Twenty years ago Mediaweek worked with Andrea Keir daily in her role as director of publicity at Nine. This week we interviewed Keir as the producer of a new movie that goes to air on Network 10 and the following day on Paramount+.
That work is the charming telemovie The Appleton Ladies Potato Race. It’s a feel-good family film that celebrates village life in regional Australia. In this case, the Southern Highlands of NSW.
Keir spent a total of 20 years with Nine, also working first as a producer on 60 Minutes and then later spending five years in Los Angeles as the network’s president of programming and acquisitions for North America.
After leaving Nine, Keir stayed in the US working at The Secret, Rhonda Byrne’s fantastically successful franchise that blossomed in the US and the rest of the world. After that Keir also worked for Seven and produced a movie that featured Angelina Jolie in the cast.
Andrea Keir with executive producers Betty Klimenko-Saunders and Daniel Klimenko.
Top: Claire van der Boom as Penny and Katie Wall as Nikki
All photos by Lisa Tomasetti
About her decision to head back to Sydney three years ago, Keir told Mediaweek: “I had been living in America for 16 years and after producing a film in the US we decided to come home. I wanted to come back because I was homesick for the family, homesick for Australia.”
She was keen to get a production up quickly. “When I arrived I knew I wanted to produce a quintessentially Australian film. I went to the theatre to see The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race play – who could resist such a title? It sounded like it would be very Australian so I wanted to be there.
“I loved it and I thought I could turn it into a movie. I approached the writer Melanie Tait who granted me the rights. I subsequently pitched the idea to Beverley McGarvey at Paramount. I just had just a one line pitch and she responded that they would buy it.
“What we both liked about The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race was a women’s story that was contemporary and set in the country with wonderful characters. For the movie, Melanie created more characters than there are in the play.
“We wanted to make a charming and delightful family movie.” They have certainly succeeded.
Genevieve Lemon as Barb and Robyn Nevin as Joan
While the film thrives on its simplicity, many themes are bubbling away under the surface.
Keir explained how Tait based the story on a real-life potato race experience with fallout that is still alive and well.
“Melanie told me, to this day there are still people who when they see her, still move to the other side of the street. She created such a furore, and many people didn’t like that. During filming even I came across people who didn’t think the prize for the women’s potato race should be as much as the men’s.”
See also: Mercado on TV – New Aussie telemovie The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race
Tiriel Mora as Bob
Production partnership: Andrea Keir and Greg Quail
Keir explained she partnered with Sydney-based producer Greg Quail [formerly EQ Media, now Perpetual Entertainment CEO] who also spent many years in the US. “Greg actually lived in my street in Los Angeles and he had returned to Sydney ahead of me. I loved his work on the series Troppo that was on ABC. Lisa Duff, who works with Greg, was my great producing partner on the movie and we worked together very well.”
Andy Ryan as Gavin
Budget challenge and how Skye Leckie came on board
In addition to funds from Paramount, Keir secured funding from Screen Australia, Screen NSW and the Regional Film Fund. But she needed more.
“The minute you leave a major city the cost of filming starts to get very expensive,” explained Keir. “Because there are no screen funding agencies in the US, I was used to finding equity from investors, and that’s what I did here.
“I’d known Skye Leckie for more than 20 years after having worked with David Leckie at Nine. Skye lives in the Southern Highlands and she was able to find other people who were interested in investing in a project based in the area.”
Helping the movie look great on what was a small budget was director Lynn Hegarty. “She did amazing things and we came with a wonderful crew who wanted to work with her,” added Keir.
Kicking a goal with casting
There are many reasons to love The Appleton Ladies Potato Race and key to that is the casting. The central characters are sisters Penny and Nikki, played respectively by the brilliant Claire van der Boom and Katie Wall. Everyone in the small cast shines including Robyn Nevin, Genevieve Lemon, Tiriel Mora, the scene-stealing Andy Ryan and the always-reliable Darren Gilshenan.
Keir paid tribute to McGregor Casting for doing “a great job”.
When asked if it took long to cast, Keir replied, “No. Everything had to happen quickly. When you have a buyer you want to deliver quickly.”
Filming took just 23 days and it wrapped close to Christmas Eve 2022.
Could we see more from the Appleton Ladies?
Andrea Keir: “Somebody said to me during the early stages of development that it could be a series. But I always saw it as a feature.”
However, when asked if any of these characters could reappear in something else, Keir replied “I think so. I could see something in the future for Doctor Penny and their family and friends.”
There is still a potato race in the Southern Highlands, the most recent being held in March 2023 after three years of Covid cancellations. There just might be a bigger crowd squeezing into the 2024 event.