Pickpockets, a romantic comedy feature film, has wrapped principal photography in Sydney according to production company Damaged Goods Productions. The project sees the creative team of Lucy Green and D.C. Fairhurst reuniting to produce, adapt and star in their feature remake of their 2021 Flickerfest award-winning short This Town Aint Big Enough For The Both Of Us.
Directed by Fairhurst, Pickpockets follows Jesse, a lone-wolf pickpocket, as he becomes entangled in a turf war against a charming rookie, Robin.
The cast of Pickpockets includes Tim Minchin (Upright), Zoe Terakes (Marvel’s Ironheart), Darren Gilshenan (No Activity), Mia Morrisey (Deadloch), Danny Kim (Sting), Alfie Gledhill (Birdeater), Matt Levett (Payback), Jason Perini (The Office) and Marcus Johnson (Talk To Me). Green and Fairhurst reprise their roles from the award-winning short.
Goldie Soetianto (1 for All), who shot Fairhurst’s debut feature Reaching Distance, also returns as DOP. Crafting a unique, hybrid black & white and colour aesthetic alongside Production Designer, Calum Wilson Austin (Sushi Noh).
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According to the media release from Damaged Good Productions, the short film ends ‘on an emotional switcheroo’ and ‘at both festivals and online, the overwhelming response from audiences was a demand to see more, to find out if the feud between Jesse and Robin could possibly turn romantic. So, it’s been one of the great pleasures of our careers to bring their spiky, combative partnership to the screen.’
Green describes the project as ‘a love letter to Sydney’, noting ‘with so much of the film taking place on the streets of Haymarket and Ultimo, we wanted to showcase a side of the city that isn’t often shown in tourism commercials. There’s so much gorgeous architecture and liveliness in that area, and it was a joy to capture that.’
Fairhurst says: ‘While Pickpockets owes a lot to the screwball romances of the ’30’s and crime films of the ’70’s, it has a lot to say about modern Australia. And we hope the story of these two scrappy outcasts connects with a younger audience who also feel they’re trying to get ahead in a game that’s been rigged against them.’
Fairhurst says, ‘It’s been a pleasure to work with such a ridiculously talented cast and a dedicated crew that put everything they had into telling this story. We’re beyond excited to get stuck into post-production.’
The short film This Town Ain’t Big Enough won the 2021 Flickerfest Award for Best Editing in an Australian Short. D.C Fairhurst is also known as editor David Fairhurst.
All financing for Pickpockets was raised privately. According to the producers, the edit is underway and the film plans to complete post-production around the end of Q2 2025.
