In exciting news this week, 6 Festivals, the first locally commissioned feature film for Paramount+ is launching this Thursday! The coming-of-age drama tells the story of three best friends Maxie, Summer and James as they bucket-list six music festivals over six months, whilst coming to terms with a cancer diagnosis.
In a Water Cooler exclusive, we got to sit down with the award winning writer, director and producer Macario de Souza.
Congratulations on 6 Festivals! Could you tell us what we can expect from the film?
Thank you! You can expect a surprisingly emotional roller coaster with a lot of colour and energy. It’s a raw and honest coming of age story set in the background of Australia’s most exciting music festivals.
What made you want to be a part of this project?
I’ve been wanting to make the transition from documentary to narrative / scripted drama and wanted to write a story I knew well. A lot of it stemmed from my experiences with my childhood friends as well as my experiences as a touring artist.
I felt Australia was missing gritty stories that authentically resonated with a young audience where they could see themselves and their sub-cultures being represented on screen.
The soundtrack is obviously a huge element to the film. How do you go about choosing the music and how often did it change throughout the creative process?
My script writing process started with a playlist of my favourite Australian songs from different genres, emotions, moods and performed by artist’s with diverse cultures. I carefully curated songs that drove the narrative in every scene but had to remain flexible as not all these artists were going to be on the festival line ups.
Some songs and artists chopped and changed constantly, even on the day of filming festivals, there were line-up changes. I always had to have back up artists and songs that still worked for the story. We also shot several songs from the one artist each time to give me options in the edit. A solid 75% of my originally curated songs remained in the film’s soundtrack and I’m extremely proud of it.
You’re a musician yourself, would do you prefer, making music or making films?
I enjoy the creative process of both and always will.
I loved playing live shows for a long time but I got burnt out from being on the road so have slowed down tours for the past few years to focus on filmmaking.
I still record and release music, and have plans to tour a new album soon. But for now, I’d like to sink my teeth in making films for the second half of my life and very excited about the prospect of telling more gritty and authentic stories.
6 Festivals and your previous two documentaries, Bra Boys and Fighting Fear have a strong theme around friendship. Was this an intentional choice? Why was that important to you?
I grew up in a neighbourhood where a lot of talent goes to waste no thanks to negative temptations. A lot of friends in our circle came from broken homes and the difference between those that were able to break free from that cycle was those who build a strong circle of friends around them to steer them in the right direction, tell them when they needed to pull their heads in, be as shoulder to lean on, and celebrate their wins together.
I was fortunate enough to have inspiring friends around me and I’m a big believer of keeping a tight and positive crew around you for life. Hence having this theme throughout my previous films.
