Test Pattern

Hyun Lee is a Sydney-based writer, director and photographer. Her feature debut, French Girls, recently premiered at Sydney Film Festival.

She joins Angus Truskett for a conversation about making a movie on a microbudget, what films get wrong about the fashion world, and what comes after French Girls.

We get into: QCing your own movie, searching for festival laurels, SBS foreign films, learning to tell stories through a camera, making movies feeling suddenly achievable, noble teenage ambitions, 80s avant-garde Japanese designers, what movies get wrong about fashion, models as people rather than stereotypes...

Writer-director Adrian Chiarella and actor Joe Bird join Angus Truskett to discuss Leviticus, a new Australian queer horror film set in a conservative regional community.

They talk about combining supernatural horror with queer romance, creating a monster that can only hurt you when you’re alone, Joe’s first leading role and how the

filmmakers managed to pull off the film’s Frank Ocean needle drop.

This is the first edition of Close-Up, a new series of shorter, focused conversations from Test Pattern with filmmakers about their latest work. Test Pattern is a p...

Elfy Scott is an award-winning journalist, presenter, producer, author and film fan. Her debut book is The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About.

She joins Angus Truskett for a conversation about the movies that shaped her, the unexpected empathy of Jackass, Ken Burns’ documentary magic and Don Bluth’s animated classic Anastasia.

We get into: Movie title recall, sophomore slumps, feeling the Ken Burns, Japanese baseball beer girls, Don Bluth’s Anastasia, bushy Sydney, handling horror, Sentimental Value is basically Sex and the City, being the Worst Person in the World, the beautiful e...

Cody Greenwood is an Australian producer and the founder of Rush Films, the production company behind a distinctive slate of Australian documentaries, shorts, series and features. Her latest film, Zoe Pepper’s Birthright, is in Australian cinemas now.

Cody joins Angus Truskett for a conversation about what producers actually do, the films that shaped her, and why making movies might be less of a job than a disease.

We get into: Jacob Elordi loving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the rise of Byronwood, group chat origins, Cairns-not-Cannes, watching Eyes Wide Shut on a plane, growin...

Concetta Caristo — comedian, host of triple j Breakfast, and Australia’s sweetheart — joins Angus Truskett for a conversation about romcoms, Barrymore-Sandler chemistry and The Master of Disguise.

We get into: meeting in a cinema foyer, the romance of Before Sunset, what makes a great romcom, why The Wedding Singer is peak, The Mothman Prophecies, the Mary-Kate and Ashley cinematic universe, Italian representation, dressing like Sex and the City, Barrymore-Sandler chemistry, sharing fear at horror movies, Meet Joe Black, the best film performance by a Seinfeld cast member, 90s Julia Roberts, not relating to Star Wars, Italymaxxing with The Sopra...

Keli Holiday (Adam Hyde) — ARIA Award-winning musician, one half of Peking Duk, and the solo artist behind ‘Dancing2’ — joins Angus Truskett for a conversation about performance, myth-making, and the movies that shape identity — from reclaiming jestermaxxing to Nicolas Cage’s “nouveau shamanism.”

We get into: Jester’s privilege and sacred clowns, Nicolas Cage’s nouveau shamanism, Brad Pitt's Killing Them Softly hotness, 2007 cinema supremacy, De Palma bangers, growing up with John Travolta, Two Hands and Sydney memory, Ace Ventura and Jim Carrey’s commitment, movies inspiring songwriting, Adam vs Keli, Jokerman, biopics and myth-making, a Feral TV reboot, Jason Stath...

Jake Longstreth — painter, musician and co-host of Apple Music radio show Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig — joins Angus Truskett for a conversation about how everyday places can feel strangely cinematic, essential California movies, and Bluey’s dad’s alt-rock past.

We get into: Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC, The Australian Dream, thoughts on Russell Crowe, Bob Dylan’s Patreon, Connecticut VHS rotation, Roger Rabbit’s corporate machinations, Bluey’s dad’s alt-rocker past, essential California movies, Gen X collabs, formative Pulp Fiction memories, Alexander Payne’s road trips, the perfect movie, aesthetically pleasing fast food restaurants, the death of video stores...

Alister Newstead — author of the new 33⅓ Oceania book on Tame Impala's Currents and Double J’s music & pop culture reporter — joins Angus Truskett for a conversation about whether we’re living in a golden age of culture, perfect needle drops, and the work of late Australian animation pioneer Yoram Gross.

We get into: switching into author mode, fandom and accessibility, the “golden age” question, Safdie face, Oscar snubs, Timmy talk, Park Chan-wook, Akira as gateway anime, a Yoram Gross reappraisal, scores vs soundtracks, biopics vs music documentaries, whether any movie tie-in games are actually good, newsroom genre kink, “getting...

Alexei Toliopoulos — film critic, movie lover, podcaster, comedian and video store lifer — joins Angus Truskett for a conversation about movie obsession, physical media, and the fine line between critic and creator.

We get into: our origins, a mild Clint Eastwood phase, Greek intermissions, curating movies for planes, Inner West movies, combatting cultural cringe, Margaret and David, third generation physical collecting, Enter the Matrix, DVD menu loops, all-time special features and commentaries, video store shelves, Ciao Magazine’s Favourite Local Character, Film Bro canon, /r/Fancasting, stagnated franchise fandoms, first Letterboxd reviews, Refused Classification, meeting your heroes, critic...

Nina Oyama — Australian comedian, writer and actor known for Utopia, Deadloch and Taskmaster Australia — joins Angus Truskett for a conversation about musical shame, when to walk out of a movie, and the films we watch when we want to cry.

We get into: Entourage live shows, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, watching films specifically to cry, becoming desensitised to Max Richter, Emerald Fennell making unsexy movies, being horny for Rum Tum Tugger, formative CollegeHumor sketches, Emma Roberts’ wedges, watching The Godfather in Tuscany, The Testament of Nina Oyama, smooth brain viewing, ignoring horror, writing vs act...

Tansy Gardam — film critic and host of Going Rogue  — joins Angus Truskett for a conversation about movie disasters, studio chaos, and why the films that nearly collapsed are the ones we love most.

We get into: Charli as The Moment, Count of Monte Cristo-maxxing, starting a podcast to combat misinformation, the Patron Saint of Photoshop, Duel of the Fates glazing, Rian Johnson’s goofy-to-serious ratio, the Beatles Cinematic Experience, Nick Cave’s legendary Gladiator II script, Zack Snyder’s sets, Dredd locks, Taika Wonka, and Song of the South for zoomers.

Decline and Fall: Dressing the E...

Test Pattern kicks off with Lawrence Schlossman (Throwing Fits) joining Angus Truskett for a conversation about cinema obsession, personal taste, and the fits that defined film history.

We get into: Australian movie audiences, Timothée Chalamet’s generational run, New Jersey classics, the next James Bond, Zack Braff being a bozo, Indiana Jones’ swag, Maximus’ chinstrap, Tom’s Eyes Wide Shut Uggs, late-career Ridley Scott, Megaslopolis, Industry season four, the politics of Den of Thieves, Michael Cera’s multitudes, is “film bro” is a slur, great men of cinema, and separating the art from the Mel Gibson.

Mus...