When Barbara Bingham and Enzo Tedeschi met on social media via a connection to a retro horror film, neither of them knew that within a couple of short years, this chance meeting would blossom into a fruitful working relationship with not one but two screen projects in which Enzo would bring together to direct Barbara opposite Australian Film Industry stalwart Nicholas Hope – two icons of cult cinema having starred in Friday 13th Part VIII and Bad Boy Bubby respectively.
A shared love of classic cinema soon saw Over The Edge evolve into a love letter of sorts to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and ultimately dedication to Barbara’s nephew Ian Bingham. He passed away from cancer soon after, encouraging her to revive her acting career.
A film about how appearances can be deceiving, Over The Edge, marks Enzo’s third collaboration with Nicholas Hope after Event Zero and the Shudder Original Series Deadhouse Dark.
FilmCentral magazine recently interviewed Barbara to discuss the movie, and here’s what went down:
What is the synopsis of the film?
After witnessing a terrible event, film composer Simone is dragged screaming out of her self-obsessed creative funk and into a situation that will put her very life in danger.
Who are your director and producer?
Director – Enzo Tedeschi
A versatile filmmaker, Enzo is recognised among his peers as a prolific and innovative Producer, Director, and Writer. Enzo is no stranger to darker stories, a self-confessed junkie of thriller and horror films like Vertigo and The Shining. In 2011, he wrote and produced the viral hit The Tunnel. In 2017 he produced and directed the now eerily prescient Event Zero and was most recently Showrunner of the Shudder Original Series Deadhouse Dark, which is streaming now on the Shudder platform. Enzo joined forces with Julian Harvey to make The Tunnel– a project whose innovative approach to funding and distribution saw it hit international cinema screens despite being crowdfunded and simultaneously given away online. The film garnered Enzo and Julian the Screen Producers Association of Australia Award for Breakthrough Independent Producers of The Year. Having spent much of his career as a Creator / Showrunner in the digital space, Enzo was also a creator of the science fiction series Airlock, as well as Producing several productions for the Blackpills mobile streaming platform, including Skinford, Skinford Chapter Two, and Pet Killer. His ongoing commitment to his work within the online space and community earned him The Michael Ajakwe Jr Lifetime Achievement Award from Melbourne WebFest in 2019
Producer – Rachelle Wiggins
Rachele Wiggins is an award-winning producer, writer, and director. Her work includes short films, series, and features, some seen by millions around the world. A recipient of the 2018 Enterprise People funding by Screen Australia, Rachele produced several projects with Deadhouse Films, including Nancy in Hell, Pet Killer, and the Shudder Original Series Deadhouse Dark. The anthology series had its World premiere at Canneseries in 2021. Rachele’s other projects include the feature film Beast No More, which won the Audience Award for Best Film at Monsterfest and is currently in US release; the epic sci-fi Blade Runner-inspired short film Slice Of Life, which won the Best Sci-Fi at LA Shorts; and the supernatural series The Surge, which she co-wrote and created. The series was selected for the Nashville Film Festival and HollyShorts screenwriting competitions in 2020. She is currently in post-production for her second Shudder original project as a segment director for an upcoming international anthology feature sequel. Rachele is currently in preparation to direct her first feature film, Wolf Creek 3, with producers Greg McLean, Bianca Martino, and Kristian Moliere.
Producer – Helen Tuck
Helen’s artistic background initially saw her focus on traditional art by studying drawing and painting at University. Still, her passion for makeup from a young age saw her become enamoured with the concept of working on a live canvas. This led her into the world of film, where she is usually found elbow deep in makeup, hair, and prosthetics, regularly working as a Hair & Makeup Designer for indie films, such as Sissy, Ruby’s Choice, and Moonrock for Monday, as well as on the team for larger films such as Thor: Love and Thunder and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. She also regularly works on TV series and was Makeup Designer for Amazon’s new comedy The Moth Effect, and on the Hair & Makeup teams for shows like Drunk History, Doctor Doctorand Cleverman. Helen has a deep love of filmmaking. In addition to her Hair & Makeup work, she has also worked in the production department for the online series Deadhouse Dark, which made its world premiere at Canneseries. She then went on to be a producer on the short film Over The Edge, directed by Enzo Tedeschi. She is currently in post-production on an international anthology feature film commissioned by Shudder, where she is the sole producer for her segment directed by Rachele Wiggins.
Who is your main cast?
Barbara Bingham – “Simone”
Barbara Bingham was born and raised in Hawaii, and her first TV credit was on the original Hawaii 5-0. She moved to LA, immersed herself in acting classes, and has spent the decades since working and refining her craft. Barbara’s film credits include lead roles in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Soldier’s Fortune, Cop Target, and Beyond Darkness. Television credits include the mini-series Space, movie-of-the-week Bridge Across Time, and appearances on highly popular television shows such as Knots Landing and The Colbys. Barbara has called Sydney home since 1996 and is a dual American-Australian citizen. 2019 brought roles in the Deadhouse Films series Deadhouse Dark and the Steve Jaggi Company romantic comedy Romance on the Menu. She wrote, executive-produced the same year, and starred in her first short film, Over the Edge, a Hitchcockian thriller currently touring the international film festival circuit.
Nicholas Hope – “Officer Blaze”
Following an introduction to live performance as a bass player in various bands in the Adelaide rock scene of the 1970’s and 80’s, Nicholas has acted for the past thirty years in film, television, and theatre around the world. His first film role as the lead in Rolf De Heer’s acclaimed Bad Boy Bubby won him the Australian Film Industry Award as Best Actor in a Feature Film. He has recently been seen as an ethereal doctor in Storm Ashwood’s debut feature The School, an aristocrat in Foxtel’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, and a modern-day vampire in Erin Goode’s Jade of Death, for which he won Best Actor at the Denver Series-Fest 2018. He played the potential villain in Zanny Begg’s The Beehive, and will soon be seen in Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife, and Peter Duncan’s Fallout for the ABC. Nicholas also provides the invisible voice for Ambience Entertainment’s Random And Whacky Children’s Television series. Nicholas’s memoir Brushing the Tip of Fame was published in 2005, and he made his writer/director debut with the play Little Gods as part of the May Day Festival in 2013. He directed the sell-out production of Joel Drake Johnson’s Four Places for Outhouse Theatre in July 2014. He directed his own play Five Properties of Chainmale, for the Griffin Independent season in April 2015. He directed the short film Like Gold for The Hub Studios The Bench Series(2017) and produced Peter Hanlon’s The Reckoning of Christian Spencer, currently on the festival circuit. Nicholas was awarded a Ph.D. in Performance Studies in 2011.
What inspired the story?
I used to stand at my kitchen window, look out at an escarpment across the valley, and wonder what I would do if I saw someone pushed off the ledge.
How did it come about?
When my 32-year-old nephew, Ian, was dying of cancer, his last words to me were, “Auntie Barbara, it feels like your career is just starting again.” I cried, “Oh, from your lips, Ian!” He slid his head back on the pillow, closed his eyes, and said, “I’ll be watching, I’ll be watching.” His death was such a shock that I felt I had to DO something. I reached out to Enzo Tedeschi to ask him if I could run an idea past him, and when I told him my idea, his reply was, “Can I direct it? Write me a script, and let’s do this!” I’d never written a script before, but I sat down, and it literally typed itself.
What makes this story unique, and why should people watch it?
It’s about the nature of appearances, things not being what we think they are. Simone is trying to stay relevant in her career as a composer and struggling because she’s afraid she’s lost her mojo. It’s also got a wonderful Hitchcockian thriller vibe.
What was the production process like?
It actually happened fairly quickly. I submitted the script to Enzo in May, and we continued to refine it together. I got the funding in June (being the age I am, I could activate my SAG-AFTRA pension fund from the 18 years I worked in LA), Enzo assembled his team with the help of my two amazing producers, Rach Wiggins and Helen Tuck, and we shot in October.
What was the most challenging part of bringing the project to light?
Waiting for my co-star Nicholas Hope to say yes to playing the detective! We had shot an episode of Enzo’s Deadhouse Dark anthology series together and really had immediate chemistry. I knew he’d be terrific as Detective Blaze, so I gave him the script to read. It was probably only a week before he said yes, but it felt like years!
Did anything funny or exceptional happen on set?
We shot the short at my home and had a camera rehearsal day, and as Enzo, Helen, Rach, Fung, and I stepped out onto the balcony, five black cockatoos flew in a circle right in front of us doing their special cries and spirals and then were gone! I knew that was my nephew, Ian saying, “you got this!”
Are there any great achievements from your cast or crew you want to mention?
YES! Fung (Shing Fung Cheung our DP) won the GOLD Award from the ASC Australian Cinematographers Society for his stunning visuals on Over the Edge.
What is the next step for the project?
A production company approached us about turning Over the Edge into a feature film! Watch this space. Enzo and I are working on the script and expanding Simone’s world.
Has it won any awards or had any big achievements yet?
Yes, Over the Edge won the audience award in the Horror/Thriller category at the Coronado International Film Festival!
If you could redo anything in the process or the film itself, what would it be.
Trying not to do the festival film circuit during the covid lockdown. We finished the film in March of 2020, right when Covid hit. The timing couldn’t have been more challenging with our international borders closed and most of the film festivals going virtual.
