October 11th: MEAL TICKETS (Mat de Koning, 2016)

A documentary filmed over 10 years, Meal Tickets is a cautionary tale of life in the world of modern day rock ‘n’ roll, and its realities vs its aspirations...the rollercoaster journey of a young Perth band, the Screwtop Detonators, their manager Dave Kavanagh (an ex-mentor to The Libertines) and their one-time roadie, Will Stoker.

In 2011 Mat de Koning won the West Australian Young Film Maker of the Year Award in acknowledgement of his extensive body of work in short films, video installations, documentaries, music and skate videos. Mat has made films in remote Australian Indigenous communities, and was flown to India to create an experimental film for the International Awesome Arts Festival. Mat often works in the Super8 medium, winning six awards as part of the Revelation Film Festival’s Revel 8. Musician, song-writer, music-producer, band-manager, discoverer/mentor of talent (The Libertines, Will Stoker). The Screwtop Detonators: Ben, Charlie, Mitch and Lee met at Kalamunda Senior High School in 1997. They bonded over punk rock and liquor, and had built crowds in the Perth music scene and had received radio support from RTR FM and Triple J. Dave Kavanagh worked with punk legend Tommy Ramone as arranger and band member on Gabba Gabba Hey, a musical based on the songs of The Ramones.

Director de Koning: "Growing up worshipping films like Wayne’s World, Airheads and Spinal Tap, I developed strong aspirations of making a movie about the mad world of rock ‘n’ roll. When smooth talking Londoner and Bono lookalike Dave Kavanagh started to manage my friends band The Screwtop Detonators, I saw my Meal Ticket. Kicking off with a 30 day US tour, I embarked upon a ten-year journey of documenting my friends as they bound together to battle the hardships of the music industry."

"Whilst capturing this evolution of the music industry was one of the perks of following a story over such a long time frame, first and foremost, I had set out to make a film about friendship. The Screwtop Detonators were a band of best friends, possessing that gang-of-four dynamic found in some of my favorite films such as Stand by Me and Basketball Diaries."

"Being a rock star is the dream of many but a reality for few, nevertheless I saw my friends as contenders. What I set out to achieve with Meal Tickets was to give people a window into what life would have been like if they threw job security aside to chase the rock ‘n’ roll dream. And for those who did throw their hat into the mad ring of rock ‘n’ roll, I hope this film brings back many memories, the good, the bad and the ugly, because in the words of fellow West Australian Bon Scott, ‘it’s a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll’."

The film appeared at the Sydney Indie film festival, Melbourne International film festival, Perth International film festival, and the Melbourne Documentary film festival.
De Koning is currently in post-production on his second feature length documentary about his friend, the late artist, Matt Doust. In addition to being a documentary film maker – Mat is one-third of the trio Skate Sculpture, who are reshaping the West Australian landscape through integrated skate facilities.

Running time is 93 minutes.