The Journey of The Lost One: Making My First Feature Film

The idea for The Lost One had been rattling around in my head for years.

It came from a frustration I could not shake. Corruption, cover ups, and the way scandals at the highest levels of society seem to quietly disappear. Why are some people untouchable? Why does accountability so often stop short? And why does it feel like no one is doing anything about it?

That question eventually turned inward.

If no one else was doing something, why was I not?

I'm no vigilante, but I can make films. And maybe a film could shine a light on the questions that kept me up at night.

Where It Started

In 2019, an actor friend needed a scene for their showreel. I used the opportunity to write something based on this long brewing idea. It was a tense exchange between an attorney and a journalist who had just survived a massacre of child abusers. That scene became Public Defender.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vqh8swtueU

Writing it made something click.

This was not just an exercise. It was a story I needed to tell.

By early 2020, after years of working on other people’s projects and waiting for films to get off the ground, I had had enough of waiting. It was time to make my own feature..

The questions were practical as much as creative.

What kind of film could I afford to make myself? What idea was strong enough that people might actually pay to see it?

Finding the Core of the Story

I started workshopping the concept, pushing it toward something sharper and more personal. I asked myself a simple but uncomfortable question.

What would I do if I had someone like Jeffrey Epstein in front of me?

Would I kill him? Or would I hand him over to the police, knowing there was a chance he would walk free?

That moral dilemma became the heart of The Lost One. I ran the idea past Emily Rowbottom, and she immediately connected with it.

I wrote an outline and then dove straight into the script. Two weeks later, I had a first draft. It was rough, very rough, but it existed. And that was enough to keep going.

Committing to the Film

In early 2020, I started talking to filmmaker friends about the project. The plan was to shoot over weekends across the year. The script was designed around people and locations I already had access to. No frills, no studio builds, just smart planning.

It was still ambitious. Fights, guns, car chases, blood. But nothing we hadn’t tackled before.

Then COVID started making headlines.

By March, everything shut down overnight. All my upcoming work vanished. I was unemployed, stuck at home, and the country was heading into recession.

Not exactly ideal conditions to make a feature film.

So I did the only thing I could. I kept writing.

Pre-Production in a Pandemic

April was spent polishing the script. While I love directing, my original plan was to shoot the film as Director of Photography. I brought on a friend to direct, while I handled the writing and cinematography. It was a strange combination, but it worked.

Producer Josh Hale came on board soon after. Not only was he keen, but he could potentially double my tiny budget. That was a huge win.

When I got my job back on reduced hours and restrictions began easing in Australia, we took a gamble and locked in a September shoot. The plan was three six day weeks. Fast, focused, and designed to reduce risk.

Because we could not pay most of the crew, preparation became everything. I handled storyboards, shot lists, camera and lighting plans, look books, schedules, risk assessments, a COVID safe plan, pitch documents, and wardrobe breakdowns.

If something went wrong on set, it could not be because I’d failed to plan.

Casting Under Closed Borders

With borders closed, all cast and crew had to be based in South East Queensland. We needed over eighty actors, including supporting roles.

Thankfully, I worked at a film school and I know a lot of actors,

Emily Rowbottom was the first person cast as Shae Conway and also helped further shape the script. With a degree in criminology, she brought an authenticity to the role that grounded the film.

Stephanie Ranty came on board as Riley Johnson after a thorough search. Fresh from House of Inequity, she was ready to keep moving.

Daniel Nelson joined as Angelo, bringing not only performance but also his experience as a stunt performer. He choreographed the film’s fight sequences.

Locations: Making It Work

We used crew houses, including my own, along with generous local businesses. One landscaping company alone would host three major action scenes.

My only rule was that locations needed to look good and need minimal set dressing.

We still needed a mansion, a school, and a destroyed house.

Villa Cervi became our mansion. The Gold Coast Youth Orchestra allowed us to cheat a school location. We found a destroyed house that was completely unsafe, and we could not track down the owners. We'll make it work.

That became a theme.

When Things Fall Apart

Four weeks out, Victoria entered a second lockdown. Queensland stayed open, but private locations were capped at ten people.

We adapted.

Larger productions resumed, meaning crew started getting paid work elsewhere. We adapted again.

Then, three days before filming began, our Director and First AD stepped away from the project, on the same day we locked our final locations.

The show goes on. I stepped in as Director, and our Gaffer, Nathan Jermyn, stepped up as Director of Photography.

No panic. Just problem solving.

The Shoot

Sleep could wait.

Day one was at my house, the only day I did not have to pack the car. We wrapped thirty minutes early. A good omen.

If you cannot pay your crew, you feed them. When the original director departed we also lost our caterer. So I took this on. Meals were planned daily, supermarket runs were strategic, and cafes we filmed in got our business. Cast were scheduled for minimal time on set, forcing efficiency and saving money.

On day three, we filmed at the destroyed house until the police arrived on our third take. We were kicked out with a warning.

We moved down the street and kept shooting. The scene ended up better for it.

Then our landscaping location fell through due to COVID. A day off was spent driving, calling, and asking favours. The replacement locations turned out to be even better.

Week one was done.

Week two brought night shoots and our biggest mansion sequence. Rain hit during the most critical setup. We pushed through, then returned a few days later thanks to incredibly generous location owners.

By then, restrictions eased again. Thirty people were allowed in private residences.

The second last night was the biggest stunt sequence at a car wreckers. The owner had not been informed. His first words were, “This is not happening.”

After a lot of reassurance, he let us shoot, with most of the crew staying on the street. Then it rained. Then it stopped.

We got everything.

The final day was the largest by page count but somehow the calmest. We wrapped with time to spare.

That was a wrap.

Post Production: Finding the Film

Editing is where you find out if your preparation actually worked.

I cut an assembly in a few weeks, watched it, and filled pages with notes. For a moment, I was convinced I had wasted everyone’s time.

I made changes.

Suddenly, there was a movie.

Still rough, but it worked.

With feedback from Josh and Nathan, the film continued to take shape. The goal was a cast and crew screening in early 2021.

The Gear

Equipment usually eats up a huge part of the budget. Lucky I owned all my own gear.

We shot on two Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K cameras. They are small, lightweight, incredible in low light, and deliver an amazing image for the price.

Most scenes were single camera, with multi-camera setups reserved for stunts. A Ronin S handled moving shots, with limited use of a jib, dolly, and drone.

Lighting was mostly LED, including Aputure 120Ds and a 300D. Sound was recorded by Callum Taylor using a Rode NTG3 and a Roland R 44.

Editing was done in Adobe Premiere Pro, with grading planned in DaVinci Resolve.

The People Who Made It Happen

Films don't make themselves.

This one only exists because of a passionate and generous cast and crew who showed up, even when there was no paycheck waiting.

From department heads to stunt performers, special effects artists to composers, everyone brought their best. The scale of what we achieved far outweighed the budget.

I am missing names here, but their work is on screen.

And that is what matters.

Since Then

After completion, The Lost One spent a year on the festival circuit with some modest success. While it did not become a breakout hit, the most important outcome was securing a sales agent, Blood Sweat Honey. That marked the beginning of the next stage of the filmmaking journey, distribution.

The film received a range of offers, from genuinely terrible to genuinely good. After weighing the options, we signed with Indican Pictures. The Lost One was released on streaming platforms in North America in 2022, followed by an Australian release in 2025.

Reflecting

Was The Lost One a success?

I would say yes, absolutely.

Not because it was perfect, or because it achieved everything I dreamed it might, but because it was the next vital step in my filmmaking journey. Given the budget, the resources, and the limitations we were working under, the film could never be flawless. That was never realistic or the goal.

What it did give me was something far more valuable. I learned hard, practical lessons about producing, budgeting, distribution, marketing, and, just as importantly, who I want to be as a filmmaker.

I always saw The Lost One as a stepping stone. Every project is just another step toward the next one. Ideally, each film is better than the last, and with every step you become more prepared for the challenges that will inevitably arise.

And there will always be challenges.

That is part of the journey.