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James Pratt, Award Winner, Malibu Crush and Brittany Hockley



We recently had the pleasure of chatting to actor and star auctioneer, James Pratt. Awarded Australia’s Top 5 under 35 in 2019 James has just won again, The Number One Auctioneer in Australia Award, while in the film world he is about to film his directorial feature film, Malibu Crush.

This hard-working Australian also hosts the TV series Conversation Hollywood and the Mogul Live series which has featured guests including, Emmy Winner, Cindy Cowan, Emmy Nominated Producer David Cormican and award-winning actor Lyriq Bent.

We sat down with James to discuss how he balances this busy life, Malibu Crush and why he cast Brittany Hockley.


Where is home for you, in Australia?

Bondi Beach, I feel incredibly blessed, as it’s a mix of beach life close to the city, when you’re overseas you realize Australia has incredible beaches and great surf.

What’s some of the best advice you have been given regarding Hollywood?

A standout would be when I worked with Bruce Beresford (Two-Time academy award winner) he mentioned how important it is in Hollywood to just follow your own dream and ambition, because at the end of your life the hard work you do is for yourself, it shouldn’t be for approval or vanity.

In Your other Career, Congratulations on Winning the Australian Auctioneer of The Year Award last month In Auctioneering – What’s the best house you've been to?

Jennifer Aniston’s house in Bel Air has to be one of them, it like a resort mixed feel with a classy feel to it. It’s a large house too, however, next door they just completed building America’s biggest house called, The One (100,000 Square feet) so it looks smaller than it is now.


Can you share how your film 'Malibu Crush' came about?

It was a script I had written several years ago, originally set in America, and it came very close to getting made with some big actors on several occasions. I had someone at Creative Artists Agency handling it for me, however, it was the end of last year, and I was working on a feature film (On Halloween 2020) with a friend of mine, so we both just said let’s just go for it, let’s just make it in Sydney, call on people we know to help and change the objective to getting it made, rather than waiting around for another year for someone else to put the pieces together.

What is the film about?

It’s Shallow Hal – meets the hangover, It’s a buddy comedy about two best friends from Pasadena in Los Angeles who have, embarking on a road trip to Bondi Beach in order to declare their love for a high school girlfriend, who moved to Australia 10 years ago.

Being your first time as a feature film Director, What’s this experience been like?

It’s been incredible, a lot of fun, and also a great opportunity to grow as a person. We were right at the end of pre-production when Coronavirus came, so all of a sudden rehearsals were being done over zoom and shooting dates had to be put on hold until restrictions were lifted, I’ve embraced the challenges.


You cast Brittany Hockley in the film, Can you share your first impression.

Brittany is a true professional and was great from the start, When we were casting, one of the producers recommended her, and so got her in to audition for a smaller role and just read the lines, however, straight away you could see that she was talented, and so we upgraded her role to be more.

The film also features Canadian Actor Scott Miller, and New York Rapper, Kev Hannibal – How did you cast these roles?

Scott is a friend of mine, that I've know for a while, and he’s such a good actor, so casting him involved a text… "Do you want to be in a film I’m doing?"... The reply, "Count me in."

Kev, I had met once before, through a friend, when he was performing at a show. That night, I briefly chatted to him but he seemed like a cool guy. Fast forward 12 months later, and we were struggling to cast one of the roles, and that’s when he happened to come up on Instagram and I reached out to him. He’s been a great addition.

Where can we follow Malibu Crush on Instagram?

IG Malibucrushmovie

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3437892/?ref_=nm_knf_i1

To follow James, visit

IG james_pratt7

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3680341/


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