The Merger August 14, 2018

Raucous rural comedy The Merger had its world premiere at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne on 11 August as the boisterous main event at the 2018 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) Centrepiece Gala.

Shedding light on regional Australian life, The Merger, directed by Mark Grentell, stars comedian Damian Callinan as former AFL player Troy Carrington who, against all odds, attempts to both revitalise his town’s local football club (the Bodgy Creek Roosters) and overcome the narrow mindedness of the community by introducing newly arrived refugees to the grand old game of Aussie Rules Football.   

The premiere saw an esteemed audience comprised of the film’s cast and crew as well as hundreds of locals from Wagga Wagga, where the film was shot. The cracking dialogue and line-up of outrageous characters (with names like ‘Porterhouse’, ‘Snapper’, and ‘Carpet Burn’) will keep footy heads of all generations in stitches until the final siren.

While the film offers a hilarious depiction of our national sport, it also uses it as a springboard to confront some of the raw issues facing the country, like refugees, racism and regional identity.

Based on Damian Callinan’s one-man stage show of the same name, The Merger is layered with raw spirit, an Aussie crack-up in the vein of The Castle and Crackerjack.

Starring Damian Callinan, Kate Mulvany, Josh McConville, Fayssal Bazzi and John Howard, this one is not to be missed when it hits cinemas on 30 August.    

marshalls+dent+wilmoth’s Entertainment Department proudly provided legal services for all stages of the production of The Merger.

View the trailer for The Merger.