Baz Luhrmann's blockbuster biopic Elvis was the first major Hollywood movie to be produced from start to finish on the Gold Coast. Eight Bond alumni were on set as filming took place in 2020 and 2021.
Patrick Buckley sat on Baz Luhrmann’s back deck, sipping a glass of champagne and chatting to Tom Hanks, his hunger sated by oysters and caviar. To borrow a slogan from a popular theme park, it was Hollywood on the Gold Coast – yet Mr Buckley thought to himself, ‘This isn’t the life for me.’ It was the second time he had taken stock of his career path. The first came during his first crack at a university degree when he was studying for a Bachelor of Mechatronics at the University of Queensland.
“I was studying robotics, doing maths and physics and I got a year into it before I realised I just wasn’t enjoying myself,’’ he says. “I had a friend who went to Bond, and he encouraged me to have a look. I went to orientation for the film and TV course and I found my people there.’’
Mr Buckley (Class of 2014) has enjoyed steady work since graduating in 2016, boasting a list of credits for sound effects or editorial roles on Hollywood films that include Thor Ragnarok, Dr Strange, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Guardians of the Tomb and Winchester. TV has been just as productive with gigs on Tidelands, The Bureau of Magical Things, Grace Beside Me and Harrow.
None prepared him for his time on the set of Elvis, in a role tailor-made for any budding film buff with dreams of becoming a director.
Before production was shut down due to Covid-19 in March 2020, Mr Buckley had secured a job on dailies, the industry term for the raw, unedited footage which is collected at the end of each day. It wasn’t his dream job, however the work was supposed to be steady and the opportunity to be part of a feature film the size of Elvis was too good to ignore.
When the resumption was greenlit for September, Mr Buckley was once again in talks with the producers, this time for a spot on the editorial team which is where his passion and skillset lies. That’s when he received the call, while working on another production in Cairns, that would set him on the type of rollercoaster ride that wouldn’t be out of place at the above-mentioned theme park.
The producer told him that he needed to "get in the car and drive to Baz's place" the moment his plane landed.
“When I got there, I thought it was going to be a job interview, but he ended up grilling me on my life for about two hours, asking me about my childhood and what my parents did, that sort of stuff," Mr Buckley says. “Then he abruptly stood up and said, ‘You start Monday’, and that was it.’’
And so began a hectic year-long stint that would see him spend 12 hours a day as Mr Luhrmann’s right-hand man, get repeatedly punked by Mr Hanks and make friends with Austin Butler, the actor who has won rave reviews for his portrayal of Elvis.
“I would never have gone for a role like that,’’ he says. “I was originally doing a job I don’t really enjoy doing, then I ended up going for a job as an assistant editor which I usually like, and it turned into this crazy make-it-up-as-we-go type job that I would never have imagined experiencing. I called myself the director’s media manager or creative manager. He had a researcher and a personal assistant, and I was almost in the middle. I helped with his day-to-day stuff, but I also helped with writing, I was his photographer."
"It was the most stressful job I’ve ever had, and I got told all the time that if I can survive that, I can survive anything. It was eye-opening and it was a great experience, but I believe I belong in post-production.’’
Mr Buckley headed straight back to an edit suite and worked on Joe Exotic, the Stan remake of The Tiger King. However, thanks to Elvis, he will forever be able to hold court at any party by name-dropping a couple of Hollywood A-listers.
“Tom Hanks is just like a friendly dad walking around on set, cracking jokes and he would always try to flick the cap off your coffee cup with his cane and then just disappear into the light,’’ he says.
“And Austin Butler was probably the friendliest person I ever hung out with. Baz would have us back at his place for after-work drinks on a Friday and Austin was always just great company. That is the glamourous side of things. Baz would say, ‘I might just have drinks after work today’, and it was a spur of the moment thing but when you arrived he would already have an oyster bar set up, there would be caviar. It was another world.’’
Although he remains convinced his future lies in an edit suite and not under the bright lights of a movie set, Mr Buckley said the time spent with Mr Luhrmann was tremendously beneficial to his career.
“It gave me a new level of confidence and I ended up starting my own business, Patty Post, which I don’t think I would have considered before my time with Baz."
Bondies on set
James Fitchett
CLASS OF 2010
VISUAL EFFECTS PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
“It is surreal going to work alongside people you grew up watching, loving and even studying. There's an amazing feeling seeing another Bond alumni on set or in the production office and thinking, 'Look at us, huh? We are finally here’.”
Emily Tate
CLASS OF 2013
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
“I dedicated two years of my life to this film and it was like no other that I had experienced before. You had to jump on the Baz Luhrmann train at full speed, hold on tight and enjoy the crazy ride.”
Giorgia Stawaruk
CLASS OF 2013
PRODUCTION SECRETARY
“If I end up producing some day, I now have this library of experience. Becoming a producer is about building trust with people and Elvis gave me the opportunity to do that with some awesome practitioners and I have since worked with many of them on other shows.’’
Charlotte St Baker
CLASS OF 2014
ART DEPARTMENT ACCOUNTS ASSISTANT / POST PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
“My time on Elvis was spectacular. It was certainly the largest production I’ve worked on, both in the crew who worked their hearts and souls into it, but also the duration. While it was only the second feature I’ve work on, I now feel as though I’ve been in the industry for years.’’
Matt Beecher
CLASS OF 2005
VISUAL EFFECTS DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER
“Because Baz is such a driven storyteller, who is fearlessly aware of the breadth of tools and techniques available within the medium of cinema, we had to step up and meet the standard he set. Look side-by-side at some of the original ’69 Special, Russwood, or showroom concert footage and compare it against what we shot. If you can look past Austin’s incredible performance you’ll see just how fine the attention to detail was from every department on this project.”
Mark Desiatov
CLASS OF 2012
SECOND ASSISTANT CAMERA
“Watching Baz and Mandy (Director of Photography Mandy Walker) work together and being in the thick of things with the actors and the set designers was amazing. It is the way Baz works, he makes everyone feel included, it was awesome. You are there to do a job. You can be taken aback by their presence, but you have been hired to do a specific task and you just do it to the best of your ability.’’
Lleyton Hails
CLASS OF 2019
POST-PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
“The one thing is you feel important. Even though I was entry level, you feel important to the project. If someone had a birthday there’d be cake and everyone, including Baz and Catherine, would sing Happy Birthday. And it was particularly close among the Bondies. There were a lot of us and it was amazing to have that connection.’’
This article originally appeared in The Arch edition 31.