Antony I. Ginnane

Antony I. "Tony" Ginnane is an Australian film producer, best known for his work in the exploitation genre. He was head of the Screen Producers Association of Australia from 2008 to 2011.

Early life and education

Antony I. Ginnane, known as Tony Ginnane, ^[1] studied law at Melbourne University where he was involved in the Film Society, and published a film magazine, Film Chronicle. He wrote, produced, and directed a low-budget feature, Sympathy in Summer (1971), during this time.^{[ citation needed ]}

Filmmaking career

Ginnane has been described as "Australia's Roger Corman", or Australia's equivalent to Robert Lippert. ^[2]

In 1970 he established a small distribution company, Studio Films, in Melbourne which imported several art house and exploitation films, and began attending Cannes Film Festival regularly. Among the films he distributed in Australia were Wind from the East and The Vampire Happening . ^[3]

Producing

Australia

In the mid 1970s Ginnane decided to enter the production field. He attempted to set up a Roger Corman-type "nurses" film which he would produce and direct, and then a crime drama set against the background of the massage parlour business called Sexy Little Me , but was unable to find the money. However he could raise $50,000 for a sex film. For director he hired Richard Franklin, with whom Ginnane had worked with on the overseas marketing for The True Story of Eskimo Nell ; Ross Dimsey wrote the script. The result, Fantasm (1976) was shot mostly in the US with a number of American actors with experience in pornographic films. ^{[4] [5]}

Fantasm was very profitable, and led to a sequel, Fantasm Comes Again (1977), directed by Colin Eggleston; it did less well at the box office. Ginnane also moved into family films with Blue Fire Lady (1977), directed by Ross Dimsey and starring Cathryn Harrison. ^[6]

Ginnane went into thrillers with Patrick (1978), directed by Franklin from a script by Everett De Roche, starring an imported Susan Penhaligon. It was not that popular at the Australian box office but sold extremely well internationally. ^{[4] [7] [8]}

Ginnane stayed in the thriller genre with Snapshot (1979), written by de Roche, the first feature directed by Simon Wincer and first leading role for Sigrid Thornton.^{[ citation needed ]} He went into vampire films with Thirst (1979), the directorial debut of Rod Hardy, and featuring an imported Henry Silva and David Hemmings in the cast.^{[ citation needed ]}

Ginnane was reunited with de Roche and Winder on Harlequin (1980) a modern-day retelling of the Rasputin story featuring Robert Powell, Hemmings, and Broderick Crawford. The film was seemingly designed so as to appear it was not shot in Australian, which, along with the three imported actors, led to Ginnane receiving much criticism, especially as the film was partly financed with money from the Australian tax payer. The movie was very successful internationally. ^{[9] [10]}

Ginnane imported three foreign actors, Powell, Jenny Agutter and Joseph Cotten, for The Survivor (1981), directed by Hemmings, which was a commercial disappointment.^{[ citation needed ]}

New Zealand

Ginnane wanted to make his next film, The Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981), written by De Roche, with foreign leads. Australia's Actors Equity objected, so Ginnane decided to make it in New Zealand. ^[11] It was directed by Hemmings and starred George Peppard, Ken Wahl, Donald Pleasence and Lesley Ann Downe. The Hemdale Film Corporation helped finance. ^[12]

Ginnane stayed in New Zealand to make Strange Behavior (1982), directed by Michael Laughlin and co-written by Bill Condon, with American leads Michael Murphy and Louise Fletcher; Hemdale co financed this one too.^{[ citation needed ]} He also made Prisoners (1981) with Tatum O'Neal.^{[ citation needed ]}

Ginnane returned to Australia to produce Turkey Shoot (1982) directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith with Steve Railsback and Olivia Hussey. He went back to New Zealand to make Second Time Lucky (1984); Mesmerized (1985) from director Laughlin with Jodie Foster and John Lithgow. In Australia he produced the mini series Great Expectations: The Untold Story (1987). ^[13]

Other countries

In the late 1980s Ginnane started making movies in the Philippines,^{[ citation needed ]} including Killer Instinct (1987); Whiteforce (1988); Savage Justice (1988); The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989), directed by Trenchard-Smith; A Case of Honor (1990), directed by Eddie Romero; Driving Force (1990) and Demonstone (1990), both directed by Andrew Prowse.^{[ citation needed ]}

Ginnane relocated to Canada, where his films included No Contest (1995) starring Andrew Dice Clay; Screamers (1995), one of his most highly regarded films;^{[ citation needed ]} Men with Guns (1997); Captive (1998); The Truth About Juliet (1998); Reluctant Angel (1998); Black Light (1998); Reaper (2000), Sweet Revenge (2001), and The Risen (2005).^{[ citation needed ]}

In New Zealand he made Bonjour Timothy (1995), The Whole of the Moon (1997) and Lawless: Beyond Justice (2001), and Lawless: Dead Evidence (2001).^{[ citation needed ]}

Back in Australia he made a children's film Sally Marshall Is Not an Alien (1998) directed by Mario Andreacchio, with Canadian money.^{[ citation needed ]}

He helped finance a documentary about Broken Hill, The Big Red , released in 2005.^{[ citation needed ]}

Blind Heat (2000) was a US-Mexican co production^{[ citation needed ]} and The Hit (2001) was made in Lithuania, directed by Vincent Monton.^{[ citation needed ]}

Ginnane helped finance a series of ultra-low-budget features, including Look @ Me (2005); Ten Dead Men (2006), shot in the UK.^{[ citation needed ]}

Later credits

Ginnane's later credits include Screamers: The Hunting (2009); Arctic Blast (2010), shot in Australia, and directed by Trenchard-Smith; Surviving Georgia (2011); Metal Tornado (2011); and Last Dance (2012), in Australia.^{[ citation needed ]}

He produced two remakes of his earlier films, Patrick (2013), directed by Mark Hartley, ^[1] and Turkey Shoot (2014). He helped produce the TV series Pulse (2017) and the film Bad Blood (2017).^{[ citation needed ]}

Executive producer

In the late 1980s Ginnane worked mostly as an executive producer, being more involved in raising finance than organising physical production.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 1987 his company, International Film Management Limited, ^[14] combined with Hemdale to produce a number of movies to form a joint venture Hemdale Ginnane Australia. ^{[15] [16]} Hemdale later encountered a series of financial difficulties ^[17] as did Goldfarb, another company with which Ginnane was associated. ^[18]

Ginnane's credits include Dark Age (1987), a killer crocodile film that was a co-production with RKO which was never released theatrically; High Tide (1987) directed by Gillian Armstrong; Slate, Wyn & Me (1987); The Tale of Ruby Rose (1987), shot in Tasmania; The Lighthorsemen (1987), a $10 million World War One epic about the Battle of Beersheba directed by Wincer; The Time Guardian (1987), a science fiction epic starring Tom Burlinson that was a financial disaster; Initiation (1987), a horror film; Incident at Raven's Gate (1988), directed by Rolf de Heer; ^[19] The Everlasting Secret Family (1988) directed by Michael Thornhill; The Dreaming (1988), directed by Mario Andreacchio; Grievous Bodily Harm (1988), directed by Mark Joffe; Boundaries of the Heart (1988); Mull (1989) directed by McLennan, which won awards; Minnamurra (1989) ; and Fatal Sky (1990). He made another mini series Emma: Queen of the South Seas (1988).

Other activities

Ginnane was head of the Screen Producers Association of Australia from 2008 to 2011. He was credited with promoting their Producer Distributor Film Fund, which provided a funding base for films with a budget of A$7-30 million dollars. ^{[20] [21]}

CD

A CD of themes from 14 of his films was produced in 2008 by Philip Powers and released by 1M1 Records, titled The Antony I. Ginnane Collection: Classic Australian Film Scores of the 70s and 80s. ^[22]

Selected filmography

• Sympathy in Summer (1971) - director, writer
• Fantasm (1976) - producer, writer
• Fantasm Comes Again (1977) - producer, actor
• Blue Fire Lady (1977) - producer
• Patrick (1978) - producer
• Snapshot (1979) - producer
• Thirst (1979) - producer
• Harlequin (1980) - producer
• The Survivor (1981) - producer
• Strange Behavior (1981) - producer
• Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981) - producer
• Turkey Shoot (1982) - producer
• Prisoners (1982, unreleased) - producer
• Second Time Lucky (1984) - producer
• Great Expectations: The Untold Story (1986) (mini series) - producer
• Dark Age (1987) - executive producer
• The Lighthorsemen (1987) - executive producer
• The Time Guardian (1987) - executive producer
• Incident at Raven's Gate (1988) - executive producer
• Grievous Bodily Harm (1988) - executive producer
• Mull (1989) - executive producer
• Minnamurra (1989) - producer
• The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989) - executive producer
• Fatal Sky (1990) - producer
• Screamers (1995) - supervising producer
• Sally Marshall Is Not an Alien (1999) - executive producer
• Ten Dead Men (2008) - executive producer
• Arctic Blast (2010) - producer
• Metal Tornado (2011) (TV movie) - producer
• Last Dance (2012) - producer
• Patrick (2013) - producer
• Turkey Shoot (2014) - producer, actor
• Pulse (2017) - producer
• Bad Blood (2017) - producer
• Never Too Late (2020) - producer
• Girl at the Window (2022) - producer
• Stonerunner (TBA) - producer

References

1. Hartley, Mark (16 August 2013). "Patrick: Mark Hartley interview". SBS What's On (Interview). Interviewed by Galvin, Peter. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
2. Vagg, Stephen (17 May 2024). "Top Ten Corman – Part Four, Connections with Australia". Filmink.
3. Rod Bishop & Peter Beilby, "How Are Things on the Gaza Strip? Independent Distribution: An Interview with Tony Ginnane", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p38-43
4. Beilby, Peter; Murray, Scott (January/February 1979). "Antony I. Ginnane". Cinema Papers: 175.
5. "Richard Franklin & Eskimo Nell". Eros Magazine. Vol. 3, no. 1. Canberra. 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
6. ""Blue Fire Lady"". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 45, no. 30. 28 December 1977. p. 27. Retrieved 17 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
7. "Australian film sold overseas". The Canberra Times . Vol. 52, no. 15, 608. 16 June 1978. p. 7. Retrieved 17 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
8. "Profit, praise for "Patrick"". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 46, no. 5. 5 July 1978. p. 13. Retrieved 17 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
9. David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p255
10. "Robert Powell...a cut above the rest". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 48, no. 26. 26 November 1980. p. 60 (FREE Your TV magazine). Retrieved 17 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
11. "EQUITY BANS "BIG-NAME" GUESTS". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 48, no. 17. 24 September 1980. p. 21 (Your TV Magazine). Retrieved 17 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
12. "TIMESTYLE". The Canberra Times . Vol. 54, no. 16, 397. 17 August 1980. p. 15. Retrieved 17 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
13. "Timestyle: Nuclear attack drama most powerful yet". The Canberra Times . Vol. 59, no. 18, 164. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 23 June 1985. p. 13. Retrieved 17 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
14. "Waiting for the Word". Filmnews . Vol. 18, no. 4. New South Wales, Australia. 1 May 1988. p. 3. Retrieved 17 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
15. Philippa Hawker, "Ginnane Sets the Tone", Cinema Papers , May 1987, p34-37
16. Murdoch, Blake (21 October 1987). "Oz' Ginnane, Hemdale Link Up For Joint Distribution Venture". Variety . pp. 7, 13.
17. Mark Lawson (29 March 1988). "Hemdale Holds Out on Pre-Sale Payments to IFM". Australian Financial Review . p. 34.
18. Mark Lawson (28 April 1988). "Goldfarb Reneges on Pre-Sale Debt". Australian Financial Review . p. 36.
19. "Cover story - Tina Kaufman finds out about the Long wait for Raven's Gate". Filmnews . Vol. 19, no. 3. New South Wales, Australia. 1 April 1989. p. 10. Retrieved 17 December 2017– via National Library of Australia.
20. "'Antony I Ginnane steps down from SPAA', Encore Magazine, July 8, 2011". Encoremagazine.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
21. "Paul Kalina, 'A Maverick with a talent for provocation', The Age, Nov 10 2008". Theage.com.au. 10 November 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
22. "The Antony I. Ginnane Collection: Classic Australian Film Scores of the 70s and 80s". 1m1.com.au. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2012.

External links

• Antony I Ginnane at Australian Screen Online
• Antony I. Ginnane at IMDb