Experiencing Interruptions?

Perfect Messy Love 2 Eps

After losing her boyfriend and job all in one day, Emily, an English aspiring romance author swaps her London flat with an Australian surfer’s laid back beach house, which results in a possibly perfect but also extremely messy love.

  • Tam Sainsbury
    Director
    Time & Place, Mind Fire, Pinky Promise, Finders Keepers
  • Megan Williams
    Writer
  • Tam Sainsbury
    Producer
    Time & Place, Mind Fire, Pinky Promise, Finders Keepers
  • Livia Hanich
    Producer
    Harrow, Hunters, 12 Monkeys, Cosmos, Midnight Sun, Mockingbird Lane, Tilda, Terra Nova, The Bridget Show, Pushing Daisies, Melrose Place, Models Inc, Beverley Hills 90210
  • Tori Webb
    Key Cast
    "Emily"
    Young Rock, Boys Will Be, Midnight, Collision
  • Luisa Prosser
    Key Cast
    "Stella"
    Don't Tell, Burns Point, Young Rock, Space/Time, The End, Reef Break, Tidelands, Nostalgia, Inverse
  • Aliandra Calabrese
    Key Cast
    "Bianca"
    Dream Inc, Isolis,
  • Barry Havenga
    Key Cast
    "Matt"
    Aquaman, Guardians of the Tomb, Godzilla vs Kong, Aquaman
  • Joel Pierce
    Key Cast
    "James"
    Love and Monsters, Godzilla vs Kong, The End, Home and Away, the Bureau of Magical Things, Lavender, Relived, Hoges, Neighbours, the Lovers, Schapelle, Sea Patrol,
  • Project Type:
    Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 53 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 11, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    4K
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Tam Sainsbury

Since completing an internship with NBC in the US and graduating from the University of Surrey in London 19 years ago with a degree in film and television, Tam Sainsbury has worked in the UK and USA on news programs, documentaries, commercials and television shows. She has written, directed and produced numerous short films, most recently the award winning short film Pinky Promise which received a silver award at Cinemafest in New York, an Honourable Mention at Canada Shorts, a nomination for best film at Golden Earth awards, semi-finalist at Los Angeles Cinefest and screened at the Swiss Film Festival, Ireland’s Richard Harris film festival and the Rome Film Festival. She wrote and directed the feature film Mind Fire starring Peter Sumner, Conrad Coleby and Rowena Wallace. She wrote, directed and produced web series Time & Place in 2018 with Screen Australia as principal production investor, starring Tracy Mann, Lara Cox, Conrad Coleby, and Lisa Kay and is now developing the pilot telemovie for broadcast. Tam created, directed and produced web series Perfect Messy Love which was funded by Screen Queensland’s digital conversion grant and was released in December 2020. Tam is a Queensland rep for the Australian Directors Guild and on the committee for the Queensland Screen Collective.

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Director Statement

Perfect Messy Love began as an idea of mine to create an Australian romantic comedy that could be truly Australian rather than English or American who are the usual rom com experts! However, I still wanted to appeal to a global audience and therefore decided to set it in London and Australia which fitted perfectly with the concept of a house swap.

I wanted Perfect Messy Love to be a very traditional romantic comedy with all the typical rom com beats and usual loveable characters; something I found a joy to direct. Even though this format is predictable it is what viewers expect when they choose to watch a rom com and I enjoyed ensuring that we delivered what was expected.

The themes portrayed in Perfect Messy Love revolve around love, friendship and acceptance combined with the messiness of life. I loved developing the characters in this series to show how they evolve through these themes and discover more about themselves in order to figure out what makes them happy. Even though a lot of scenes and moments are delivered through comedy, it was wonderful to find the meaning in these places and to help the actors bring the drama and emotion to these, in order to truly engage a viewer.

The story world was an important element in Perfect Messy Love and mostly this revolved around Moffat Beach on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland; where Matt’s beach house was located and where Emily’s house swap was at. I wanted to set it on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland as the locations are stunning as shown in the aerial shots and views from the beach house in the series. It was perfect to use these bright happy locations to contrast against the duller grey London scenes; the place where Emily came from and where Matt was now staying. Life was more challenging in London for Emily and she was living a life that didn’t bring her any true happiness as opposed to discovering who she is and what she wants in her new home on the Sunshine Coast. 

The primary audience is women 18 to 45 years of age with a secondary audience of men aged 18 to 45 and also 8 to 18 year olds. I wanted to create Perfect Messy Love with a PG rating to incorporate this younger secondary audience and from all accounts it has so far been enjoyed by many in this demographic.