Official Statement from Ultrafilms
It is with deep sadness that Ultrafilms announces the death of founder David Lightfoot, who passed away in hospital on Sunday 13th June 2021 after heart issues. David was a loving father and survived by his son Joshua.
With well over 30 years in the industry, and over 80 long form credits, award-winning Australian film producer David Lightfoot was one of the most experienced and widely regarded production executives in the country. After playing Sheffield Shield cricket for South Australia and a stint in the army as part of the Cambodian peace keeping forces, David started his film career at the South Australian Film Corporation in 1982 and worked on Australian classics like “Babe”, “Bad Boy Bubby”, “The Sound of One Hand Clapping”, “Japanese Story” and more.
David produced the highly successful 2005 horror/thriller “Wolf Creek” which premiered at Sundance World Cinema and Cannes Directors David Fortnight (2005) and earned over 7 times its budget in sales; the Weinstein Company’s $30M action/thriller “Rogue” (2007), written and directed by Greg McLean; Rupert Glasson’s thriller “Coffin Rock” (2009).
Most recently, David produced with Tony Ginnane ‘Never Too Late’, (currently screening on Foxtel) featuring Jack Thomson, Jacki Weaver, Shane Jacobson, James Cromwell of ‘Babe' and iconic British television star, Dennis Waterman of ‘The Sweeney’ and ‘Minder’ fame. Never Too Late was no.4 at The Australian Box Office last Year despite the challenging Covid conditions.
David dedicated his life to the film industry, and was passionate about Australian film and telling Australian stories. Ultrafilms has a number of projects underway and will continue its future slate under the direction of David’s business partner and Co Producer Sabella Sugar.
It is with deep sadness that Ultrafilms announces the death of founder David Lightfoot, who passed away in hospital on Sunday 13th June 2021 after heart issues. David was a loving father and survived by his son Joshua.
With well over 30 years in the industry, and over 80 long form credits, award-winning Australian film producer David Lightfoot was one of the most experienced and widely regarded production executives in the country. After playing Sheffield Shield cricket for South Australia and a stint in the army as part of the Cambodian peace keeping forces, David started his film career at the South Australian Film Corporation in 1982 and worked on Australian classics like “Babe”, “Bad Boy Bubby”, “The Sound of One Hand Clapping”, “Japanese Story” and more.
David produced the highly successful 2005 horror/thriller “Wolf Creek” which premiered at Sundance World Cinema and Cannes Directors David Fortnight (2005) and earned over 7 times its budget in sales; the Weinstein Company’s $30M action/thriller “Rogue” (2007), written and directed by Greg McLean; Rupert Glasson’s thriller “Coffin Rock” (2009).
Most recently, David produced with Tony Ginnane ‘Never Too Late’, (currently screening on Foxtel) featuring Jack Thomson, Jacki Weaver, Shane Jacobson, James Cromwell of ‘Babe' and iconic British television star, Dennis Waterman of ‘The Sweeney’ and ‘Minder’ fame. Never Too Late was no.4 at The Australian Box Office last Year despite the challenging Covid conditions.
David dedicated his life to the film industry, and was passionate about Australian film and telling Australian stories. Ultrafilms has a number of projects underway and will continue its future slate under the direction of David’s business partner and Co Producer Sabella Sugar.
PHOTOS IN THE ATTIC
One War Two Worlds Three People in Love.
A World War 1 soldier’s love for
two women leads to confusion and
heartbreak. Through his friendship
with a battle-scared French
photographer and his wife, he finds
inner peace. A century later a
woman discovers some
photographs and the answer to a family
mystery.
Photos
Story Michael and Donna Fiechtner
Screenplay Donna Fiechtner
Screenplay Editor David Lightfoot
Producer David Lightfoot
Producer Michael Fiechtner
Director Franco Di Chiera
Latest News........
Follow the latest teasers on our Facebook Instagram and Twitter pages!
“Photos in the Attic”
“Photos in the Attic”
A love story set on two sides of the world and the backdrop of the Great War! The beauty of the Australian countryside and life on the cane fields of Childers. An Australian soldier enduring the horrors of war. A small French a refuge from the horrors and a special friendship. All captured by two photographers and locked away for 100 years and finally a mystery revealed.
This is Photos in the Attic.....
This is Photos in the Attic.....
After some very positive development time,Photos in the Attic is again moving forward. (finally)They were not kidding when they said the movie business is indeed “a box of chocolates!”
The screenplay has been improved and made so much more with the wonderful assistance of Producer David Lightfoot. Both Donna and David have spent many hours rewriting our initial story to make it the best yet.Peer reviews have told us so. It is also with great excitement that we welcome Franco Di Chiera to the team as our new Director. Welcome Franco .....thanks for joining the team.
Franco brings with him so much to add to our talented team of movie makers. He has already added so much to our screenplay.
Both David and Franco believe deeply that the project can be a truly wonderful piece of Australian Cinema.
We look forward to the New Year and the next stage of development when we begin casting.
We already have our one of our leading lady who will play the beautiful French girl Rosie. Check out Mathilde Anglade.
Exciting times ahead..... stay tuned!
Franco Di Chiera
DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER
Franco’s early works Waiting ‘Round Wynyard, La Scala Lo Scalone (Stairs and Staircases) and Bad News Bachelors screened at film festivals in Sydney, San Francisco, London and Edinburgh and sold to SBS, TV1 Sweden and NOS in The Netherlands. His series A Change of Face was broadcast on SBS, generating one of the highest levels of publicity in the network’s history. His film The Joys of the Women (Le goie delle donne) was released theatrically in Australia, sold to ABC and was nominated in the Australian Film Critics Circle Awards.
Franco wrote and directed the Pipe Dreams episode of ABC-TV’s flagship series Constructing Australia, attracting one of the network’s highest ratings for the year. He also wrote and directed episodes of the first Australian season of Who do you think you are? including Ita Buttrose and Dennis Cometti - one of SBS’s highest-ever rating local productions. He was also post-director and co-writer of Shaun Micallef and writer of the John Newcombe episodes on subsequent series, the latter of which was for warner Bros. His film The Fabulous Flag Sisters won a Jury Prize at Rome Fiction Fest and sold to SBS and Fox Italy where it doubled the Cult Channel’s usual ratings. It was later picked up by Amazon. His animated and feature-length Death of the Megabeasts sold to the U.S., France and Australia and won a Gold Remi Award at Worldfest - Houston International Film Festival. He collaborated with producer Marco Visalberghi on Skin Deep which presold to SBS and Arte France and broadcast in over 20 territories. His film Jack the Ripper – Prime Suspect screened on Channel 7 in Australia and UK-TV. Distributed by BBC International, it sold to Netflix in the U.S. He also wrote and directed episodes of the ABC’s Who’s Been Sleeping in My House? including the Toowoomba and Roleystone episodes.
He produced Under the Skin winning an AFI/AACTA Award for Best Miniseries and ATOM Award for Best TV Drama Series. It also won two Australian Writers Guild Awards including Tony Ayres’ The Long Ride. Episode Best Wishes screened at the Venice International Film Festival. His directed the mini-series Three Forever (Tre per sempre), starring Bud Spencer with producers David Lightfoot, Rolf de Heer and Domenico Procacci. The drama screened on SBS and RAI Italy where it attracted over 7 million viewers. It sold to France and Germany. He was SBS Executive on Rolf de Heer’s feature, The Quiet Room which screened in Official Competition at the Cannes International Film Festival and on the landmark package of indigenous dramas, From Sand to Celluloid. Episode No Way to Forget screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes. He was executive producer on the two-part series East Timor - Birth of a Nation narrated by Cate Blanchett and Uncle Chatzkel with producer Emile Sherman.
He directed the feature Big Mamma’s Boy, starring Holly Valance which screened at CinefestOZ and released theatrically in Australia by Madman Entertainment. It sold to Fox Movies. He was executive producer on Salvatore Zofrea – Master of Light and recently produced A Thousand Words Unspoken for the ABC. The American version, Forgiveness Day, streamed on The New York Times online and featured on its home page. He directed The New MoMA in New York for DAM - Design Arts Magazine online and is writer on the mini-series The Rocky Road and the feature Chasing Sophia (Seguendo Sophia) on which he’s collaborating with producers David Lightfoot and Sabella Sugar. He is also co-writer on the spy drama, Little Europe, currently in development. Franco has held senior industry positions including Drama Development Executive at Screenwest, Commissioning Editor at SBS, Executive Producer at Film Australia, Director of the W.A. Screen Academy at Edith Cowan University and Development and Investment Manager at Film Victoria. He is a Film Pioneer Member of the Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts (AFI/AACTA).
The screenplay has been improved and made so much more with the wonderful assistance of Producer David Lightfoot. Both Donna and David have spent many hours rewriting our initial story to make it the best yet.Peer reviews have told us so. It is also with great excitement that we welcome Franco Di Chiera to the team as our new Director. Welcome Franco .....thanks for joining the team.
Franco brings with him so much to add to our talented team of movie makers. He has already added so much to our screenplay.
Both David and Franco believe deeply that the project can be a truly wonderful piece of Australian Cinema.
We look forward to the New Year and the next stage of development when we begin casting.
We already have our one of our leading lady who will play the beautiful French girl Rosie. Check out Mathilde Anglade.
Exciting times ahead..... stay tuned!
Franco Di Chiera
DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER
Franco’s early works Waiting ‘Round Wynyard, La Scala Lo Scalone (Stairs and Staircases) and Bad News Bachelors screened at film festivals in Sydney, San Francisco, London and Edinburgh and sold to SBS, TV1 Sweden and NOS in The Netherlands. His series A Change of Face was broadcast on SBS, generating one of the highest levels of publicity in the network’s history. His film The Joys of the Women (Le goie delle donne) was released theatrically in Australia, sold to ABC and was nominated in the Australian Film Critics Circle Awards.
Franco wrote and directed the Pipe Dreams episode of ABC-TV’s flagship series Constructing Australia, attracting one of the network’s highest ratings for the year. He also wrote and directed episodes of the first Australian season of Who do you think you are? including Ita Buttrose and Dennis Cometti - one of SBS’s highest-ever rating local productions. He was also post-director and co-writer of Shaun Micallef and writer of the John Newcombe episodes on subsequent series, the latter of which was for warner Bros. His film The Fabulous Flag Sisters won a Jury Prize at Rome Fiction Fest and sold to SBS and Fox Italy where it doubled the Cult Channel’s usual ratings. It was later picked up by Amazon. His animated and feature-length Death of the Megabeasts sold to the U.S., France and Australia and won a Gold Remi Award at Worldfest - Houston International Film Festival. He collaborated with producer Marco Visalberghi on Skin Deep which presold to SBS and Arte France and broadcast in over 20 territories. His film Jack the Ripper – Prime Suspect screened on Channel 7 in Australia and UK-TV. Distributed by BBC International, it sold to Netflix in the U.S. He also wrote and directed episodes of the ABC’s Who’s Been Sleeping in My House? including the Toowoomba and Roleystone episodes.
He produced Under the Skin winning an AFI/AACTA Award for Best Miniseries and ATOM Award for Best TV Drama Series. It also won two Australian Writers Guild Awards including Tony Ayres’ The Long Ride. Episode Best Wishes screened at the Venice International Film Festival. His directed the mini-series Three Forever (Tre per sempre), starring Bud Spencer with producers David Lightfoot, Rolf de Heer and Domenico Procacci. The drama screened on SBS and RAI Italy where it attracted over 7 million viewers. It sold to France and Germany. He was SBS Executive on Rolf de Heer’s feature, The Quiet Room which screened in Official Competition at the Cannes International Film Festival and on the landmark package of indigenous dramas, From Sand to Celluloid. Episode No Way to Forget screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes. He was executive producer on the two-part series East Timor - Birth of a Nation narrated by Cate Blanchett and Uncle Chatzkel with producer Emile Sherman.
He directed the feature Big Mamma’s Boy, starring Holly Valance which screened at CinefestOZ and released theatrically in Australia by Madman Entertainment. It sold to Fox Movies. He was executive producer on Salvatore Zofrea – Master of Light and recently produced A Thousand Words Unspoken for the ABC. The American version, Forgiveness Day, streamed on The New York Times online and featured on its home page. He directed The New MoMA in New York for DAM - Design Arts Magazine online and is writer on the mini-series The Rocky Road and the feature Chasing Sophia (Seguendo Sophia) on which he’s collaborating with producers David Lightfoot and Sabella Sugar. He is also co-writer on the spy drama, Little Europe, currently in development. Franco has held senior industry positions including Drama Development Executive at Screenwest, Commissioning Editor at SBS, Executive Producer at Film Australia, Director of the W.A. Screen Academy at Edith Cowan University and Development and Investment Manager at Film Victoria. He is a Film Pioneer Member of the Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts (AFI/AACTA).
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Cast Member-Mathilde Anglade Director Franco Di Chiera Screenplay Donna Fiechtner Producer David Lightfoot Producer Michael Fiechtner
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.....follow the Photos in the Attic movie project on Facebook now....
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Check out the Prop Document
The Teaser Post Card collection.......
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The Sad Digger..... one of the images in the Thuillier collection.
George Gordon Gilbert
artwork Isobel Fiechtner
George Petrou Artwork
The Lost Diggers
