Article courtesy of Hornsby Advocate
BY TOM WESTBROOK
CAMARADERIE and friendship at the Pennant Hills AFL club has inspired a feature film, written and produced by ex-Demon Scott Didier.
Blinder, due in cinemas in February, follows rising star Tom Dunn (Oliver Ackland) through success and scandal at the Torquay Tigers Football Club.
"It's a tribute to all the friendships I've made in footy clubs everywhere," Didier said.
"I don't know what it is but I think it's a family sport, not a blokey-type sport as much as rugby league - everyone enjoys it."
The film also stars Jack Thompson as the Tigers' coach - his second AFL movie since The Club in 1980.
"Jack Thompson was in between films actually, it was a bit of luck that we got him. He'd just finished The Great Gatsby and was looking for something to do," Didier said.
Didier, whose day job is running construction company Johns Lyng Group, moved from Melbourne to West Pennant Hills in 1993.
He joined the Demons and played five seasons at rover, before sitting down in 1998 to write the screenplay in his spare time.
"I did a lot of travelling for work, so I'd sit in airport lounges and write then," Didier said.
He said the Demons of his era, who played under coach Leo Browne, might recognise something of themselves in the film.
"It's all real things that have happened, just pieced together."
Didier, who has since returned to Melbourne, is working on a sitcom.
Article link: http://hornsby-advocate.whereilive.com.au/news/story/pennant-hills-inspired-afl-flick-set-to-hit-screen/
