Now Add Honey

Cast: Robyn Butler, Portia de Rossi, Lucy Fry, Hamish Blake, Lucy Durack, Philippa Coulthard, Lucinda Armstrong-Hall, Erik Thomson, Angus Sampson, Ben Lawson
Director: Wayne Hope
Genre: Drama, Comedy

Synopsis: Gristmill (Upper Middle Bogan, The Librarians and the upcoming children's TV series Little Lunch), is proud to announce that its debut feature film, Now Add Honey, will have its world premiere at the Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas, USA in May.

The inaugural film festival, co-founded by Academy Award winner, Geena Davis, will highlight and champion women and diversity, both behind and in front of the camera, in commercially minded films.

Now Add Honey is the story of Caroline Morgan (Robyn Butler), a middle aged woman, whose life falls apart when her movie star niece (Lucy Fry) comes to stay after her mother, (Portia de Rossi) is sent to rehab.

Produced by husband and wife collaborators Wayne Hope and Robyn Butler, Now Add Honey, written by Butler and directed by Hope, is a warm, uplifting, laugh-out-loud comedy.

The film stars Robyn Butler, Portia de Rossi, Lucy Fry, Hamish Blake, Lucy Durack, Philippa Coulthard, Lucinda Armstrong-Hall, Erik Thomson, Angus Sampson and Ben Lawson.

Robyn Butler, writer, producer and star of Now Add Honey, says 'I am thrilled to bits to have been invited to the Bentonville Film Festival. I wrote this movie to celebrate women and girls and I cannot think of a better place to kick off our movie than in a festival designed to celebrate women and girls. Also, I hear Bentonville has a lot of pie."

The BFF will host a week of screenings and panel discussions; guest panelists include Geena Davis, Allison Janney, Rosie O'Donnell and Robert De Niro.

Geena Davis has long been a huge advocate for the advancement of women in media and co-founded the festival, inducing the support of heavy hitting commercial players, Walmart and Coca-Cola, to actively work against the disappointing reality of women's representation in film.

A study released by the Geena Davis Institute of Gender in Media, conducted across eleven countries including Australia, concluded that:

31% of speaking roles were occupied by females. 23% of protagonists were females. 21% of filmmakers (writer/producer/ director) were female. On screen, women were hardly ever represented as professionals. For instance 7% of females were represented as lawyers.
The BFF is seeking out films with different stats, like Now Add Honey, in which 55% of speaking roles are occupied by females and 100% of protagonists are female – one of whom is a successful and senior lawyer – and 60% of our filmmaking team is female.

Now Add Honey

Release Date: Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas, USA in May
Now Add Honey will be distributed by Roadshow Films in Australia and released on November 5.