton

Travel north on the Gold Coast Highway through Miami and you will pass a nondescript building opposite the state high school where “The King” was reincarnated and one young Bondy’s life changed forever. It was here that 22-year-old Lleyton Hails (Class of 2019) landed to cap off a whirlwind 12 months since graduating with a Bachelor of Film and Television in February 2021. Inside, legendary Hollywood director Baz Luhrmann and a crew of highly skilled post-production specialists pulled together the hours of footage shot of Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Bondy and 2015 BUFTA winner Elizabeth Cullen and the entire cast of Elvis and turned it into the cinematic masterpiece that is a hot tip to claim a swag of awards at next year’s Academy Awards. It has already raked in over $US210 million worldwide since its May 25 release.

“If you drove past it, you wouldn’t recognise it as the place Baz Luhrmann would turn up each day to work on Elvis,” Mr Hails says. “It is just a white building in front of a bus stop. It was quite amazing how that building was converted into a post-production facility. There was an indoor theatre and all the rooms were soundproofed. At one stage the office was transformed into Elvis’s Hilton room.’’

Mr Hails is happily following the well-trodden path of aspiring filmmakers. On Elvis he was a post-production assistant – the gofer who was the first one in each day and often the last to leave, the 10-12 hours in between spent racing to collect whatever was needed for that day’s tasks, organising lunch, doing airport runs and reconciling all the daily expenses. His break came on Aussie romantic comedy Love in Bloom, a gig he landed through an internship while studying at Bond with Brisbane-based The Steve Jaggi Company. That led to a permanent spot on the series Troppo, which tells the story of a couple’s fight for survival in North Queensland, based on the best-selling novel Crimson Lake and starring Hollywood veteran Thomas Jane and former Logie nominee, Aussie Nicole Chamoun. As is the way in showbiz, he had just finished Troppo when he received a call from another contact, the post-production supervisor on Elvis.

“I got a call from him one night in January saying they needed another person on board,’’ he says. “It was life-changing for me. I graduated in February 2021 and within 12 months I was on a low budget rom-com, then an Australian series (Troppo), then Elvis. It was amazing for me.”

Any nerves Mr Hails felt arriving to work on the first day were soon dispelled when he was called into an edit suite to meet the boss. “He (Luhrmann) is just such a nice and friendly guy; so is his wife Catherine (Martin),’’ he said.

"The one thing is you feel important. Even though I was entry level, you feel important to the project."

Top: A scene from the film. Bottom: Baz Luhrmann with cast members on the set of Elvis.

“The one thing is you feel important. Even though I was entry level, you feel important to the project. If someone had a birthday there’d be cake and everyone, including Baz and Catherine, would sing Happy Birthday. And it was particularly close among the Bondies. There were a lot of us and it was amazing to have that connection.’’

Mr Hails grew up in Scone, NSW and from the age of 12 knew he wanted to pursue a career in film, a dream that would lead him to Bond University. “As a young kid I was always doing online courses and making my own short movies,’’ he says. “And when I entered Year 12, Bond was a massive priority for me. The Gold Coast was becoming a real hub for Hollywood and that was a factor, but after attending Open Day, particularly for me it was the small classes and the fact you could go and talk to your lecturers. Coming from a small country town and a small school, I liked that interaction.’’

Mr Hails had grown up dreaming of directing his own movies but after doing Elvis he has developed a greater appreciation for editing and post-production. He has now earned a place in a Local to Global young director’s development program run by Screen Queensland and the Australian Directors’ Guild where he will look to specialise in a certain field, probably editing.

CLASS OF 2005 VISUAL EFFECTS DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER

“Because Baz is such a driven storyteller, who is fearlessly aware of the breadth of tools and techniques available within the medium of cinema, we had to step up and meet the standard he set. Look side-by-side at some of the original ’69 Special, Russwood, or showroom concert footage and compare it against what we shot. If you can look past Austin’s incredible performance you’ll see just how fine the attention to detail was from every department on this project.”

Mark Desiatov

CLASS OF 2012 SECOND ASSISTANT CAMERA

“Watching Baz and Mandy (Director of Photography Mandy Walker) work together and being in the thick of things with the actors and the set designers was amazing. It is the way Baz works, he makes everyone feel included, it was awesome. You are there to do a job you can be taken aback by their presence, but you have been hired to do a specific task and you just do it to the best of your ability.’’

Giorgia Stawaruk

CLASS OF 2013 PRODUCTION SECRETARY

“If I end up producing some day, I now have this library of experience. Becoming a producer is about building trust with people and Elvis gave me the opportunity to do that with some awesome practitioners and I have since worked with many of them on other shows.’’

Charlotte St Baker

CLASS OF 2014 ART DEPARTMENT ACCOUNTS ASSISTANT / POST PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

“My time on Elvis was spectacular. It was certainly the largest production I’ve worked on, both in the crew who worked their hearts and souls into it, but also the duration. While it was only the second feature I’ve work on, I now feel as though I’ve been in the industry for years.’’