Ahead of Flickerfest’s 2022 tour to HOTA, Home of the Arts, we chatted to Gold Coast rising star George Pullar about his already-impressive acting careeer and debut short film ‘Stonefish’.

Celebrating 31 years in 2022, Flickerfest is Australia’s leading Academy® Qualifying and BAFTA Recognised short film festival, presenting A-list short film programmes recognised amongst the best in the world.

On Wednesday 23 March, Flickerfest’s national tour will return to HOTA for the popular Best of Australian Shorts programme featuring a range of entertaining, inspiring, award-winning short films from quirky black space comedy to moving and intimate drama.

Fun neighbourly dramedy ‘Stonefish’, directed by up and comer Megan Smart, stars accomplished young actor George Pullar and accomplished Australian screen veteran Ben Oxenbould as neighbours who enter into a feud over a barking dog. George, who also wrote and produced the film, based his highly anxious character Jonathon on an exaggerated version of himself.

“That‘s the way I write,” says George.

“I find something in myself that might piss me off or I’m not happy about and I amplify that one thing. It could be a regret or a charactistic… if you take it to an extreme you come up with an interesting, funny character, and then I try to put them in a challenging situation.”

George has a solid list of credits in front of the camera, including roles on ‘A Place To Call Home’, ‘Fighting Season’, ‘Playing for Keeps’ and ‘Combat Wombat’. But this was his first turn as a producer, and it came with its own set of challenges, he tells us.

“We were shooting through a heatwave in Sydney, and I just have a much greater appreciation for what a huge task it is to pull a film together… from dealing with actors and the scripts and the portaloos and catering for the cast and crew, writing call sheets, paying people and organising insurance and things you just don’t think about as an actor.”

One of George’s tasks was to chat to a couple of homeowners and ask if they could shoot the exteriors of their homes.

“We were very lucky to have benefitted from the generosity of strangers,” he says. “We found two perfect houses on a street in Sydney and we thought ‘why don’t we just ask if we can film the exteriors?’ and they said ‘Yes absolutely!’.

“This old guy said if we just bought him a case of beer and let him watch it was fine, and he just loved it.”

Director Megan Smart was a no brainer to take the helm.

“Megan is one of my greatest oldest friends, and we’re both actors but she wanted to move into directing and I wanted to move into writing,” George explains.

“In my mind it was a really male-oriented story and I thought this could be really interesting, having a young woman direct.”

And of course I wholeheartedly believe in her and her talent and I feel like we needed a voice like hers to balance it out a bit.

Ben was brought in my George’s agent for the role of the grizzled, criminal bikie neighbour after reading the script.

“When you’re making a short film you don’t have the same money to offer as a big feature,” says George. “It’s done off the back of believing in the material and the creatives behind it, and Ben loved the script. I remember watching Ben giggling and laughing while he was reading his lines and it’s such an incredible feeling to watch some take your words and relish them. On top of that he’s one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with.

“It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship between the three of us.”

George says the reaction to ‘Stonefish’ has so far has been highly positive, with audiences laughing during showings. But he was taken by surprise by some of the feedback.

“It’s funny,” he muses. “I really set out to make something that was funny in all honesty, and write a character I wouldn’t normally be cast as, but as well, a lot of people keep telling me how relatable the central character and how much they related to his dilemma in the story.

“It’s not something I expected. I thought of him as quite a quirky dude! It’s funny to hear how relatable he is with all his flaws. When people connect to the protagonist of the film it’s a really special feeling.”

You can connect with George and ‘Stonefish’ when the Flickerfest national tour 2022 hits HOTA on 23 March. Tickets here.