=== This Greenlit campaign is now closed, but you can still buy Secrets of a Wallaby Boy merchandise and join #TeamWallaby over on the Weird Rainbow Films website. ===

Secrets of a Wallaby Boy is a modern, queer update on the cheeky British sex comedies of the ‘70s, such as Confessions of a Window Cleaner. 

Post-production is now complete on this first feature production from Weird Rainbow Films – the team behind 2018's Spectrum. We're thrilled with how well it's turned out, and want to get it seen far and wide, and so any further funds raised will be put towards festival entries and other distribution costs.

Who's Involved?

Kieron Moore – Writer/Director:

Kieron was the lead producer and director on Spectrum, a mid-length film which told intersecting stories set over one night in Manchester’s gay village. After an award-winning, international festival run, Spectrum is now available via Amazon, Dekkoo, and GagaOOLala.

In his day job, Kieron is a script editor for Stockport-based theatrical publisher Lazy Bee Scripts. Kieron has also written professionally for comic books, including BBC-licensed publication Doctor Who Adventures and three historical-themed graphic novels for Indian publisher Campfire.

Kieron’s real passion is for filmmaking. He has set up Weird Rainbow Films with the intention of making fun comedy movies that celebrate queer identities, show off his home city of Manchester, and maintain an indie spirit.

Pete Tomkies – Producer:

Pete was the producer and director of horror comedy Once Bitten..., which won 15 awards and was selected for over 100 film festivals worldwide. Once Bitten… is currently available via the Troma Now and Grimmfest TV platforms.

As a filmmaker, Pete has worked with corporate and charity clients including Arrow Films, The Stroke Association, Girls Out Loud, Speakeasy and the Sonder music festival.

Pete conceived and co-directed the video Aelia Laelia for experimental artist Christopher James Chaplin and was director of photography on Rick's Plaice, the web series from world renowned keyboard player Rick Wakeman. He also writes for Videomaker magazine.

Brandon McCaffrey – "Tim":

Brandon is a Manchester-based actor who trained at the Cumbria Institute of the Arts in Drama and Musical Theatre performance.

On stage, he has recently finished a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe with Highly Suspect UK, and he starred alongside Anthony Costa in Blood Runs Deep at the Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. His film credits include Irish horror feature The Butchering, and a role in Spectrum, where he first worked with Kieron.

He also presents Canal Street Online’s magazine show Your Manchester, making him a recognisable face in Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community.

Brandon’s ready to be placed in some unusual situations as he takes the lead role of Tim, the unfit and undersexed lad who becomes a Wallaby cycle courier.

Billie Hindle – "Jade":

Billie is the director of Octavius Theatre Company as well as an actor and has also worked for Merlin Entertainments as a performer for five years. 

She has appeared in a number of films in recent years, most notably Saturday Roast by Faded Neon and Bastion by Headheart Productions. 

Billie is extremely passionate about trans representation in film and is very excited to play the role of Jade. Successful, popular, and wise, Jade is the opposite of her hopeless flatmate Tim – how many of his screw-ups will it take for her to reach the end of her tether?

Colin Baker:

Colin is best known for playing the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who from 1984 to 1986. His other roles include starring in BBC serial The Brothers, and guest appearances in a number of TV shows including Blake’s 7, Jonathan Creek and Hustle.

In recent years, Colin has reprised the role of the Doctor on audio for Big Finish Productions. He now lends his voice to Secrets of a Wallaby Boy in the role of Bruce, the marsupial mascot of Wallaby, Inc.

(Please note: since this is a voice role recorded remotely and Colin will not be on set, any signed posters or scripts will not be signed by Colin.)

Bruce:

Bruce is an artificial intelligence created by Wallaby, Inc. In his ten years at the company, he has not only represented the brand in-product and in marketing materials, but has taken over the management structure, transforming Wallaby into a Fortune 500 company.

The real mastermind behind Bruce is Ilan Sheady, an illustrator and animator from Liverpool. As well as designing graphics for many corporate clients, Ilan is well known among the genre film community for his film posters, DVD artwork, and festival marketing, with clients including Grimmfest and Dead of Night.

Mark Benton – "Roland":

Mark has been a recognisable face of British TV since the 1990s, known for his roles in series including Murphy’s Law, Waterloo Road, and Shakespeare and Hathaway.

His film roles include cult horror-comedy Anna and the Apocalypse, Mike Leigh’s Career Girls, and Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. He also guest starred in the Doctor Who episode ‘Rose’, and made it to week 10 in the 2013 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Mark plays Tim’s father, Roland – an affable man, proud of his model train collection, though his advice on life, love and sex isn’t always the best. There’s a big surprise in store when Roland introduces Tim to his new partner, Linda.

Laurence R. Harvey – "Argyle":

Laurence is an actor based in Greater Manchester, with a career encompassing performance art, theatre, TV and film (as well as spoken word recordings on vinyl for Cadabra Records).

Probably best known for starring as Martin Lomax in The Human Centipede II: Full Sequence, other films include The Human Centipede III: Final Sequence, The Editor, Attack of The Adult Babies and the Batman/Punisher fan film 1986 as The Penguin.

Laurence plays Sir Argyle Horatio, MP – a premium user of the Wallaby courier service and the host of debauched parties. It is revealed that Argyle and Wallaby are working together on a sinister scheme.

Director's Statement

When I was introduc ed to Confessions of a Window Cleaner and its sequels, I quickly became a fan of the raunchy, silly antics of these very British sex comedies. But... they’re all very straight.

I thought, why isn’t there a gay version of these? Most LGBTQ+ films are about gay couples standing in pretty landscapes looking sad, getting rejected by their families, and then getting beaten up. There’s a big niche for queer comedy waiting to be filled.

This desire for upbeat queer representation informed my previous film, Spectrum, and will inform my work to come. So then I thought, maybe I could write the gay Confessions! I sat in my bedroom every day bashing one out. And then got on with the script.

Having the lead character work for a courier app seemed like a fun modernisation of the kind of jobs Robin Askwith’s cheeky protagonist would take on in the Confessions films, and is also the route into the story’s other side – the satirical edge. I like films that cross comedy with more surprising and edgy themes, such as Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You.

I reached out to people I wanted to work with and was thrilled to get Pete Tomkies on board as producer. And Brandon McCaffrey was my first choice to take the role of Tim, having been directed by me before in Spectrum, as a similarly very horny and very aw  kward young man (he’s lovely in real life).

I intend for Secrets of a Wallaby Boy to be a fun time for all viewers. It’ll offer positive and diverse LGBTQ+ representation – progressive but not preachy. It’ll be the kind of film that plays at the evening of a festival and gets people talking in the bar afterwards.