Private Project

New & Used

New & Used is a film about a dodgy car dealer in the 1970’s who hatches up a scam to make more money, by selling one of his cars over and over again. One summers day in January 1975 English Doctor Charlie Barrington (who has just migrated to Australia) walks into McKnight’s car yard and spots a gold 1972 Mercedes Benz in pristine condition. The car yard owner Bruno Knight gives the sales pitch and in no time Charlie has bought the car. Charlie is a little concerned when he pays Bruno in cash but isn’t required to provide identification or submit any paperwork. He gets even more concerned when Bruno offers him directions to a shortcut back to his home – an address Charlie hasn’t given him. Charlie naively accepts the shortcut that leads him into a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Charlie has walked into a trap and comes to an end.

We fast-forward to the car yard in 2015 (40 years later). A backpacker Henny Baatz walks into the car yard and spots the same gold 1972 Mercedes Benz. The salesman Zac McKnight (Bruno’s Great Grandson) starts the sales process and raves about the car’s history - a litany of backpackers, new-Australians and drifters who have bought the car and met an untimely end.

  • Nick Myall
    Director
    Complaints Department
  • Nick Myall
    Writer
    Complaints Department
  • Nick Myall
    Producer
    Complaints Department
  • Luke Tonkin
    Key Cast
  • Gareth Grainger
    Key Cast
  • Matt Faravoni
    Key Cast
  • Amy Jeffreys
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 5, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Canon 5D & RED ONE
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Nick Myall

Nick is an Australian filmmaker with a background directing television commercials. His love of cinema and writing was a welcome collision into filmmaking. In 2014 his short film Complaints Department was shortlisted by Tropfest and was also an Official Selection for Los Angeles Film Review Independent Film Awards where he attained a ‘Honorable Mention for Writing’. In 2015 he wrote and directed New & Used, a black comedy about a used car dealer in the 1970s which was shortlisted film for Tropfest 2015 and also received an Official Selection for Los Angeles CineFest. With a change of direction from the black comedy to drama Nick wrote and directed Restoration in 2016. As his most challenging work to date, this film is challenges, exposes and touches the very essence our fallibility as humans.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

‘New & Used’ is essentially a film about greed and it’s pervasive nature. Whether the greed is monetary or some other human desire, it can change a person’s whole moral compass in order to reach their desired outcome. This scam of all scams stretches beyond the pail of evil greed.

The film ‘New & Used’ is set in an Australian car yard in 1975. The main purpose of this is not just a stylist choice, but the fact that the world was less sophisticated in 1975 in contrast to our fast-paced world today. The scam would be more feasible to execute in the 1970s than in today’s digital world. No forensic accountants to pore over corrupt business practice, no DNA for Police to solve murders and communication was relatively primitive – telephone & snail mail.

The film takes us on a journey of exactly how the scam worked with an epilogue that unravels the cold hard truth.

As a film maker ‘New & Used’ has allowed me to really develop my writing and directing to a new level. The story itself is pretty absurd but quite dark, so my job is to keep the balance between the two. Too far one way and it’s a pantomime and too far the other and it’s too macabre.