Production is underway on the thriller KIDNAPPED, a feature film currently shooting in Port Douglas and surrounds. KIDNAPPED is the latest project from The Steve Jaggi Company, and is a co-production with Canadian production company Sepia Films. The film is written by Australian writer Shanrah Wakefield and directed by Canadian director Vic Sarin.
Set in a coastal paradise, KIDNAPPED is an edge-of-your-seat film starring Claire van der Boom (Palm Beach, Pulse) and Todd Lasance (Spartacus, The Vampire Diaries, The Flash) who will next be seen in Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse. The story follows Savannah Morgan (van der Boom) a woman living her dream with her husband Brad (Lasance) and their four-year-old daughter, Aria, on a resort vacation in her birth country of Australia… until Aria goes missing from the resort’s Kidz Club and it becomes her worst nightmare. Suspicions point everywhere, but ultimately the heart-pounding race to find the little girl alive leads Savannah to a discovery about her family that she never saw coming.
Director Vic Sarin comments “I have filmed all over the world and it is fantastic to be back in Australia after all these years. The Port Douglas community has been very good to us and the shoot is tracking really well. The story is centred around a missing child, which is any parent’s biggest fear, and something we think will resonate with audiences.”
Claire van der Boom adds “I feel very lucky to be shooting here in Far North Queensland. It’s an idyllic, tropical setting that brings a contrast to the story of my character searching for her kidnapped daughter. I’m having a lot of fun with this cast and excellent crew.”
KIDNAPPED is produced by Steve Jaggi, Spencer McLaren, Kim C. Roberts and Tina Pehme, with Kelly Son Hing and Kylie Pascoe co-producing. Sheri Singer and Lee Matthews are Executive Producers and Sophie Tilson Production Executive. The production’s cast and crew are adhering to strict COVID-safe filming practices, and following guidelines set by the Queensland government. KIDNAPPED will be released in cinemas in 2021, as part of an exclusive deal with Event Cinemas. Worldwide distribution is being handled by Honalee Entertainment.
ABOUT THE FILM:
Savannah Morgan is living her dream of bringing her husband Brad and their four-year-old daughter, Aria, back to her birthplace in Queensland, Australia… until Aria goes missing from the resort’s Kidz Club and it becomes her worst nightmare. Suspicions point everywhere, but ultimately the heart-pounding race to find the little girl alive leads Savannah to a discovery about her family she never saw coming.
BIOS:
Claire van der Boom: Claire van der Boom is an award-winning actor who graduated from NIDA in 2005.
Claire has appeared in numerous films and television series’ both in Australia and the US. In Australia she has starred in Rush, which she was nominated for the 2009 Silver Logie as “Most Outstanding Actress”; and Sisters of War, for which she won the 2010 “Most Outstanding Actress” Silver Logie, along with Love My Way; East West 101; The Pacific; The Man Who Got Away; City Homicide; and Pulse. In film, she has appeared in The Square; Red Hill; Love Is Now; Broke; and most recently Palm Beach, alongside Bryan Brown and Sam Neill.
In the US, Claire has been in numerous series including Hawaii Five-O; Masters of Sex; Constantine; and Game of Silence. Her American film highlights include Five Flights Up with Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton; Chronic opposite Tim Roth; American Exit; and Battlecreek.
Todd Lasance: In 2021 Todd will be seen in the Paramount feature Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse opposite Michael B Jordan and Jamie Bell. Todd’s other film credits include Fools Gold opposite Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, the lead role of Zach in Terminus directed by Shane Abbess and the role of Chad in the US Indie feature The Divorce Party.
Todd’s international series credits include Julius Caesar in the US Starz Network’s Spartacus: War Of The Damned and multi episode lead roles on US series The Vampire Diaries and The Flash.
Todd’s Australian lead role credits include the series Crownies, its spinoff Janet King, and the mini-series Anzac Girls all for the ABC, the miniseries Tim Winton’s cloudstreet for Foxtel, the Nine Network’s Bite Club, Underbelly – Tell Them Lucifer Was Here, and Underbelly Files: Chopper; Ten’s mini-series Brothers In Arms, and the Seven series Rescue Special Ops. Todd started his career as a series lead on Seven’s Home & Away.
Vic Sarin (Director): Vic Sarin is an Indian-born Canadian/American film director, producer and screenwriter. His work as a cinematographer includes Partition, Margaret’s Museum, Whale Music, Nowhere to Hide, Norman’s Awesome Experience, and Riel. He also directed Partition, Left Behind, and Wind at My Back.
Born in Kashmir, India, Sarin spent his teenage years in Australia where his father was a diplomat. After a short stint as an ABC news cameraman in Australia, he moved to Canada in 1963. He landed with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and shot a number of its prestigious dramas during the 1980s. He shot his first movie, Don Shebib’s Heartaches in 1981, and became one of Canada’s top cinematographers on award-winning films such as Bye Bye Blues, Whale Music and Margaret’s Museum. In 1989, Sarin made a strong feature-film directing debut with Cold Comfort. In 2006, he directed and photographed Partition, based on his own script, a love story set against the turbulent history of his home region, divided in 1947 and now split between Indian and Pakistani control.
ABOUT THE STEVE JAGGI COMPANY
Based in Brisbane, The Steve Jaggi Company (SJc) produces commercial feature film and series content for the global market. Recent titles have been acquired by Netflix, Universal Pictures, Disney Channel and MarVista Entertainment. As the global demand for content continues to increase, the company has developed a unique and sustainable business model unrivalled in the Australian film industry that brings together production, post and distribution into a single vertically integrated production pipeline.
