Silver screen Ricky shines

By Danny Buttler
IT MAY be a long way from Hollywood, but Liam Firmager is hoping Pakenham can be his launching pad to fame and fortune.
The young director has just finished his third feature film, using actors, crew and locations from around Pakenham.
Ricky! The Movie is a low budget “mockumentary” that follows the travails of 1980s pop star Ricky T, who is trying to reclaim his place in the sun.
Ricky is played by Tynong amateur actor Peter Donelly, with Garfield’s Jeff Telford playing his manager.
All three men co-wrote the script.
Cameos from Max Markson, Normie Rowe, Barry Crocker, Grace Knight, Bruce Kulick (KISS) and Tottie Goldsmith provide the star power for the black comedy.
For fans of ’80s rock, the movie also features cameos from members of Toto, The Cars, Cold Chisel and The Church.
Liam said his male lead was cast because of his low profile.
“He is in amateur theatre and works for a taxi company, but he had that sort of lived-in Brian Mannix world-weary look,” he said.
“He was a natural, as you will see.”
While the cast were all local, the cameos came from around the globe.
Liam and his crew chased celebrities in locations a far afield as Los Angeles looking for famous faces to comment on their fictional hero.
“We ran around LA basically chasing celebrities and cold-calling them,” Liam said.
“They are easy to get if you can circumvent their agents.
“David Cassidy agreed but was doing a gig in Vegas and couldn’t make it.
“The only one we got knocked back for was Robbie Williams – we couldn’t get to him, we couldn’t even get to his agent.”
After a limited theatrical release, the DVD will be available later this week from JB Hi-Fi, ABC stores and selected outlets. It will also be available to rent from Blockbuster stores.