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Hollywood luminary Nicole Kidman will be a key speaker at a talk at SXSW Sydney on October 19. The festival—a meeting place for creative minds across the film, tech, music and gaming spaces—will see the Oscar-winning actress and her producing partner Per Saari dive into the inner workings of their award-winning production company Blossom Films which produced titles like Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing, and Love and Death.
Kidman, 56, founded the company with Saari in 2010. The duo’s pledge to champion cutting-edge filmmakers began with Rabbit Hole, a film about how a couple cope with the death of their four-year-old son.
“It was hard work to get it made,” Kidman admitted to Variety in 2018, explaining that what started as a USD$15 million movie for Fox ended up being made for USD$3.2 million by Lionsgate. While incredibly challenging, the actress says it helped shape her disciplined approach to filmmaking.
“It’s a really good thing for an actor to be in that place of humility and know that every cent counts,” she says. “You don’t want to be in that place of sitting in a trailer with things just happening around you. I don’t think it’s good for the work; I don’t think it’s good for the soul. Having that scrappy work ethic and the humility of knowing what it takes to get something done and being responsible financially is important as an artist.”
Blossom Films is working on an upcoming Lulu Wang series Expats. The exclusive conversation at SXSW Sydney will see Kidman and Saari discuss their approach to working with some of the world’s best visionary filmmakers, what they look for in creative partners, their future slate of Australian projects including the adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s The Last Anniversary and the process of getting their most recent limited series Love and Death (HBO 2023) to the screen.
Elsewhere, critically acclaimed actor Jason Clarke (Oppenheimer) and legendary director Phillip Noyce (Salt, The Quiet American, Revenge, The Resident) with join Hollywood trailblazer, actor Charmaine Bingwa (The Good Fight) and Hollywood breakout screenwriter Amy Wang (Crazy Rich Asians 2) will share their insights into working in Hollywood, their trajectory to get there, and how that success can be returned to Australia on October 16.
“As SXSW Sydney approaches, we’re thrilled to unveil two exciting Headline Speaker Sessions in partnership with Australians In Film (AiF),” says Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia said. “These new sessions bring an incredibly unique opportunity for attendees to hear from leading international screen talent – up close and personal, and support our industry professionals to achieve their goals. Afterall, this is what SXSW is all about, and we’re delighted that we can play a role in this internationally renowned event.”
Experience the first ever SXSW Sydney from October 15-22. Tickets here.
