THE sound of Greensleeves chiming across suburban streets is, to many, the quintessential sound of summer. But what’s life like inside the Mr Whippy ice-cream van?
Seddon filmmakers Addison Heath and Stuart Simpson have just wrapped filming their latest feature, a black comedy about a social outcast Mr Whippy driver.
Simpson directs and produces Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla, based on a script co-written with Heath.
The film marks a change of pace and mood from his background in ’50s-style horror flicks such as El Monstro del Mar! , but it’s a change that Simpson enjoyed enormously.
“There’s still a dark element to it, but I think it will be quite fresh in terms of its style,” he said.
“There’s a quirky and subversive edge and you’re not always sure whether to laugh or cry.”
The film was shot in and around Footscray.
“The main parking spot for the ice-cream van is down near where the freight line crosses the Maribyrnong River,” Simpson says.
“There is a bit of a grungy industrial side to it, but one of the reasons we wanted to shoot around here [Footscray] was that timeless, nostalgic feel in some of the older areas.”
Simpson praised the performance of the film’s star, former Pollyanna singer Glenn Maynard, who plays the Mr Whippy driver going through a difficult time in his life.
Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla is going into post-production and is due to be released early in the new year.
— Benjamin Millar
