When director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) approached major studios with his concept for a Robbie Williams biopic featuring a CGI chimp as its central character, he was met with a healthy degree of skepticism.
The lauded director returned to his hometown in Melbourne, Australia, with a steadfast pitch that the most unique and engaging way to communicate Williams’ story was through a VFX-engineered character in the form of a man-sized chimpanzee. He managed to capture the attention of both state and federal screen agencies at VicScreen and Screen Australia respectively.
“I think the fact that VicScreen saw that high concept idea – and it’s a bold idea – and they backed it, is something I’m incredibly grateful for.”
– Director Michael Gracey
Fast forward three years and Better Man is now the largest film ever made in Melbourne, Victoria creating almost 3000 jobs and injecting $142 million in direct Victorian expenditure into the local economy.
Alongside his childhood friends and fellow screenwriters, Oliver Cole and Simon Gleeson, Gracey set out to draft a script with universal themes of self-love and self-acceptance. The CGI chimp helped, in a paradoxical way, to access the humanity of these themes, Gracey explains.
“I feel like you see more of Rob because of the monkey than you would if it was just an actor playing him. And it’s not just a visual thing; it’s the license that the monkey allows you to explore that interior life without it feeling jarring, because you’re already in this heightened reality.”
Michael Gracey needs no excuse to return home and create major feature films in his own backyard, he says.
“As a filmmaker, that’s all you can ever hope for. You can have these very bold ideas, but you’re never going to realize them unless you can convince an entire group of people to invest in them to the same degree that you do. And that’s what I find about the crews here in Melbourne. They went all in on Better Man. And I think the real remuneration they have is the film itself. It brings me so much joy to know how proud they are of the fact that they were a part of Better Man.”
Better Man is currently playing at cinemas across the United States and is being distributed by Paramount as one of their offerings for the current awards season.
The film took home AACTA International Awards for Best Film and Best Director, adding to its impressive haul at the AACTA Awards, where it won Best Film, Best Director, Best Lead Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects, and Best Casting. It also won the VES Award for Outstanding Character in a Photoreal Feature and is nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
Bring your film to life in Melbourne, Victoria. Explore VicScreen’s competitive financial incentives by contacting VicScreen’s Head of Incentives, Joe Brinkmann, at [email protected] or visit vicscreen.vic.gov.au