CALL ME CARMEN - A trans champion who changed the world – is an Australia-New Zealand co-production inspired by the life of famed transgender Maori activist, politician and entertainer Carmen  Rupe.

From humble beginnings in New Zealand, she rose to be one of the most famous and outspoken entertainers of two nations in the 1960s and 1970s, surviving the crime bosses in Sydney’s notorious Kings Cross, the corrupt politicians, the police who did their bidding and the prejudices of the time.

CALL ME CARMEN - spans significant parts of her life at a time of enormous social upheaval and change in societies around the Western World

The development of the script CALL ME CARMEN  so far has been developed with financial support from the New Zealand Film Commission and Film Victoria.

The Production Team includes:

From New Zealand –

Producer: Vincent Burke 

Writer: Riwia Mackenzie-Brown

From Australia –

Producers: Walt Missingham and Stuart Scowcroft 

Director/Writer: Dee McLachlan

I had heard of Carmen before becoming involved in this project, but I had no idea of the richness, the depth and the conflicts of her life. As a director, I am perpetually in search of stories that hold that special magic, with dramatic conflict, intrigue, pain and joy.

And Carmen encapsulates all that – in one extraordinary life journey.

I have a deep understanding of, and an obvious connection to Carmen – in that we have both transitioned the gender divide (though in very different ways). I have had an adventurous and challenging life – from being buried under an avalanche on the Patagonian icecap to being held at gunpoint in Botswana. But my greatest challenge was my gender. And it is in this challenge that Carmen takes the world head on. In the making of the film I will parallel Carmen’s trailblazing quality and boldness and tell her story fearlessly.

She lived flamboyantly, sexually and against order both socially and legally. And those qualities I will capture for cinema.

The swinging sixties offer a colourful and bewitching cinematic opportunity where society is conflicted by freedom and constraint. In a socially conservative time where men wore ties and women constraint dresses, there was a sense of freedom – of no seat belts, no AIDS, smoking everywhere and a time when the underworld operated openly – and where gays were bashed (to death) with impunity. I find this backdrop really appealing – so rich in contrast – and in Carmen’s story you, the audience, just just don’t know where it’s going, especially as there are many layers to the story in this film.

There are other trans-stories (Normal, Boys Don’t Cry, Soldier’s Girl, Hedwig and the Angry Itch, TransAmerica, and of course Priscilla (Queen of The Desert) but there is something truly special and diverse about Carmen’s journey. It encapsulates so much of that time and of humanity and is not only a story of personal transformation or that she blazed a trail for society – and did it dangerously and bravely – but she became entwined with the underbelly of Wellington and Sydney. And that makes this story so intriguing. Like the mafia/gangster movies, Carmen’s journey also has a dark side, a Donnie Brasco/Goodfellas element too – when her life is twisted into the fabric of the political underworld.

This is not a static tale: it is sensual, colourful, breaking social and sexual boundaries. I will have Carmen’s character inform – for example - the use of camera. We will see the images move in a smooth sensual way – always moving as Carmen ‘sweeps’ through her journey. This then contrasts with sharp and off-angled views that will subconsciously take us into her danger and inform the underbelly and when the dark side of this adventure surfaces to crack into our emotional highs.

With The Jammed, I covered some of this terrain,  but Carmen’s story is so much richer. It is a mix of glamour and crime – a mix of raw sexual tension with danger: the menu for a layered and an intense cinematic experience.

Stylistically, this film will be rich, bold and colourful to match the glamour that imbued Carmen's existance. I will take the audience through the contrasting and conflicting emotions of Carmen's life, transporting the audience on a rollercoaster through surprise, laughter and tears, leaving them uplifted and with a want for life.

This film will have a broad and brave cinematic feel, unusual angles (for an unusual person), manipulation of sound design, music to match, and an adjusted pace of editing will give a sense of compressed life and drama creating subconscious surprising, compelling and entertaining experience.

My vision is to make a gripping, sometimes dark, exhilarating and entertaining film that leaves the audience inspired to live the life they have while they have it.

- DEE McLACHLAN

Director

Script: Call Me Carmen

Writer: RIWIA MACKENZIE-BROWN and DEE McLACHLAN

Notes by: DEE McLACHLAN

Introduction

Carmen lived the most extraordinary life. Her autobiography provides a glimpse into the first part of her life journey – and a strange, dangerous and wonderful journey it was too. After that, and especially her time in Sydney, we have to piece her life together from letters, reports, friends and interviews.

Riwia Brown has provided us with an excellent script for this biopic. I am particularly excited at how Riwia has embodied Carmen through smaller scenes and through dialogue – but at the same time tying together the best and most dramatic moments. The essence and structure of the story is there, and Riwia has made Carmen come to life.

There is no question in my mind, that this story – combining the glamour and intrigue of her trans life, plus the underbelly world of corruption and crime – will make a most compelling movies. I believe with my personal experience, film experience and life experience. I can bring a unique richness and insight into Carmen's story.

Notes

Carmen led a very glamorous and rich life – yet it was 'dangerous' (with much of what she did being considered 'illegal' at that time).  What makes her story interesting and profound, is that she was inextricably interwoven with politics and the underworld.

Trevor (Carmen), grew up when homosexuality was illegal. About 20 young men were killed in gay bashings in New Zealand during that time. It was dangerous being openly gay – and especially precarious for a gay prostitute.

In spite of this, Carmen used every talent she had including skills in politics. It was astonishing for her to run for public office and be taken seriously.

She was a smart woman confronting the establishment but underestimated how the conservative society would respond to her. Her dramatic loss of the mayoral race, as a consequence of vote-rigging, bears testament to this.

The bashings and threats to her life underlines the context of the society in which she found herself

DEE McLACHLAN

Join us in making the feature film of this extraordinary story. We have funded the development of a great script by award-winning writer, Riwia MacKenzie-Brown who wrote Once Were Warriors, the acclaimed film about New Zealand Maori and award-winning director Dee McLachlan. Now we need your help to finish the development of the whole package and get the film in front of investors, distributors, sales agents and get it made.

What Your Support Will Deliver

Our funding goal for this stage of production is $250,000, which will be followed by two additional campaigns to raise the remaining funds. Due to our action plan to raise the funds in various stages, we won't be able to offer certain reward levels pertaining to the final production of the film, such as a download of the film itself, used props, etc.

The Schedule – the production schedule is the project plan. It’s the foundation of everything and it has to be done by the best production planner we can get.  We know what we are going to shoot from the script but a good Production Schedule can make the difference between getting maximum dollars on the screen and wasting money chasing the production tail.

The Budget – Once we have the Production Schedule we can get a top Production Manager to work with us to produce a very detailed budget down to the last cent. Then we know exactly how much we need to make the film and financiers and investors will have confidence that the film will get made at a high standard.

The Locations – You funding will allow us to get locations scouts in New Zealand and Australia who will deliver photos and plans for all the scenes that have to be shot to look like 1970. It’s not easy in 21^st century Australia and New Zealand but there are experts who can interpret the script and work with the director to find the right locations.

Casting – The star is the thing. Casting is an expensive business when you are aiming for the best and we want the best actor possible to play the iconic character of Carmen and the other leads in the film. So we will engage a major casting director to make it happen and we have to pay the star a fee up front just to consider the role.

Design – with Call Me Carmen, design is vital – of costumes for the flamboyant drag artist scene, for the period fashions that we so distinctive in the 1960s and 1970s and for the look and feel of the film. So we will invite the best designers we can afford to join the team and create the visual look of the film.