Paul Kelly ProfileBINGE have shared the first official preview for How To Make Gravy – the feature film based on Paul Kelly’s titular 1996 classic – to commemorate the annual celebration known as Gravy Day.
The song itself tells the story of a prisoner, Joe, writing a letter to his brother Dan on December 21. The newly released film trailer shows us the opening moment to this narrative, panning across a prison cell to show the aforementioned inmate starting off his handwritten note.
“Since its release in 1996,” a synopsis reads, “[How To Make Gravy] has achieved near-mythological status in the Australian musical canon and has cemented itself in the Christmas traditions of millions of families.”
Also confirmed in the trailer was a proper release window for How To Make Gravy, which had previously been up in the air. The film will be released on BINGE in time for Christmas 2024. Have a look at the trailer below:
Production on the film kicked off back in October, when its cast was announced to feature Daniel Henshaw, Hugo Weaving, Kate Mulvany, Brenton Thwaites and Agathe Rouselle in key roles. How To Make Gravy will also feature cameos from a slew of Aussie artists, including Briggs and Dallas Woods. Meg Washington also played a huge part in getting the film made to begin with – the indie-pop artist co-adapted the film for screen alongside Nick Waterman, with the pair also producing alongside Hamish Lewis and Schuyler Weiss.
In a statement shared a few months back, Washington and Waterman said of their excitement for the project: “It’s a dream to be working with such an incredible cast and crew on our debut feature film. It’s testament to Paul’s songwriting that the world and characters within the song are so vivid, and we are proud to have the honour of bringing it to life. It’s a uniquely Australian story made for film lovers and music fans alike. We can’t wait to share our adaptation of How To Make Gravy with the world.”
Kelly himself is also pretty stoked on the film. Announcing it last May, he said in a statement of his own: “Dan and Joe and Rita and Angus and Dolly and all the others have been stuck inside that song so long, I’m glad they’re going to get a chance to live life a different way!”
