DROP BEARS
FEATURE FILM IN DEVELOPMENT
When a clan of koalas are rescued from a fire-ravaged island and taken to a quiet Brisbane suburb, no one expected it to be the beginning of the koala apocalypse. But tonight, nature will have her revenge.
It’s Good Friday and a whole year has passed since the death of Jordan Valentine’s father. Without Dad around to patch things up, Jordan can see his family falling apart. Mum Lena and teenage sister Breanna are constantly at each other’s throats. When they’re not bickering, mum retreats into religious ritual and Breanna escapes to the impossible-to-please world of social media.
Moving to a conservative neighbourhood in Brisbane’s great southeast has only made tensions worse as being a loud, passionate Aboriginal family makes the residents of this idyllic suburb uncomfortable – especially Sandra White, the head of the local neighbourhood watch, wife of the local policeman and mother of the local bully Kane.
Running away after an attack by Kane, Jordan finds the rescued koalas in a neighbour’s backyard sanctuary and falls instantly in love with Grug, the baby Koala. The bond is mutual as later that night, Grug follows him home. But what Jordan is about to discover is that this is no ordinary koala.
For as soon as Grug arrives, strange things start happening in the neighbourhood. Strange shapes are seen in the trees at night, household pets go missing their bodies later found mutilated and when the parents leave for town meeting, the killings begin.
With the street under siege by a horde of vicious Drop Bears (rather angry Koalas mutated by flame retardant chemicals dropped by a sinister corporation) Jordan, Breanna, Kane, beauty queen Holly, and local weirdo Sam are trapped in the house.
Forced to work together the kids must devise inventive ways to keep the koalas at bay and keep baby Grug hidden. Rigging the house with creative traps and homemade weapons, the kids are ready for all-out war.
But when the Drop Bears tear the house apart looking for Grug, the kids discover that all this death and destruction might be his fault, will they survive the night or become prey to the Drop Bears?
CREATIVE TEAM
DIRECTOR Josh Sambono
PRODUCER Laura Sambono
CREATURE DESIGN John Cox’s Creature Workshop
